1): There are many references on this site about tying off small single foot guides with a Forhan clinch. Where can I get info, preferably with some kind of graphics, for this process?

2): I have never completed a rod using micro guides. Recently I received 3 orders in one week for rods with American Tackle Microwave guides: one casting; one conventional spinning; one 11 ft UL spinning.

I started with the casting rod and using my tried & true method of using dental rubber bands to hold the guides in place during wrapping. I did OK? until the blank got to the small end. I still have not mastered the last 3 guides near the tip. Several posts mention some kind of wooden thing, beads, elastic & various other means for holding the guide in place while wrapping small guides on small diameter rods. My problem - no pictures or full description are given that I can find.

This old man surely could use some instructions written for people who can barely tell the difference between the dohickey that holds the string winding thingamajig to the pole and the ittibitty round whatyumacalit that goes on the limber end of the pole.

God bless

Where? Rodmaker Magazine, Rodmaker Magazine and Rodmaker Magazine. Most all this stuff originate there at some point or another. There is also an online library at the top of this page and there are some articles posted there. I think the one on the Forhan wrap is in there. Take a look.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

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There may be a video of it on You-tube There is on all else ??

Bill - willierods.com

Here is a youtube clip [youtu.be]

Rex,
A couple of pictures.
Here is a picture of a small guide on a very tiny Ice rod blank using a .15 elastic band that I obtain on line.

I slip on about 4 of these near the end of the rod to take care of the small running guides. I always slip on a couple of spares in case one breaks. After wrapping the guide 1/2 way, I use a very fine tipped pair of side cutters to nip the band without touching any of my thread guides. Works very well.

[www.rodbuilding.org].

When I am near the tip of a rod that has a very tiny diameter, I use these tiny blank holders. I simply took a piece of cutting board for a base and drilled a few spaced holed in the board to allow moving the vertical rods as needed.
Then, I just used cut off pieces of fiberglass ice rod blanks to supply correctly sized blank holders. I used a dremel tool to cut a notch in the top ends of each vertical stand to hold the fine blank when wrapping.

This setup works much better than any sort of bulky rod stand or wheel setup because you can get excellent support on both sides of the guide as close as needed. I just slide the base of the stand up and down the blank as needed.
[www.rodbuilding.org]

After wrapping a couple hundred micros, you will find that you can do it very quickly and very well. Practice as the saying goes makes things perfect.

Be safe

Elastic thread from any sewing shop or wal mart works well for holding the micros in place while wraping. I make 2-3 wraps and loosely tie the first half of a regular overhand knot, slip the guide foot under the wraps, tighten, and finish off the knot. you can then begin wrapping the guide on and cut the elastic when you get to it. I have used the guide foot glue also but prefer the thread as you can move the guide easier once wrapped before epoxy.

I found that skirt collars from Jann's Netcraft work well on the thinner diameter blanks / micro guides.

Rex

Here is a link to our video that we recently posted. It is high definition, short and to the point. We call this technique the locking wrap, I don't know how it compares to the forhan wrap. Anyway, click the link below.

[www.youtube.com]

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

What Roger is detailing is pretty much the Forhan Locking Wrap.

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