How hosed am I?

billspen101 · Jul-14-2008, 09:42 AM

I was playin' around after the first guide wraps and popped a guide loose. The winding is in tact and no finished is applied yet....

The question is do I unwrap, reglue the guide and start over, or let'er ride and assume the wraps and coatings will hold up?

BTW, this is a 5'6" 80lb trolling rod with full rollers.

thanks folks!

Bill

Lend-a-Fish · Jul-14-2008, 10:35 AM

Bill, Need more info. Popped a guide loose, what do you mean? Its rollers so you didnt pop an insert. Sounds like the guide shifted a bit? If it just shifted out of alignment you can shift it back. Its common to push them a little from one side or another during the alignment process. A little shift should not affect the wraps' integrity. If it feels loose, definitely rewrap it. The guide wraps should be tight and should not come loose. If you arent getting them very tight, you need to correct that for the future. I hold the thread by hand and pretty darn tight, others use the thread carriage and you can tighten that to create adequate pressure. Tight is relative though so be careful. You dont want to go so tight that so are breaking thread. Once you figure the right pressure, its pretty simple. Maybe another builder can show you how tight. Hope this helps.

DocSki · Jul-14-2008, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billspen101

I was playin' around after the first guide wraps and popped a guide loose. The winding is in tact and no finished is applied yet....

The question is do I unwrap, reglue the guide and start over, or let'er ride and assume the wraps and coatings will hold up?

BTW, this is a 5'6" 80lb trolling rod with full rollers.

thanks folks!

Bill

Bill I am confused. Do you glue your guides to the blank first then wrap them? If the wrapping is tight and not frayed then you should just be able to put CP it then put the finish on. Not sure how you are attaching the guides. Can you take a picture.

billspen101 · Jul-16-2008, 04:01 AM

Thanks Gents,
I had laid down base wrap size A (all in size A) and applied a thin finish coat, then epoxied the guides in place on top of that. I then put my first guide wraps on - what gave way is the epoxy that had set the guide prior to the guide wrap. The guide wrap is good'n tight and the guide doesn't wiggle. It's just that layer of epoxy between the guide and the base wrap popped.... the term loose did mean the guide wiggles, just that it is no longer bonded directly to the base wrap.
FYI: I plan on two full guide wrap layers plus a decorative metallic on top of that. So if that guide to base-wrap bond is not critical I may be good.... THAT's the question.

Thank y'all so much for your consideration and reponses...

Bill

CALCOfshr · Jul-16-2008, 05:57 AM

You should actually be fine. I prefer the guide to be moveable once the initial overwraps on the guide feet are done. This allows for final adjustment where the guide needs to be for best alignment. Three overwraps could be considered overkill, but its your rod,right? So do what pleases you artistically.
Chuck

Lend-a-Fish · Jul-16-2008, 08:23 AM

Bill, if im reading this correctly you are saying the guide wiggles, no bueno i would rewrap it, as its a heavier rig with rollers. I have never used glue to stick the guide down to a flexcoated basewrap, dont know anyone that has. You should not need to use any glue as it is brittle and its most likely going to break loose under the wrap. Not sure what your experience level is but what most folks are doing is use a piece of blue painters tape approx 3/8" wide by 1-2" long (depending on thickness of the blank) eyeball the guide in place, then use your tape to temp hold the guide where you want it. Do this on one guide foot, then wrap the other. Now with a tight wrap in place, you remove the taped foot and wrap the other foot. For single foot guides use a skinny piece of tape close to the ring and remove the tape after youve come over past the toes and when you are near the tape with your thread, by this time your guide is tightly in place.

Wiggle is a problem, should be very snug, should be able to move to ring just a little in either direction to do a final alignment before coating. Alot of movement means no wrap integrity and thats bad. Hope this helps.

Comedie · Jul-16-2008, 08:53 AM

Yeah Jason,,, pretty much as I do too. Except I use cutdown strips of velcro cable tie rather than tape. And I tie down each foot and only take the tie off once wrapped up over the toe.

Othet than the flexcoat guide glue, I haven't heard of glueing the guide down either. Not sure about that idea overall, but maybe it is OK. I sorta like being able to make little adjustments in alignment just before finish on the topwrap tho.

billspen101 · Jul-16-2008, 09:40 AM

Nope there's no wiggling, so I'm good there.

My experience all of 6-7 rods, all of which where much smaller spinning and baitcasting rods (and the first was many-many years ago, and that's probably when I started gluing my guides down)... as far as I know I've always glued my guides down on top of the base wraps - just thought that was the way to do it.... Next time I'll do it without that step. I like the idea of being able to do some fine adjustments after the first wrap... Hell the way I was doing it, you're stuck with what you've got before the first guide wrap. That was how I got into this (self induced) issue in the first place...

Chuck: I think after reading your response I'm going to forego the intermediate wraps and only use 2 guide wraps....... you've saved me a week (at least, at the rate I'm going)... Preeeesh!

billspen