Fears of Rod Building

[fritz]

Practice wrapping guides on a pencil or a wooden dowel. Use a heavy book with the thread clamped between the mid-section of the pages as both weight and tension. I learned during my lunch hour and taught others that way

[iflysw]

You already received a wealth of good information here, you might want to check out your local library for some rod building books.Attached is a picture of a hand wrapper like the one I built many years ago.
Good luck and remember it is always nice to catch a fish on a rod you built yourself.

[JohnScott]

Follow the link for a discussion on building your own rod wrapping station.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/s...light=wrapping

The first post in that thread has a link to a set of instructions for making a very serviceable station. I built a slightly modified version in a couple hours and at a cost of about $12-15.

John

[jklett]

If you tie flies then you don't need anything new to wrap rods.

Here's my method:
Put the wrapping thread in a bobbin
Clamp the bobbin's neck in the tying vice
Wrap the thread on while holding(and twisting) the rod in my hands

I've tried the cardboard box trick and I made myself a wooden wrapping jig. I went back to this because I find that I have the best thread control this way. Sometimes the simplest ways are the best.

[skondolf]

I have a cheap wrapping jig but the only part of it I use is to mount the wrapping thread so that I can keep tension on it. I hold the rod in my hands and just turn it keeping tension on the thread. The other suggestions you've gotten here (running the thread thru a heavy book or using a bobbin) are also good ones.

And I'd argue that building a rod from scratch IS cheaper than buying one. the 1st rod I ever built was on a Sage VT2 blank. Blank cost me $200, hardware about $75-100 and supplies about another $50. Cost for a VT2 at the time was $400. And subsequent rods you now have your glues and epoxy so you'll save even more.

Good luck!! You WILL have fun!