Yuku free message boards

Another to think about is from Ricks Rods, he still has quite a few of the original Phillipson strippers, the ring is Carbide and frame hard chromed. If Im not using an agate guide I tend to favor the old Mildrums when available with Carbide ring, but not the newer ones I see for sale more often today. Like the Pac Bay strippers, they have a softer ring and are and can be line cut alot easier than the harder materials such as agate or Carbide. I prefer at least a hard stripper ring. Same holds true in the sellection of snakes. I tend to like the snake brand, they seem to last longer. Although the stainless steel snakes by other mfg's with hard chrome plating seems to last just as long. Only the softer steel bright and blued but not chromed and un-plated SS snakes seem to fail early. The old mildrum all brass snakes seem to last forever and matchup well with the older carbide ringed stripper. The matching mildrum twin post wrapped in, double loop tip top holds up well too. Although the brass and mildrum guides and tip tops are mostly seen today on older bamboo restorations. Ocassionally you can find matching agate tip tops to go along with your strippers as well, that really controls ring cutting. I think thats why ceramic's become so popular by Fuji back in the 60s, their ability to preclude cutting that is. Just make sure your getting a hard material ring in whatever stripper you choose, also what material your snakes are based upon and coated with. Likewise the tip tops cut too so look for hard chromed SS at least. Its a pain to rewrap a rod before its time because the guides have been line cut early.
Richard