Ok, I just unpacked a shipment from mudhole for a new casting rod for my son. I'm holding a size 4.5 running guide in my hand and wondering: How in the world do you temporarily fasten these tiny things to the blank so you can wrap them!? In all the videos online that demonstrate guide wrapping, the guy is using a surf rod with guides that are gigantic by comparison and he just tapes it on near the "heel," wraps up to the tape and continues on after pulling the tape off. How do you guys hold these tiny things to the blank both for adjusting placement as well as wrapping?

Appreciate your thoughts here.
-Mark

Mark

Great question. We covered this in a short video we produced a few years ago. In it we use our guide foot adhesive and secure them with a locking wrap. click the link below

[flexcoat.com]

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

One way is to use guide foot adhesive. You heat the guide foot, touch it to the adhesive stick, then quickly position the guide on the blank. The adhesive holds the guide it place for wrapping. Can be a pain to move the guide after it is wrapped so get really close to spot on the location and alignment before you wrap.

I will also suggest the guide foot adhesive. It works substantially better than tape or anything else. As Donald noted, make sure it is exactly where you want it because once you have the wrap on it, it won't move.

Mark,
You can use small strips of masking tape to hold guides in place till you figure out the guides final position.

I prefer orthodontic bands for braces. Cheap, easy to cut off, holds the guide in place, lets you move the guide around easily.

Does the foot adhesive have any cons?

Jon

As already noted, it is a bit difficult to move the guide once wrapped. The other downside is if wrapping with silk without CP and if you get heavy handed with the adhesive, then some adhesive can ooze out from under the guide foot and not be so attractive. So, use no more than needed, align the guide as needed before wrapping and it's all good.

I heat the foot slightly run it across a stick of hot glue and place it on the blank.
Thin layer is all you need.
mark position with china white marker and set then wrap.

If you go with the orthodontic bands I've found that putting one on the opposite side of the foot helps hold the guide from slipping out from under the wraps =
So - one over the guide foot and one in front of the ring.

Thanks! Especially to Flex Coat for the video explaining guide foot adhesive and the bonus locking wrap demo.
I love this forum!

On a typical rod, I just use 1/8th inch wide masking tape. It is narrow enough and works well.

Don't use the low stick Blue painters masking tape. Not enough sticky for the small area to hold the guides effecitvely.

[www.google.com]

Be safe

For me that low stick / easy release painters tape is a nightmare anywhere it's used to build a fishing rod. Adhering guides; as surface for decorative wraps = JUST DOESN'T work well at all

dental bands make it easy.

Ken,
But, I use the low stick easy release masking tape all of the time as a tack tape to tack off a rod or guide wrap before coating to be 100% sure that there is no dust on any part of the rod where finish will be applied.

It works very very well to remove the dust without leaving any residue behind.

Be safe

Yes - it is good for that use because it is low tack and won't disturb wraps but not for anchoring anything.

I'm with John T. Elastic dental bands do the trick for me. Then I do a temporary 10 or 12 thread wrap to hold the guides a little more securely to the rod blank - align the guides - start the final guide wrap and cut the temporary thread wrap and dental band off, and finish the final guide wrap.

Rog

Mark Hedl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> How do you guys hold these tiny things to the blank both
> for adjusting placement as well as wrapping?
>
> Appreciate your thoughts here.
>
I don't hold them, the thread actually does when I slip the guide under because I start my wrap in front of the guide (about three turns) and proceed to wrap down the guide foot and onto the rod as the finish. Essentially, it's backward from normal guide wrapping and I like the little "bump" in front of any micro guides. Try it, you'll see what I mean, it's a cinch to do if you don't mind a few wraps in front of the little guide. Very fast, too.

Carefully epoxy the whole thread wrap and let it grab around the guide foot/stem and it's quite secure. If the foot wants to get floppy when you start to wrap, simply put a strip of tape at the end until you get enough wraps (4-5) to hold the little guy steady. It won't be in the way for quite a few turns as it's on the far end of where you're starting.

I just did a microguide rod (American Tackle size 4's) and I used the guide tubing from Mudhole (4/64ths ID, catalog number = GT-0) - it worked perfectly, even on the skinny part of the rod at the tip. Just cut off narrow chunks with a razor blade, leaving enough room on the guide foot to wrap the guide down solid before cutting the tubing off. After getting that stuff, I found that wrapping the micros was actually easier than a full sized guide, it just didn't take very long and the lower profile of the foot made it easy to pack the thread as you wrapped.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2017 09:50AM by Jason Reddick.

Mark,

An alternative to the dental bands...

I use elastic thread to hold on micro guides in place while static loading. It is available at "Wally World" or any fabric shop. That way if I need to add another guide, it is simply to tie another on without removing any of the other guides. Four or five wraps is all that is necessary to hold the guides. They slide easily when static loading. I then leave the elastic thread on when I start wrapping the guide and cut it off with a razor blade when it is no longer needed to hold the guide in place.

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com