# Rod Building - Thread Color Preserver



## wyogoob

This is for my buddy Dodger. 8)

I think what makes a custom fishing rod unique more than any other feature is it's thread.

Thread wraps can be translucent, opaque, or a combination of both.

A product called color preserver, something like a watered-down Elmers glue, is used on regular nylon rod-wrapping thread to make the thread opaque or varying degrees of opaque. Color preserver also helps locks down threads.

Here's a example:









Kinda cool. I always wanted to build an entire rod with see-thru wraps.

Here's a "Tartan Wrap" with just one coat of thread preserver used to lock down the threads and then show a partial bleed-thru of the threads under layers above:









Looks like a flannel shirt.


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## Dodger

Et tu Goob, et tu?

No, that's pretty funny. I'll take some pictures of my screw up and post them up here. I realized that my goldenrod was NCP but my scarlet over the top was just regular thread. Bonehead!

The problem with see-through wraps is you have to have very uniform grinding on the feet so they look consistent. That's hard to do if you don't want to spend quite a bit of time doing it. 

I am still fairly pleased with the way the Harnell rod turned out. I just wish I had remembered the color preserver. I even had it sitting on my table right in front of me.

I like that tartan wrap. Pretty cool.


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## wyogoob

I thought you would enjoy that. 

At one time I had a rod building dog and pony show and I used that rod as a winding thread exhibit.


How 'bout some pics Dodger?


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## Bears Butt

I wanna see to!


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## Dodger

Sorry for the delay in getting these up. I've been pushing it at work so I can get out of here and go fishing. And, I figured that for the 3 of us that ever come into this subforum, there wasn't any hurry. 

Today's lesson is how not to be stupid when you build a rod and cover it in epoxy that will last for 100 years to memorialize your screw up for all of posterity.

I bought this Harnell rod on KSL about a year ago and had it shipped to me in Virginia. Harnell is an old rod maker out of California that made some very nice, very classy sticks. They have gone out of business but they were so popular with salt water guys, that a company in Missouri is making the blanks on the same mandrels under a different name. This one is actually a freshwater trolling rod, which I hadn't seen before. I didn't know they made anything freshwater until I saw this. For $30, I had to have it.










I kept the same guide layout and color scheme to try to maintain the classic look.










And here is my mistake for all time: USE COLOR PRESERVER!



















I've been turning a couple others lately. This is a Valentine's Day rod for my wife that has already seen a few trips so the rod is dirty.




























And this is a bass rod for a buddy of mine, still in progress










The moral of today's story, don't be like me. Use color preserver.


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## wyogoob

Nice stuff!! It will be fine.

I never heard of Harnell before. I'll have to see what's up with them.


Your cheverons look good. Have you attempted an endless wrap yet? An endless chevron wrap appears to have no start or no finish. It is self-supporting, not "tied down" with a trim wrap.


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## Dodger

Thanks for the compliments. I can live with the screw up, I just wish it didn't happen. 

Info on the Harnell rods are a little hard to come by. I've searched on Google a lot to find out as much as I could.

I haven't done an endless wrap, I'm not even really sure what it is. Do you have a picture of it?


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