Hello everyone,

I'd like to get educated about wrapping tip top guides. In the past, we haven't wrapped them because they were glued on, and I assume that was ok?

But my son wants to wrap the tip top for the rod he is working on now. We have lots of questions about how to do it correctly... but instead of asking them all and many not being necessary, I'd like to hear from the community what they do when they wrap the tip top. Any special techniques, good tips, etc???

Thanks,
Gib

Father to William (15 yrs), who I hope has found his passion in custom rod building!

does he want to do a decorative finish wrap or is he wanting to use a double foot wrap on guide
either one you do it as you wood do a guide wrap and finish it the same

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Two ways to go about it. Wrap from the edge of the tiptop outward. Or, if you use hot melt glue as I do, you may wish to wrap towards the tiptop tube and then up and over it for about 1/8th or so of an inch. Then you can finish up onto the thread. This locks the tiptop in place in conjunction with the hot melt, which gives a bit more peace of mind on heavier duty applications. Obviously it's still an easy matter to remove and replace the top if it should become damaged.

Most likely you will only be able to support the inboard side of the tiptop so ease up on your thread tension a bit. This will take a bit of practice.

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

Great. That is what we wanted to know. Tension is a bit of an issue... I think we will just use bobbins instead of the normal tensioning device.

Thank you,
Gib

I just start my tip-top guide wraps as I would a guide wrap and stop it at the edge of the tip top. Then I finish apply the finish the same as a guide wrap on the butt side and run the finish slightly onto the tip-top tube. I also lighten up the thread tension slightly on the last few guide wraps and the top wrap just to make the thread pull through a little easier.

rog

Gib,
I think most would agree wrapping a tip top is not required and simply decorative unless the tip top has a tang as with Fuji MN’s. That being said, most rods I have seen employ a tip top wrapped similarly to the guides, assumedly for cosmetic sake. But the wrap, and consequent finish, on the tip does add weight at the worst possible point of the rod, if that is a concern. While a firm believer of “form-follows-function”, I still utilize an abbreviated, continuation wrap on my tip tops.
By the way, did you ever employ my drawings to build a thread tensioner / carriage?

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

Mark,
A very common thing to do with ice fishing rods - with oversized guides is to use a guide for a tip top.

Easy to have another guide matching the runners that are large to avoid icing. Not necessarily so easy to find an appropriate tip top of the same size.

Take care

Typically I'll use 5 minute epoxy for the guides. I make sure I get everything set up (tip, epoxy, rags, denatured alcohol).

I lay the rod guides down on my wrapper. Put epoxy on the blank. Put the tip on while swirling it around. Take it back out and put a smidge more. Clean up any excess. I then let the gravity align the guide with some minor adjustments. Once it starts to set, I check it to make sure it's aligned, then set it back down.

Wrapping the tip is mostly decor. It finishes a rod in my opinion. I wrap starting at the bottom of the tube, or a few millimeters on the tube itself, depending how long it is. I aim for nice looking proportions. Do any trim work you want on it, then apply your finish. I apply finish on the tip as well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2017 12:25PM by Chris Zarza.