# 13' Breakaway HDX, new wrap, "Sparkler"



## jimj100 (Dec 1, 2012)

To make a long story short, i put a new reel seat on this rod, but put it on crooked. I tried to find another seat, but... discontinued. So, I had to take off the old wrap (a simple chevron) and replace it with a vastly more complicated one, of course. Had to call a few audibles as i was wrapping it, but here is how it came out. First attempt at the sparkler. 
Jim


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## Phantom (Feb 6, 2005)

That looks awesome!


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## ellisredfish (Jul 5, 2005)

Simply beautiful wraps, JJ
Cheers, Ellis


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## Doc Labanowski (Jan 9, 2006)

Some top shelf cross wrapping there.


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## katjim00 (Jan 8, 2009)

Killer work


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## jreynolds (Jul 19, 2010)

Impressive!


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## mark blabaum (Dec 6, 2007)

Beautiful work on the sparkler.


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## johnmyjohn (Aug 6, 2006)

Beautiful. That looks old school serious. I remember as a kid walking the t heads at the piers and looking at the rods and weaves they had. I later learned how your tackle looks does count, it makes you feel like you're a better fisherman (even if you're not)ðŸ˜‰


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## d4rdbuilder (Jan 19, 2007)

Ain't a thing wrong with that one...!


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## Fishsurfer (Dec 14, 2014)

jreynolds said:


> Impressive!


x2


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

Sweet wrap!


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## M (Jul 24, 2010)

Very impressive. Great color selection. The lighter orange makes everything pop.


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## pg542 (Oct 9, 2006)

M said:


> Very impressive. Great color selection. The lighter orange makes everything pop.


x2...the orange to red fade is very cool and contrasts well with design wraps. You're first shot at the "sparkler" certainly turned out better than mine. My hair still hasn't grown back completely. Had difficulty "closing" it so I closed it with black. It hides a lot of inexperience. Ha! Outstanding job and in these days of marbling and tigers, a topnotch crosswrap is good to see.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

That is beautiful!
Is that a LDX blank? I have a very basic off the shelf 13' Breakaway LDX and I like the action of the blank.


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## 2400tman (Jul 31, 2011)

Killer !!! Beautiful work sir!


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## Billy 40 (Apr 3, 2008)

Jim, that came out awesome!! THis your first Sparkler (maybe one of oyur first advanced wraps?) really nice. Do you see how much the pattern changed in color from teh final step by step and the one prior? Keep that in mind for future wraps, you can control teh color of a wrap drastically if you remember what happened here - you can save a wrap where you dont' like the color, you can make a pattern darker, or lighter depending on how you close it out. 

Well done. If you are going to LAnce's in a few weeks try to bring something that you wrapped but didn't CP or epoxy, maybe even one that is halfway completed.


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## jimj100 (Dec 1, 2012)

Billy 40 said:


> Jim, that came out awesome!! THis your first Sparkler (maybe one of oyur first advanced wraps?) really nice. Do you see how much the pattern changed in color from teh final step by step and the one prior? Keep that in mind for future wraps, you can control teh color of a wrap drastically if you remember what happened here - you can save a wrap where you dont' like the color, you can make a pattern darker, or lighter depending on how you close it out.
> 
> Well done. If you are going to LAnce's in a few weeks try to bring something that you wrapped but didn't CP or epoxy, maybe even one that is halfway completed.


I will bring something to Lance's for sure. i am working on an out- and out right now. I am also going to get you to bring some more shade packs, just gotta figure out which ones... I will email you...

I have done most of the wraps by now. I posted a fish on a Shark rod a few weeks ago, Ive done out and outs, spiders, st Johns of course, 8 axis and 6 axis stuff (no scales yet...), flashy stars, 3d stars. I enjoy it. I think i've posted most of them here. I am really looking forward to hearing some trade secrets, and alternate ways of doing things that will make me better, but also faster. I've cut my time down by 2/3s already, and i know it can get better.

Whitebassfisher, the rod is the HDX, not the LDX. It's a bit heavier. I like it, but after casting 12' for years, man, my casts w/ this 13' were all bullets! Line drives! Could not get the proper trajectory for a while. doing much better now. I like it now. THat's why i put a nice wrap on it!
Jim J


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## Billy 40 (Apr 3, 2008)

Do you have 1 location where you post all your wraps? MAybe on a FB page, or a website that hosts pics? It's difficult to keep track of who does what, but I'ld love to see more or your work (I probably have already).

Don't get me wrong, I love teaching people how to learn how to wrap, but I really enjoy when someone is already doing them and I can have a convo with them and learn their techniques. Please bring some of your rods, I'd love to see them. And I cant' bring any of mine so I'll be able to use them as examples.


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## jimj100 (Dec 1, 2012)

Billy 40 said:


> Do you have 1 location where you post all your wraps? MAybe on a FB page, or a website that hosts pics? It's difficult to keep track of who does what, but I'ld love to see more or your work (I probably have already).
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I love teaching people how to learn how to wrap, but I really enjoy when someone is already doing them and I can have a convo with them and learn their techniques. Please bring some of your rods, I'd love to see them. And I cant' bring any of mine so I'll be able to use them as examples.


Billy, i do not, but here are the links to the ones i have posted, most recent first. 
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=1395434
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=1370722
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=1318202
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=1228561
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=1031033
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=1014866
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=1004594
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=911362
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=811201

This is not everything, but you get the idea! Oh, we will have that convo. For sure. May 2/3 at Lance's. 
Jim


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## Billy 40 (Apr 3, 2008)

WOW. Very impressed! How'd you figure out how to do them? That is high level/advanced work that you are doing. One thing I notice is you end up with one part of teh pattern closing before another...or one direction closes before the other. I can tell because the width of the closing bands is wider/thinner in some places.


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## jimj100 (Dec 1, 2012)

Billy 40 said:


> WOW. Very impressed! How'd you figure out how to do them? That is high level/advanced work that you are doing. One thing I notice is you end up with one part of teh pattern closing before another...or one direction closes before the other. I can tell because the width of the closing bands is wider/thinner in some places.


yes, that is correct. I think my problem is that i am a better "puller" than a "pusher" when it comes to thread packing. i use a couple of 'dental" pick type instruments. I got a thread packer from you, but it hasn't "taken". I need to dull it, polish it and work with it. These are the trade secrets i hope we can discuss.

also, some of these wraps are on butts sections of huge surf rods, so an error of 5% is 20 threads, instead of 4 threads.

"How'd you figure out how to do them?" I got all these wraps from your book, man! where else?? Some of the most helpful advice I've seen you post or in your book, is when you have packed, spread, etc, and part of your wrap is closed, and part has a gap, you just keep wrapping over the closed area, into the open area, until that is filled. That seems to be inevitable for me. Also, to pack your gaps into areas where you can't see them. Like the "crotch" of a spider.

I've got a couple of others i need to post up too...


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## Billy 40 (Apr 3, 2008)

jimj100 said:


> so an error of 5% is 20 threads, instead of 4 threads.


I'm a HUGE fan of Math. OK so you are doin gyour wrap and you're getting to the end. At some point you should realize somethign is off and one part is going to close befor eanother. Instead of closing with a solid color 8 threads wide, close with 25 threads same color. If you close with 8 threads, and 5 close in one spot and 8 in another, its' almost 50% thinner where you only used 5 threads. As opposed to closing with 25 threads and the thinner area takes 22 threads. YOu wont' even notice.

Going to be a good weekend, that's for sure. I look forward to meeting you and seeing some of your work. If at all possible, come with a wrap that is abotu 2/3's complete, bring teh threads you used (I hope that you wrap with multiple threads on wooden spools) and I'll close the wrap and explain what I'm doing and why. PAcking tool - you do a really good job with whatever your using.


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## pg542 (Oct 9, 2006)

Billy 40 said:


> I'm a HUGE fan of Math. OK so you are doin gyour wrap and you're getting to the end. At some point you should realize somethign is off and one part is going to close befor eanother. Instead of closing with a solid color 8 threads wide, close with 25 threads same color. If you close with 8 threads, and 5 close in one spot and 8 in another, its' almost 50% thinner where you only used 5 threads. As opposed to closing with 25 threads and the thinner area takes 22 threads. YOu wont' even notice.
> 
> Going to be a good weekend, that's for sure. I look forward to meeting you and seeing some of your work. If at all possible, come with a wrap that is abotu 2/3's complete, bring teh threads you used (I hope that you wrap with multiple threads on wooden spools) and I'll close the wrap and explain what I'm doing and why. PAcking tool - you do a really good job with whatever your using.


 and all this time I thought I was getting my initial layout dimensions all wrong. Especially when I get down to the last passes when I realize that it's not going to close evenly. Another little trick I've tried is to pick and pack the thin areas more than wider areas and roll the wider areas aggressively flattening out the thread more than the thinner areas. I use a wallpaper corner wheel about 2" wide and it works well. It wont make up for 8 or 9 thread difference but it will close up a 3 or 4 pretty easily. When all else fails, especially getting down to the end of a detailed wrap, I'll close with black. You can over wrap the closed areas a few times to make up the wider unclosed areas and once it's packed, burnished, rolled and finished you can't see it. Really you can't. Great thread!! Billy, your book is teh bomb!


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## jimj100 (Dec 1, 2012)

pg542 said:


> and all this time I thought I was getting my initial layout dimensions all wrong. Especially when I get down to the last passes when I realize that it's not going to close evenly. Another little trick I've tried is to pick and pack the thin areas more than wider areas and roll the wider areas aggressively flattening out the thread more than the thinner areas. I use a wallpaper corner wheel about 2" wide and it works well. It wont make up for 8 or 9 thread difference but it will close up a 3 or 4 pretty easily. When all else fails, especially getting down to the end of a detailed wrap, I'll close with black. You can over wrap the closed areas a few times to make up the wider unclosed areas and once it's packed, burnished, rolled and finished you can't see it. Really you can't. Great thread!! Billy, your book is teh bomb!


pg, that's basically exactly my experience as i've been doing these. at first, you're a little panicked about closing and running thread on top of thread, after you just spent days making sure NO thread EVER passed over another thread. But sure enough, just like you say, after you epoxy, you cant even tell. 
In the next wrap i just posted up, the 'spotlight star", i did a better job of layout, or packing, or something, and, as suggested above by billy, i made that final, middle, "between the images" section of the wrap wider. i had less of a disparity in different parts of the wrap in closing it. Ellisredfish posted a nice wrap a few months back, and you could see how happy he was to declare that it was his first perfect one. I know exactly what he's talking about, i can imagine how it would go as I wrap it, but i have not done one yet!


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