Ever notice how, on bamboo fly rods & some high end fiberglass & graphite rods, the wraps over the guide feet look like the were painted on? How the heck does that happen? Well, let me tell you..... The first trick to get smooth wraps that lay flat on the rod is to wrap with a very small diamter thread. On bamboo rods we use silk thread not only because of tradition (it's what they had back in the day), but also because it is still the best thread you can get for wrapping rods. It's fine diameter lays down flat on the rod & over the guide feet, while at the same time it's much stronger than nylon thread - it has a tensile strength stronger than steel. The next way to get really smooth wraps is to use varnish to coat the wraps. The same varnish that is used on the rod shafts of a bamboo fly rod will provide a very nice, even coating over the thread if applied correctly. It takes multiple, thin coats of the varnish to get it correct. An additional, & tedious step, is to sand the varnish over the wraps flat with a very fine grain sand paper before the final coat. Of course, all this takes a lot of time, but you can't argue with the results. Wraps done this way are vastly superior to those made with nylon thread & covered in epoxy, whch result in the large, bulky wraps you see on some commercial production rods. Smooth, flat wraps are a sign of a high-quality fly rod & that's why rod makers take so much time to get the wraps nice & smooth.
Comments are closed.
|
The Pliant RodNews from the shop of Chris Lantzy, Custom Rod Maker along with industry news, profiles of interesting characters, reviews, history, & whatever else strikes our fancy. Your comments & feedback are welcome. Please email me your thoughts. Celebrating two decades of making custom fly rods!!
leather accessoriesCases, bags, wallets, & other fine leather angling accessories.
See more photos from the rod shop & stream sides!
SEE MORE ROD PHOTOS!!!Please visit my Flickr pages to see even more rod photos including those available for sale, different rod features, & more. I'll be continuing to add photos there, so check it often.
Watch Some Videos!!Take a look into the rod shop & see some rods in living color motion pictures!! Check out my youtube videos.
Categories
All
Archives
March 2024
|