You're married, ferchrissakes...why would you wrap it when the only reason it comes out is to take a leak or cough for the doctor?

Fish on...

Todd

Todd,funny chit.But after being together for 15+ years and married for 10 of the 15 the honey moon is still going strong.The only rod wrap's needed for this guy say shimano or loomis on them.Good luck,
SZ

FInished my first Rainshadow rod last month. All you need is 3 stands such as ones in the picture above with the V indentation. A helpful tip is a couple of pegs sticking out of them to place a rubberband on to put downward tension on the rod (see link below). I bought the cheap motor/stand from Batson for $48, but you can rig your own if you don't have the money. I hand built 2 other stands to match height.

http://www.batsonenterprises.com/wrapping-machine

For the threat wrapper system, I just used the popular coffee cup + stack of books technique. Put the thread spool loose in the coffee cup, pull thread out and wrap it around the cup handle once or twice depending on the friction of the handle, then through the pages of the book. How many pages sit on top of the thread determines the tension on the wrap.

One note on this method is that the thread is coming from the far side of the rod coming to you, while most all purchased wrappers will have the thread coming from under your chin heading away from you. This makes a difference if you are a newbie and are trying to follow videos as it does mean you have to wrap opposite.

If I had to do it all over again, I don't think I would do anything different. Of course, if you want to do a ton of rods, then you'll want a foot-pedal operated wrapper and one that allows for multiple spools (for thread weaving multiple colors).

My first wrapper was a flex coat hand wrapper. After four rods I invested into the Rod smith aka Forecast Wrap Machine. I considered the investment pain management.

Really if you want the best Hand Wrapper all you need is two Forecast AL-Base two Rod Supports and thread carriage http://www.batsonenterprises.com/wrapping-machine then just buy the Batson Drying machine or Forecast and you saved a few bucks to start. The thread carriage rolls up and down the base like butter and the spring loaded fully adjustable rod supports are mint. At the end of the day your going to say I should have just bought the Forecast Machine trust me. I would start with the Batson Hand Wrapper and Batson Drying Machine then step up to the Wrap machine after that and pass on the Hand Wrapper to your favorite bud to try. Just Saying

I have a PacBay wrapper which can wrap under power on the foot pedal and has a separate motor as a drier. The drier is crucial. I turn my finish coats by hand for an hour and then flip on the drier and sneak outta the room. Wrapping under power is pretty nice too. . .it's not about being in a hurry. . .just easier to get nice even tension and threadwork, especially on long runs. It's been pretty good to me so far. Good luck,

fb

i spend a lot of time on rodbuilding.org and rodbuildingtutorials.com. google rod building forums and you'll find a plethora of useful info on how to build everything you'll need to wrap rods. there are lots of good ideas for colors/techniques there too.