Has anyone ever done or has seen guide wraps with thin gauge brass or copper wire, say AWG 40 instead of thread?

AWG 40 is 0.00314"/0.0799mm in diameter.

I thought it would be interesting to wrap with copper wire and then hit it with verdigris antiquing solution from Sophisticated Finishes. In order to get a finish like this:



www.patina.com/


I'm wondering if doing this would affect the action of the rod or would damage it.

Eric

i've never even thought of that, but i bet it would look awesome if it worked out.

Same here i haven't heard of anyone doing it, i feel like it would add a lot of weight to the rod. Try it out and let us know how it comes out

I have done measuring wraps with copper wire. Not sure of the AWG but, it was the same dia. as my Gossamer silk. I got the wire from an old telephone relay coil. Ultra thin but, was about as easy to secure was metallic thread. Wanted to move all over the place. Never thought about doing a guide wrap in it, cool idea. That and the aging. Looking forward to seeing the finished results .

Shoot I fish bamboo, the itty bitty wuttle amount of weigth the wire would add to any rod is nothing. Never really understood the panic about making a rod ultra light . Guess I am just strong enough to fish an 8 wt. in the surf all day .

Pete

I like the idea of using red lacquered coil wire for trim wraps. I have some in a few very thin sizes that I have used for fly tying. Looks nice spiraled up a silver tinsel streamer body.
Some thoughts on using metal to wrap guides. Metals are not as flexible or as strong as nylon or silk. Copper, the stuff inside that red lacquer, work hardens. As it is flexed and worked by the flexing of the rod/guide it will harden and become more brittle. The modern fly rod was developed at a time when copper was used extensively and it was readily available, yet the makers of the early bamboo rods chose silk. It is stronger and flexes well with minimal ill effect.
But--- modern epoxy finishes are quite different than the lacquers and varnishes that were available back then. A moderately heavy epoxy coat may make thin copper wire an option.
Try it out and keep us posted.
AgMD

I came across this post from a few months back.

http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/index.php?...pper+wire+wraps

So evidently wire has been used to wrap guides before, albeit soldered instead of epoxied.

With the epoxies now days, I don't think the potential for work hardening of the wire it too much of a concern . Wire gets work hardened by acute flexing or twisting at a centralized location. The flex in a rod would be spread out over the entire length of the rod. I don't know if it was this forum or not but, I read a post where the builder just used expoy to attach his guides and wasn't having any problems. Waiting to see the results

Just my $.02

Pete

I have a question: What would be the danger of the wire rubbing against the blank? Would there be enough epoxy under the wire to "cushion" the wire against the blank? Just curious.

Copper wire wraps aren't new. A lot of English rods (Hardy, Gamages, etc) used them. Mostly to wrap ferrules. Hardy twisted copper wire into a thread and wrapped. Varnished over as normal.