DIY power wrapper from scratch?

[JasonGotaProblem]

Has anyone made one? Yes I know I could just buy one nut where's the fun in that?

I'm thinking it's basically a hand wrapper, but powered, right? And wrapper would be easy to build out of wood, and I was looking at some of the replacement motors for sewing machines. For about $25 shipped you get one with foot pedal already attached. Combine the two with a rubber belt of sorts: power wrapper. For like $35 in materials.

Thoughts?

[ReelFishingProblems]

I've thought about it too, and just never got past the initial thought process. Seems easy enough, I would just want to build rollers for the rod supports and have them movable to account for different build types. I had visions of messing up under wraps that got snagged on a support

[JasonGotaProblem]

I've thought about it too, and just never got past the initial thought process. Seems easy enough, I would just want to build rollers for the rod supports and have them movable to account for different build types. I had visions of messing up under wraps that got snagged on a support

What I'm thinking is felt on the rod supports and a ball bearing based band tensioner (one on the drive belt one on the far end to keep it down) to adjust for different diameters. If some free time manifests itself I'll use cad to sketch out my idea.

[Cor]

Wel yes I did build my own, used a sewing machine motor, also a slow rev drying motor and a second hand chuck I got from a friend in California.     Works perfectly, yes sure a fully manufactured one will work much better, but then I only build 5 rods a year.....if that.

[jurelometer]

You would have to wrap at least a couple dozen rods before you hit the break even point in time expended building a lathe.

If you decide to go that route,  you also need to devise  a chuck and roller supports for the blank. If the chuck  is not self-centering, and the rollers are not attached to some sort of track to keep them aligned with each other and the chuck, you will spend more time getting  the blank  set up in your contraption than it would take to wrap the guides by hand.

If you still want to proceed, it will be easier to find a DC motor that will also be able to run for a long time at low RPMs, so you can also use the lathe for drying the finish.  Wouldn't be too hard to construct a pedal from a speed control knob if pedals are not readily available. Make sure the pedal is spring loaded, so that the motor stops when you lift your foot.

For a chuck, one idea is a Longworth chuck.  I use one for my drying motor.    If you search this site,  you will find mine, but ther are tons of designs to copy from out there.  Woodworkers make them for turning big projects. For a rod lathe, you just need a bit  of 1/4 plywood,   some tubing or dowels, and a few screws.   A Longworth can also open up wide enough to grab a big butt knob, so it will work for rewrapping too.

And building some sort of slip clutch is nice, especially if the motor is strong. It will add some safety when  wrapping, and  loosening the clutch will come in very handy when applying finish.


I say go for it if you feel the urge and have the time.  Not of the hobby tackle making stuff we do can be justisfied by the cost saved or time invested.  But as outdoor hobbies go, this is a drop in the bucket compared to something like acquiring a diesel pickup or even worse, a boat, or even worser, a diesel boat, or worst of all, a diesel pickup pulling a diesel boat 

-J

[JasonGotaProblem]

Picture is worth a thousand words. See below.
Yellow= wood, assume a layer of felt or equivalent at the rod contact point.
Cyan= motor assembly, foot pedal not pictured.
Green= tensioner assembly, assume a ball bearing for the roller
Red= rod blank
Magenta= rubber belt

If things go according to plan (big if) then ideally one would not need to worry about what is and isn't centered.

See the problem is I have early onset arthritis from spending my youth damaging my hands, wrists, and elbows in martial Arts. So when I wrap a rod by hand i feel it for a week. That's my motivation to build such a thing. But given the small handful of rods I'm likely to build per year, i can't bring myself to shell out $250+ for a power wrapper. My logic may be flawed, but it seems to make sense to me.

Also when considering the break even point, I feel one needs to consider the comparative cost of buying a power wrapper. And also that it just seems like a fun project.

[Cor]

You would have to wrap at least a couple dozen rods before you hit the break even point in time expended building a lathe.

If you decide to go that route,  you also need to devise  a chuck and roller supports for the blank. If the chuck  is not self-centering, and the rollers are not attached to some sort of track to keep them aligned with each other and the chuck, you will spend more time getting  the blank  set up in your contraption than it would take to wrap the guides by hand.

If you still want to proceed, it will be easier to find a DC motor that will also be able to run for a long time at low RPMs, so you can also use the lathe for drying the finish.  Wouldn't be too hard to construct a pedal from a speed control knob if pedals are not readily available. Make sure the pedal is spring loaded, so that the motor stops when you lift your foot.

For a chuck, one idea is a Longworth chuck.  I use one for my drying motor.    If you search this site,  you will find mine, but ther are tons of designs to copy from out there.  Woodworkers make them for turning big projects. For a rod lathe, you just need a bit  of 1/4 plywood,   some tubing or dowels, and a few screws.   A Longworth can also open up wide enough to grab a big butt knob, so it will work for rewrapping too.

And building some sort of slip clutch is nice, especially if the motor is strong. It will add some safety when  wrapping, and  loosening the clutch will come in very handy when applying finish.


I say go for it if you feel the urge and have the time.  Not of the hobby tackle making stuff we do can be justisfied by the cost saved or time invested.  But as outdoor hobbies go, this is a drop in the bucket compared to something like acquiring a diesel pickup or even worse, a boat, or even worser, a diesel boat, or worst of all, a diesel pickup pulling a diesel boat  

-J

I am retired so my time no longer has much economic value and besides I enjoy making stuff including fishing rods.   Furthermore it only cost me $30 to make.    If I remember $10 went to a secondhand chuck, this is the important bit and other requirements I mostly already had lying around.

I have two motors, an old sewing machine motor and a small slow rev drying motor, precisely as you say.

No clutch system, that's too rich (LOL) I need to remove one of the drive belts to turn backwards or wrap by hand when I do something intricate.

My lathe is rather primitive, but it certainly works well enough, cost little, and enables me to do things I would otherwise not be able to do.

I make and repair rods as a hobby, not to generate an income.

The solution to the boat is to have a good friend who owns a boat and who likes to have a regular crew.

PS   As for rollers I used small window/door ball bearing rollers similar to this picture.

[steelfish]

Jason, there are plenty of good DIY power wrappers on the web, you can see them and change a thing here and there to make your own design.

I understand you need for a power wrapper considering your Arthritis, but to say the true (not sure if apply to every rod builder) and after been working on a hand wrapper for at least 7 years and finally having a power wrapper
https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=29711.0

now I understand why many guys said on different rodbuilding communities that most of the time you are only using the power wrapper with the motor OFF to only be using the advantage of the freely rolling bearing wheels benefit of it, many of the guide wraps I wrap them by hand without the use of the motor specially If I will do some kind or trim, olivebranch, color change,etc. and the motor is only used on long guide wraps or decorative wraps but really pretty slowly (I dont think I save much time on it), I dont do many long decorative wraps so, 70% - 80% of the time Im using my power wrapper as manual wrapper and I even still sometimes for short repairs use my "Catbox" DIY manual wrapper   https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=18922.0 maybe for nostalgia or just because its where I learned and repaired few dozen of rods and its easy for me to just put the rod there spin the blank and its done in couple of minutes.

your design looks pretty good but considering you are mostly wrapping light freshwater rods with short guides you might not use the motor many times, focus your design on the blank to roll on wheels on good bearings to help your arthur problem or maybe you can use the motor 100% of the time.

[jurelometer]

Picture is worth a thousand words. See below.
Yellow= wood, assume a layer of felt or equivalent at the rod contact point.
Cyan= motor assembly, foot pedal not pictured.
Green= tensioner assembly, assume a ball bearing for the roller
Red= rod blank
Magenta= rubber belt

If things go according to plan (big if) then ideally one would not need to worry about what is and isn't centered.

See the problem is I have early onset arthritis from spending my youth damaging my hands, wrists, and elbows in martial Arts. So when I wrap a rod by hand i feel it for a week. That's my motivation to build such a thing. But given the small handful of rods I'm likely to build per year, i can't bring myself to shell out $250+ for a power wrapper. My logic may be flawed, but it seems to make sense to me.

Also when considering the break even point, I feel one needs to consider the comparative cost of buying a power wrapper. And also that it just seems like a fun project.

Clever.  Might work for shorter rods if you go verrrry slow.

The challenge for your design is that it requires the blank(assembled with grips and reel seat)   to be rigid and round along its length (it isn't) , and the belts not to slip (marring the blank).  I think there will be less heartache if you build  with a chuck to hold anything from a bare blank section to a installed fat butt cap and a set of at least two supports to keep the blank from bouncing (any bend in the blank can make it pop up as it spins if you just are relying on gravity to hold t on a felt V-block.

IOW, something along the lines of the more common designs but make a Longworth chuck.

A couple chunks of 1/2 EMT ($3.00 ea) will give you up to 10 feet of rails to slide the support towers on. Some plywood for the base and towers. chuck,and some shower door rollers for the rollers, plus a few nuts and bots.  You can pull out the EMT tubes for storage.  Something like this:

[oldmanjoe]

  Hey   I know a guy that has a home made power wrapper that might suet your needs .    i know he does not use it , he likes to wrap in his lap  .
   It breaks down to 3 -3 foot sections .   And i think there is a high speed motor attachment to turn cork or foam grips also .

   There are so many possible way to build a rod lathe and cost you nothing if you know how to scrounge parts .

[steelfish]

    i know he does not use it , he likes to wrap in his lap  .

that sounds familiar

[Cuttyhunker]

There are several you-tubes on home built wrappers I was pursing looking to harvest the ideas from each that suited me best, and a few sellers on ebay of home mades and kits as well.  It all ended when I stumbled upon a complete aluminum framed, working, low end 2 motor unit at an estate sale for short cake that suited my needs just fine.  I could have built something for less in material cost I suppose, but I do place a value my time. 

[JasonGotaProblem]

Hey   I know a guy that has a home made power wrapper that might suet your needs .    i know he does not use it , he likes to wrap in his lap  .
   It breaks down to 3 -3 foot sections .   And i think there is a high speed motor attachment to turn cork or foam grips also .

   There are so many possible way to build a rod lathe and cost you nothing if you know how to scrounge parts .

You sir are too kind. I cant turn that down.