"the skinny" - chapter seven - fuggin' ferrules and wrot wram wrapping - continued

so we're at home w/ the blank and wrapping

I'd wrapped three plastic rods w/ gudebrod "A" thread

once I got the hang of that it was pretty easy

if you've been reading a while you've seen plenty of pics of my wrapping stands

hand made out of alder

the rod rest notches are lined w/ adhesive backed foam

pieces are held in place by a rubber band stretched across the top of the rod 

and doubled back 

I don't use any thread tensioning device

I wrap w/ fly tying bobbin holder

which I allow to hang over the edge of the table and this works for me

I've made a couple little tensioner devices

but they never really worked as well for me

first rod I built I wrapped using a cardboard box

I still have it

I used a telephone book for tension

didn't like it

stumbled upon the bobbin

and have stuck w/ it ever since

when I told perry (local maker currently busting his ass fighting wildfire) about it

he said he was using one as well

makes thread management easier for me

wrapping w/ pearsall's gossamer is nothing like "A" thread

furtermore I used to mark off the beginning and end of each wrap w/ a slip of masking tape

ensuring they were all the same size

mike showed me how to start three wraps before you ramp up onto the guide

I've been doing it like that ever since

anyways it was a pain in the ass

I had to finish five wraps on the butt plus tipping each one

I have no idea how many times I had to do each one

before I found it acceptable

nor did I have nice tidy three turn tips either

oh well I'm learning and it looks okay

on to the tip

aye yi yi what a pain in the ass

the tip is very fine and delicate and it moves

nothing at all like wrapping the rigid butt

so I labor away and labor away at it until I think I've got it

I do have it - I'm done

except...shit...

all the guides are wrapped one flat over from where they should be

motherFUCK!

I bust out all the wraps and do it again

I think we had varnished the initial wraps on the butt up at mike's shop

and he sent me home w/ a vial of varnish

I'm pretty sure I varnished the remaining wraps at home 

four coats

anyways, now it really was looking like a fishing pole

I could even test cast it

and I'm sure I did

time to dip the rod

I'm stoked

time to go back to congress