Advice sought

[bru55el]

Well its been a while since my last post as I haven't achieved much in the way of rod building for a while...s'pose that's what happens with 3 kids under 4.

Anyway some may remember my last thread with regards to removing a reel seat and grips with the intention of reusing them. Well the good news is I had a win and managed to carefully drill the old blank out, and with a help help from old mate rat-tale file, the job was a success and it has now been reinstalled on the blank I am currently building up.

Here's where I need some advice, I am literally starting to tear my hair out. I have bound the stripper and first 2 guides no worries but now I'm getting down to the tip of the blank I am having great trouble getting the bind to stay.

I'll explain. Starting the bind is fine...doing the bind is fine...BUT once I have finished off the bind and trimmed the tag end of thread off, the bind unravels, sometimes straight away, sometimes up to five min later.

At first I thought I was accidentally cutting the thread, so I purposely trimmed the tag to about 10mm (so i could see if the bind held), except the bind still unraveled as soon as i touched it.

So what do you think?? Its as if i am not finishing the bind off properly, except that the first three towards the butt end are fine.

Has anybody got any handy tips for working on the tip end of a rod when the diameter is lower than say 2.5mm?

Cheers
Shane

[Owen]

Shane,
Sounds like you're not using enough tension.
As you get toward the tip, you have to make sure it's well supported or it will bend toward the thread tensioner as you wrap and lose tension.
You don't say what size thread you're using, but any bigger than A on a small rod is overkill and will make it harder to wrap tightly.
You don't need to strangle the thing, but it should be tight enough that it takes a bit of pressure to move the guide once wrapped.
Also make sure you hold your thumbnail at the point just before your pull-through when you tie off. That will make sure it comes back at close to right angles. If you don't hold it, you let it angle across you can lose a bit of tension as well.

All just guesses, but I hope it helps.

cheers,
Owen

[bru55el]

Thanks Owen,

I'm using A size thread so thats all good but i think you have probably hit the nail on the head.

make sure you hold your thumbnail at the point just before your pull-through when you tie off. That will make sure it comes back at close to right angles. If you don't hold it, you let it angle across you can lose a bit of tension as well

Pretty sure this is where i'm stuffing up. When I get a chance I'll give your advice a go and see if I have better success.

Many thanks
Shane