The present invention pertains to a method of manufacture of fishing rods, and more particularly to a method of applying decorative windings to a rod shaft. Windings of the type to which this invention pertains are for decorative purposes and are placed along any part of a rod shaft which is free of hardware and are normally positioned just forward of the handle. The present invention is specifically concerned with intricate windings which, as will hereinafter become apparent, have heretofore been reserved for very expensive custom built rods.
In the past, intricate designs in decorative windings were produced by first tightly winding thread around the shaft to form a base for the decoration and then winding individual threads around the rod shaft over the base spiraling one thread in one direction and then spiraling the next in the opposite direction so that the threads intersect at precise intervals with the points of intersection forming a straight line parallel to the axis of the rod shaft. The process is repeated until a diamond, or like effect is achieved after which the windings are fixed and protected by application of clear epoxy or the like.
This process, while yielding a very acceptable product, suffers from numerous disadvantages from a commercial standpoint. More specifically, in order to produce a large or "full-size" diamond design with respect to the rod shaft diameter, with each diamond touching the next adjacent diamond, the exact position and angle must be determined, measured and laid out on the surface of the rod shaft prior to actual winding requiring a great deal of care and concentration. Each thread is then wrapped individually or in small groups side by side. After each wrap is made, the thread or groups of thread must be secured at both ends before proceeding with the next thread or group. Each of the foregoing steps is extremely time consuming and intricate and can usually be done only by the most skillful rod wrappers. This significantly increases the cost of the rod, thus prohibiting application of decorative windings to mass produced rods.
In addition to the cost factor, since the thread must be wound around the shaft, only spirals, cross-hatch or diamond designs have heretofore been possible. Large multi-colored cross-hatch or diamond designs are virtually impossible to produce uniformly, and to produce multi-colored designs, a thread for each color must be used which further complicates design and layout. Moreover, the known method is restricted to colors available for threads that can be used for fishing rods. Metallic or translucent threads are unavailable.
Thus, the only process presently available suffers from numerous problems and disadvantages and is completely inapplicable to rods for the average customer.