What do your homebuilt wrappers look like? I finished mine recently with all the hardware etc. My first 3 boo rods were rebuilt with a notched cardboard box with tea cup and telephone books as tensioners. I then, with my neighbor’s help, built the stand from some spare teak plywood he had. Last week, a local small hardware was closing its doors and I managed to find brackets, springs, bolts, nuts, washers, rod, and slides for $.05 each totalling around $4.50. Of course it’s taken me 2.5 years to build this though. There is also a side stand. Yes, this was built for $4.50. No need to say it- my wife says it all the time…I am cheap.
Hey Wednesday Caster,
I beg to differ with your assessment of your
character. I believe you are frugal rather
than cheap.G You after all went to the trouble
of talking the neighbor out of some rather pricey
plywood, as well as labor apparantly to cut and
assemble this fine piece of rod building equipment.
You even exercised noteworthy patience in waiting
for the sale on the rest of the goodies allowing a
complete stranger to help subsidise your project.G
Admirable!G Nice looking wrapper! Warm regards,
Jim
It’s amazing the things people keep. The teak ply was nearly the exact quantity I needed too- leaving just a square about 4-6" to spare. I had not thought about having a sliding thread guide until the recent posts with a member using a cabinet slides.
I’m hoping you guys/gals get a chance to post a picture of your set up. So let’s see what ya got!
You’re a lot younger than I pictured you! :lol:
Nice wrapper! I’m still using my mentor’s; he musta forgot I have it. 
shhh.
mcsteff
Here’s mine. I just finished building it last week out of some scrap hardwood floor boards that were in my new home. I use a bobbin for thread tension and there are small rings spaced 2 inches apart to hold the bobbin. With the adjustable uprights, the wrapping positions are almost infinite. Also, I spaced the boards that hold the uprights so that the carriage bolt would ride in the groove/track in the boards and the uprights can be slid out the sides if I need to replace them for some reason. It’s the same design as my old wrapper, but much nicer and the third (middle) upright will help with those longer sections when you are trying to control the flex while wrapping those tip most guides.
Here’s a few pics:
The Track/ Groove Created by spacing the boards just far enough for the carriage bolt to slide into.
The rings to hold the bobbin
Far right upright
This is about 30" wide and it’s perfect for those multi-piece blanks and I also use a few free standing uprights for longer blanks.
Lou 
A big part of rod building is coming up with the toys that we use to build these things, I call them toys instead of tools becuase we all love to play with them. Mine is very simple, it was fairly cheap, it is butt ugly, but man, it works like a charm
The basic wrapper is 3 feet long, made from some oak planks that I had here from a remodeling project, and is fashioned so that the bed of the wrapper is drilled with 16 pair of holes drilled for the 4 different rod holders to be used in various locations. Most of the time only 2 will be engaged, but there are times when 3 or 4 wil be used.
The thread tensioners were made to apply tension to the spool rather than to the thread since 80% of what I wrap is silk
The thread guides that align the thread with the section being wrapped are magnets with a couple of guides glued to the magnets with JB Weld. the magnets also double as tool holders for the razor blades (I use matt cutters from my sisters framing business, they stay sharper longer and are perfectly flat on one side)
The uprights that support the rod are padded with velcro and I often put soft fabric on them when I am wrapping a rod that has a sensative surface, like a coated bamboo rod
like I said, cheap, simple, Ugly but very effective!! I can move the magnets to various points that I may need them at and that really helps when wrapping a ferrule, or a tip top. The uprights can be positioned in any number of ways to accommodate the various guide spacings of different rods. All totaled, maybe $30 in the whole thing!!
Here is what I put together. I’m actually still doing a little work on this, since I just threw it together about a week ago. Most of its cosmetic at this point. My stands need padding and some serious sanding needs to be done. Because I live in an apartment, I had to make something to store all my rod building stuff in, and also wanted to make something easily collapsable/transportable. This thing was also a bit more expensive than I wanted. My circular saw is out of state, and the Girlfriend said no to my tablesaw doubling as a dining room table idea - so I had to cut everything by hand and therefore had to buy the nicer wood that was already close to the size that I wanted. Now all thats left is to start working on my rods!
… hmms, I’m not even going to show a pic of mine - it’d look like a dog house from home improvement. These ‘throw-togethers’ are a lot nicer than mine (and the wife’s already noted she’s engraving CB on my headstone).
Scrap chunks of 2x4 and plywood. Nylon garden hose for sleeves, 6 screws, and 12 staples. And that makes up my wrapper. No special bobbin holders (yet). No thread tensioners (yet). Freestyle thread through a book & bobbin in a cup.
I should have done more research before building mine. From your pics, it seems to make more sense to build adjusting uprights. The thread guides is my biggest gripe so far. My glass rod wraps are fuzzier than a teddy bear. I think the spring loops are much rougher than I thought. I can’t figure out how to work a tying bobbin into my set up but like the tip-top idea from Leo.
PLEASE KEEP ADDING MORE PICTURES. There are great ideas on how to improve what we currently have and I’m sure help those who are pondering how to build one.
:?
Leo
What are those thread tensioners on you rig? Store bought or home made? I really like the thread set up. I have tried several over the years and have not found any that I really like.
By the way, what is everybody’s preference on thread tensioners…one that puts pressure on the spool or one that puts pressure on the thread?
Brad
LDog,
I like the use of the tongue & groove boards. Sort of a built-in adjustment groove for the uprights. One concern I see is the bolt coming up- you might want to consider a cap to cover incase the rod drops through an upright and dings the finish/blank.
It probably would have never happened but now that I have brought it up… Murphy’s law applies 
.
What are you using for the lining on the uprights? My old cardboard box had a piece of T-shirt (like Dleo’s) that worked well but I thought I’d make my new wrapper look fancy and use foam sheets but have noticed that it dulls my varnish as I rotate the on it. Does felt cause the same?
Gburg,
I noticed you have no lining for your uprights. Are you having any problems with your finish or do finish after adding wraps?
Kaboom…
Those tensioners are from a Berkly line winder that I had. I called Berkley and they sold me 2 extra ones for practically nothing. The work extremely well and are adjustable for the right amount of tenison based ont he thread type.
as far as tensioners, after a lot of email sharing with the folks at Pearsalls, and Gudebrod, I elected to go with spool tensioners. I was told to not touch the thread anymore than is needed and to especially not apply pressure to the thread to control the tension of the wrap and it would help greatly in reduciong the fuzzies. It works too. I still use the alcohol lamp after every wrap as well, I dont need any more problems with the wraps than I alread have…
LD
Wednesday Caster
It was actually just one of the last things I was planning on doing with the stand. I just built it the other weekend so there are still some odds and ends to be taken care of. Ironically, I was also going to use some foam sheets I bought from a craft store. Now I might be turning away from that idea considering your problem. Anyone have any other ideas?
I used the “Pile” side of some “Stick-On” Velcro Jean got at “Wally-World” with a rubber band to provide tension. The “Velcro” was only a buck or 2.
Bill
I’m wondering if I just did not let the varnish cure long enough on that project before wrapping. I do get anxious at times once the rod is varnished and wanting to get some color and guides on.
Bill,
Hmmm, the velcro pile seems rough but no problems? Verry eenteresteeng. I’ll give it a try.
Quinn, not sure if you got it or not the “Pile” is the soft stuff, not the “Scratchy” stuff.
I only know due to the “Seamstress/ Quilt Artist” I’ve been married to for the past 32 years.
She says get the White Velcro.
Bill
Bill,
Yes, understood. Thanks for the tip on the white “soft” pile side.
So there’s only 7 of us doing rods with homemade wrappers?
Come on all…let’s see what you have. Post a picture. We can learn a lot from each other.