madeira spool sizes

[greglane]

Quick question about madeira polyneon thread,

Will the 1100 yard spools fit onto the thread tensioner of my pacbay lathe (the type that exerts pressure on the actual spool with litlle plastic washers?)

also, do you guys reckon the polyneon thread is comparable/worse/better to gudebrod nylon?

Cheers,
Greg

[Owen]

Greg,
The 1100 yd madeira spool is about double the length of a standard gudebrod etc spool. I don't have the tensioner you have, so I can't answer for sure.

Gudebrod thread is fine apart from a few caveats.
1: #40 is smaller than Gudebrod A thread, so you have to do a lot more wraps and packing is more critical.

2: Madeira is design for sewing machines so you MUST use CP. It has a coating that will interfere with the epoxy. You might get away with it 1,2 or 100 times, but it WILL turn to shit without CP.

Madeira is great for weaving & cross wraps because of the colours available and the price. It's strong enough for guide wraps on light rods, but I'd sooner use A thread for ease of use.

cheers,
Owen

[R-U- Wet Yet]

Hi Greg... I just got the new thread carriage with the tension on the spool and...the madeira thread spools are just slightly too long... the threaded rod/shaft are a bee's d*%k to short...I'm going to try and make up longer shafts for mine...
As for the thread... all what Owen said.... I have wrapped a few light baitcaster rods with Madeira...even used it as over wraps on the guides... if you use it as an over wrap... make sure you prep the guide feet well... makes a world of difference when wrapping... the fine thread needs a very smooth transition up onto the guide foot... but I reckon the extra effort is worth it.....I have also found that if you use it as the underbind... make sure it is packed tighter than a fish's ar#e... you may need to manipulate the overbind thread around slightly to keep things straight going up the guide feet... and if the underwrap is not packed tight enough.... you might push a gap into the underwrap thread.... there is no need to ask how come I know these things..... just assume that it's all happened to someone.... sometime.... even the same person lots of times....arggggghhhhh...

[R-U- Wet Yet]

Greg...just a quick update on the thread carriage... I've just unscrewed the screw underneath the shaft and you can slide the shaft to one side enough for the madeira spools....the shaft has a keyway for the screw to sit in so I guess if you wanted to make this a permanent setting, you could make this keyway longer if you wanted.... the keyway is just a flat spot filed on the shaft. I've just slid the shaft to one side...tightened the screw back up and it's worked fine.
Hope this helps...cheers Robbie

[Mark Fisher]

Greg and Owen,

Try the Mettler Polyneon #40 thread. It uses the same size spool as Medeira and is available throughout Australia. It is just as good as the Madeira and, so far, for me anyway, does not need CP. I have done tartans in it and used it on guide wraps WITHOUT CP without fisheyes (touch wood). I have been expecting the dreaded fisheye for a while now but none so far and I've been using it for a few years now. I got a heap of different colours through a sewing machine place that was closing down for under 1/2 price. It is well worth the investment.

Regards
Mark

[BenatCoffs]

And you can buy 800m spools of black for about $6. I buy it at Spotlight.

[greglane]

Thanks guys, appreciate the help.
Was put onto the Mettler at the sewing shop, looks the biz
(i hadn't noticed that screw either rob, cheers)

greg