I have my first rod I built last year that I put together in a hurry for the practice. I wrapped the guides in a metallic gold size A. Looking to rewrap it in blue with the gold as trim bands. Can I simply wrap over the original wrap allowing me to keep some of the gold on the edges or will this just look bad? Do I scuff the original wrap with scotchbrite pad prior to wrapping?
Thanks, Mark B

If you're averse to re-wrapping everything, you can use a razor blade to carefully slice the finish at whatever distance you want the trim wrap to be, then remove the other finish and the wrap and begin a new wrap at the edge of the spot where the original finish and narrow "trim" wrap remain.

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

Obviously you are not happy with what you did a year ago. So go ahead and strip it down and rewrap. If you put the guides back at the same position you will never know you rewrapped. It will be a good learning experience and you will get the rod to your liking. Practice makes perfect.
Norm

Nothing gets you over the last one like the next one.

It was your first rod, hold it proudly high, warts and all.

Just my opinion.

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

Mark,
John of Flex Coat has a very good point = hey, it is your first, if not a special, rod. Keep it and use it as a measuring stick to compare all subsequent builds. I was very please if not proud of my (wartless) first, but looking at my latest build, it is amazing how much has been learned in less than one year.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

A second wrap over an epoxy coated first wrap will not look good !

Mark,
I am not a fan of holding on to work that I can do much better.

I would suggest that you strip the rod and start over. At the end of the day, you will be much happier with the rod that you will then have.

I know that over the years, I rewrapped virtually all of the first few rods that I had built. In come cases, I rewrapped a particular blank two or three times because I just loved the blank, but I wanted to go with different guides over time.

I am of the use it or get rid of it sort of person. i.e. if something is not being used - I would just as soon rid myself of the item and move on.

In some cases, I have given away a lot of older rods that were fine rods, but I just didn't use any more. I would rather have a rod catching fish, than gathering dust somewhere.

Take care

Thanks all for the great help. I really appreciate it. Not sure what i'm going to do yet but I wont go trying to another wrap on top of the original one. I'll probably strip it down though as its part of the learning process and I know I can do better now.

Rodmaker volume 19 issue 1 has an artical on doing what tom suggests...just got the magazine today!

You can document your first build with good pics and rewrap it into a better rod. Best of both worlds? To me, how a rod I'm using looks is important, and for me, using a rod I was not proud of would be a constant reminder that I really don't like the job I did on that rod.