I rushed a build and am now faced with a dilemma. The foregrip needed a little more shaping than it got. The rod is completely finished with a 9 guide concept system. I have 4 wheel type rod supports and am tempted to put it back on the lathe. Am I nuts for even thinking about this?

I've done that on my power wrapper with no problems. Just put some painters tape on the blank where the wheels are, and you'll be fine.

Richard,
You can do this just fine, IF you have a speed control on your lathe, so that you can do the shaping at a low speed.
Also, before you put it on the lathe, tape on some guides, particularly for the large guides on the opposite side of the rod blank - close to - but not on top of any of the wraps or where there is thread finish. You use the large guides on the opposite side of the rod to balance the weight of the guides. If you don't do this, the rod is very unbalanced from one side to the other, and will go into severe vibration.

-------------------
Before having the variable speed lathe, I tried this with my one speed 3600 rpm full length rod lathe. I had the same issue with a brand new rod that I had just finished. I had done it a couple of times before on other rods, and was very careful about starting up the lathe to be sure to be holding the grip loosely in my hand, so that if the rod began to shake, I could grab the grip and stop the rod, as I was turning off the lathe switch with the other hand to then better balance the rod.

However, in this case, I was careless and did not have my hand on the grip when I started the lathe, It took roughly 3 seconds for the lathe to build speed, have the rod go into destructive oscillation and blow up.

------------------
I have done it a few times since then, on my power wrapper by using my variable speed drill motor to turn the rod with enough power to be able to nicely shape the rod. Also, by using the variable speed motor on the lathe or power wrapper; one can start the rod at 0 rpm and build the speed up to the point when the rod begins to shake and then back off a bit. You don't have to have the rod turning too fast to still shape a grip a bit.
-----------------------
A picture of the variable speed drill motor that I removed from a used drill and mounted in a wood mount to use to turn rods when needing more power than the small motor that I normally use for wrapping or drying the rod.
After many years of use, the drill motor has gone to drill motor heaven, so I no longer have that motor. I would power the 24 volt dc motor with a variable voltage 5 amp power supply with a foot control on the voltage go give me a variable speed.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Since then, I have picked up a 1/2 hp DC motor with an integrated speed controller in its base that I have mounted on a board that is driving a belt driven jackshaft that has a 3 jaw chuck on its end. When necessary, I remove the current head stock from my wrapper and clamp down this large 1/2 hp motor to the end of my power wrapper. I also added a reversing switch to the speed controller housing so that I can vary the speed of the motor from 0-2400 rpm in either direction.
So, now, if I need to do a full length rod spin to shape a grip or similar I use this large 1/2 hp DC motor for the job.

==============================
If you have a room mate or a spouse, and you have a typical power wrapper, and you also have a variable speed drill - either AC or DC, you can clamp your wrapper to the bench, remove the belt from the current motor on your power wrapper and utilize a pulley on a shaft that you chuck into the chuck of your variable speed drill. Then, you can simply have the other person hold the drill with the pulley in the belt and have the drill held such that the belt is tight and then have them very carefully run the variable speed on the drill while you do the shaping on the grip. You want to have the full trust of the ability of the person to be able to start, stop, or vary the speed of the drill motor as necessary, depending on what you wish to do with the speed. It will be up to you and your partner on the drill to be able to do the grip turning successfully, without blowing up the rod due to excess speed on a non balanced rod.

Good luck



------------------



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2016 10:37AM by roger wilson.

Gary and Roger are correct - it can be done.

But, just as Roger described it, you've got to be careful and in full control of the speed. The challenge for you and the decision only you can make is is the reward of making the correction worth the very significant downside risk.

And you will need to tape off both sides of the grip to protect seat, blank, trim wrap, whatever.

The guides are probably not large enough to cause much out-of-balance trouble, but if so, tape identical guides to back side of each one in place now. That'll balance things and allow you to turn at speed with little to no vibration.

..............

Just remember, you MUST control the "whipping" that will happen whether there are guides on or not.
At least a "control point" every 24" or so, especially out towards the tip area.
That could be a roller setup,
or just a couple of gloved hands to keep the blank from vibrating out too far.
On a long 1 piece blank I once controlled it with a couple of cardboard paper towel cores,
suspended from the ceiling on some heavy mono line,
run in one end and out the other to make a "cradle"
The rod was cushioned up inside the tubes.
Even then, keep the speed down.
The blank itself will want to "oscillate" as you spin it.

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

Ron,
Right on, with respect to destructive oscillation.

When I used my single speed 3600 rpm full length rod lathe, I would set up the first rod rest, right at the end of the fore grip so that the grip itself was 100% stabilized.

Then, I would put the 2nd rod rest about 20-25 inches down the rod.

Then, to find the location of the 3rd rod rest, I would find the spot by cycling the motor on and off, all the while looking for the "null" location, where the oscillation was a minimum at about 35 inches down the rod. I would do this by holding my hand loosely around the blank, so that if necessary, I could quickly close my hand to stop the spinning blank, if severe oscillation was noticed. When I found the "null" location of minimum oscillation, I would place the 3rd rod rest at that location.

Then, if I had a thin soft ended blank I would look for the 4th rod rest location further down the rod. When I found that location, of "null oscillation, I would place that rod rest at that location.

Then, if I had a very low power flexible tipped blank, I would place the 5th rod rest within one inch of the tip to prevent any whipping of the tip.

Since I ran the rod hard (3600 rpm) on ball bearing rod rests, I would put a double wrap of masking tape at each rod rest location to protect the rod blank from getting marked by the ball bearing rod rests.

This was a very good system and allowed me to build many many rods, turning the grips completely when the cork had been glued directly to the blank.

But, when I obtained a wood lathe and all of the chucks and other accessories, I put the full length rod lathe away and it has not been used for a very long time.

Good luck

Richard,
The guides are not a problem - but the tip top is. Remove it and there will be no vibration.
Herb

Herb,
I respect your opinion, but I will certainly not try to turn a spinning rod that has a tall size 30 stripper guide and a size 16 first guide after that on a full length high speed lathe, without putting an equal sized guide on the opposite side of each of these guides to avoid balance issues.

These guides together, do represent a very large one sided weight that will cause balance and oscillation issues.

But, if you turn the rod more slowly, say up to 500 rpm or so, then it will be a non issue with these heavy guides on one side of the rod.

Good luck

Thank you all. You have given me a whole bunch of good information. The rod is a build for a brother-in-law headed to Canada for walleye in another week or so. I'll let him make the decision after he uses it. Thanks again guys

Roger
You are correct - I was not envisioning that large a stripper.
I had experience with a 7'6" one piece boat rod that whipped like crazy until I removed the tip-top
Herb