Years ago, there was a chemical engineer (I believe) that used some type of polymer that was wrapped around the blank counter spiral to replace the spiral guides for the transition. I believe the article was in either Western Outdoor News or Pacific Sport Fishing Magazine. Does anyone still have that article or magazine? I would like to re-read it again to look at that material that was used. I haven't heard much of it since and was wondering why it was not accepted or if there were issues with that material. Does anyone recall this article?
I don't recall that article, but there was a builder years back who was experimenting with Teflon shrink tape as replacement for the bumper guides. Scott Throop (Tiger Wrap) has also done a few builds where he used hard-chromed rings mounted on the blank via rubber grommets to get the same result, i.e., protecting the line while keeping it off the blank between the stripper and first running guide. As for why these methods didn't catch on, my guess is that their unconventional looks made for a hard sell, but that is only a guess.
Chad
I am having a difficult time picturing this. Any photos out there?