The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

when i rebuilt my 500 i removed the copper wrapping . belatedly i realise that was a bad idea , and now i want to do the rod again with reinstated copper wire .

can anyone tell me what gauge i need and if possible where i can buy some ---do Chapmans still have stock ???

G

Fine copper wire from fly tying suppliers, you want a nice dark copper colour, some are quite bright, although it will dull down when you varnish

Look at Craft Wire - I use different colours when prawning for salmon.

Various thicknesses to suit - -

thanks fellas --- any idea in mm ? 0.25mm ish ??

Sewingmachinesales also do metallic wraps.

Fredline wrote: ↑Tue Jul 19, 2022 4:44 pm Sewingmachinesales also do metallic wraps.

that's handy to know
thanks Fred
G

Are the metallic threads advertised by sewingmachinesales actually copper, or metalised thread?
I once tried some of the latter and had trouble: if any of the twist slightly un-twisted(!), there was left the dark line of the core thread. This was very noticeable in the finished whipping. It was probably just that particular thread......
I went immediately over to very fine copper wire, used for re-winding small motors etc. I did know the dia, but have forgotten it. If anyone has curiosity, I will be able to find out - but not until Sunday at best.

BTW, I am surprised to hear of copper whipping on a 500. but "resto-mods" are not necessarily a bad thing. See my Chapman 500 post, following.
Mike

Hi Gilbert. Where WAS the copper wire on your 500?

Old transformers, electro magnets and solenoids are a great source of copper wire. I stripped an old shake- to- charge flash light and obtained about 1000 feet of suitable copper wire.
If a long length of the wire is doubled up and well twisted with an electric drill it produces the perfect twisted copper found on most of the old Chapman, Hardy and Sharpes rods.
Heres an example of it on a J S Sharpe.

OldRod wrote: ↑Wed Jul 20, 2022 2:04 pm Hi Gilbert. Where WAS the copper wire on your 500?

it was above the male butt ferrule , and on the female sides of the others + the lower leg of the butt ring. .

it was only the second cane rod i did . i wanted to move the butt ring to accommodate a 7 ring pattern, and in my ignorance decided that old fashioned wire had to go . my education has progressed somewhat since then.
it has some medium nasty black stain which further reduced my enthusiasm for keeping authenticity.

now of course i know it is a very early rod . pre gold label , and a very fine bit of cane - stains not withstanding.
i will change the wraps back to to the original green , and omit the inters , but keep the 7 ring format which works very well. and reinstate the copper wraps as they were originally .i will also stain the blank a few shades darker which will make the staining a little less obvious . i won't attempt to remove them as they are part of the rods' history.

as for the rod itself it behaves much more like a baby MKIV than an Avon . it;s a nice thing and perfect for a swingtip.
G