I’ve always used CP till the last couple, but I really like the translucent look - I have a black blank, and would like to get a pretty light green look to it - anybody know what shade green might stay kind of light green? I was thinking along the lines of “spring green”, but have never seen it used.
If you can find the color you want in a NCP thread…then you’ll have it. NCP stays “almost” the exact same color when the finish has been applied as it does on the spool. Maybe something like…
…#6779
I hate to say anything, but, yes, you have seen it before … you sent me two spools of it!
I found that the 1892 thread is a nice true green that works well on many green blanks. It is more of a earthy green than 6779 and 5869.
What happened to “spring green”? I can’t find it on the color charts anymore. I do think the 6779 might be more green than the 1892 - it is kind of olive - like what I sent you, Betty. Any other thread that will go translucent beside Gudebrod?
If you want it to be translucent, (translucent items cannot be seen through clearly) then ANY of the normal rod building threads that ARE NOT listed as NCP will go “translucent” on you.
Now…for the AMOUNT of translucency, and the amount of green color you wish…you’ll probably have to buy a spool of EACH COLOR and do a wrap down on the butt section ( where it will be scraped off and removed later) to get what YOU want.
There are 4 basic phases of coloring. Bare thread with finish; same thread WITH CP and finish; NCP thread with finish and yes…even NCP with CP additional and then finished.
There are other brands of rod building thread available…just dont use normal sewing thread.
EDIT: Mudhole Custom Tackle for example stocks Madeira Polyneon Thread and that line has 10 different Greens…
I like the Madeira, but I understand it must be covered with CP, so probably won’t go translucent. I have some 6779, so may either use that or fight with some real pretty silk - I found this on e-bay, and it is a twist of green and gold. Don’t like silk, too many fuzzies.
Found the spring green on e*** - guess the colors come and go. Between that and the medium green, something ought to leap out at me.
The Madeira has a silicon applied to the thread. This causes the epoxy finishes to fish eye and must have the CP to eliminate. I haven’t tried the thread with any of the single part finishes yet, so no knowledge on that front. To me, it is a bit harder to do guide wraps with due to the slickness the silicon provides. I started using additional wraps over the tie off loop to alleviate wrap slippage. They do have a slew of great colors.
I built a rainforest 2 in a 7’9" 3wt. I was looking for a lighter green to complement the green blank. I went with the 1892 with thin gold accents. When the rod was completed the 1892 green would certainly be what I would call a lighter shade of green. If I do say so myself this turned out to be very attractive build.
You probably know this, but color charts cannot be trusted.
Any non NCP thread will go dark over a black blank. I have found lighter threads not only go dark, but loose more color than medium or darker threads. If you want to maintain the transluscent look, but still maintain the lighter color, try painting the area directly under the wraps with a silver paint. The effect is striking. Here is one I built this way. You will notice that I had some silver bleed through on this one due to a soft paint used in the undercoat. This was remedied in later rods.
Here is a similar rod with the same thread and wrap, but with color preserver rather than the silver undercoat. It doesn’t have the same “pop” as the first one. Notice how the guide feet show up in the one above.
Dunfly,
I really like that look. What silver paint did you wind up using. Did you add a cover coat or something to keep it from bleeding through?
Anyone ever use two colors together - like stripes? Or is that too gaudy?
Gaudy? Rod thread work is like any other art form. What one deems gaudy another will relish. Most folks believe fly rod threadwork must be conservative with a simple elegance. Nothing wrong with that and something to be said for it. Here comes the but - if you build for personal use and enjoyment of the rod, why not really make it personal and fun by dressing out to suit your tastes. Nothing wrong with a “radical” or “sick” look (as the young ones say). It is your rod - build it to sastify you.
You’re absolutely right - I just finished one with all the holographic goodies - reel seat, guides, and tip top - I think it’s beautiful.
Mayhaps a bit easier than working with two separate threads … J. Stockard has the Gudebrod Classic Twist wrapping thread in green and black, #5896.
Hello herefishy, somewhere i’ve got an old fibreglass rod that has wraps that i think used two separate thread colours, blue and white and i think it has a few extra blue wraps at both ends. Looks great !
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Thanks for the heads up on the classic twist, Betty, I use that a lot, but was just looking for something different for this one. I worked with the silk elephant thread that I have a little, and think I’m going to use that, even though it’s going to be a pain to wrap with. It’s so pretty, light red with a light green “classic twist”. Also have some old gudebrod silk that is light green with a gold twist, but I think the elephant is less fuzzy.
This one was a very old bottle of Testors silver and I think the problem was due to the age of the paint. I replaced it with a new bottle of Testors silver and didn’t have the problem.