To give you an idea, most of the rods I build are either in the family sedan or entry level suv class. I now plan to skip over the european luxury sedans and sports cars and jump right into the custom chopper arena.

I am rebuilding a 9' spinning rod, the blank is presently painted black. the foregrip is greyish brown hypalon, the reel seat is anodized black aluminum, and the rear grip is cork.

Plan to paint the rod with blue/copper flair color shifting paint. What colors should I consider for wrapping the guides? Not ready to try marbelizing the ugly foregrip yet, any suggestions as to other options? Would like to do something with the cork rear grip as well. Has anyone tried to use a pigment dye like RIT to stain cork?

Putter? Doc? Ken? Ideas, Suggestions? The number of a good Psychiatrist?

Don't want to deal with replacing the grip and reel seat as I am rebuilding this rod as a freebie. I want it to look as nice as possible without completely stripping it and starting from scratch.

Thanks Guys!

Derek

Match the predominant shade of blue in the guide wrap in a metallic gudebrod thread. Use a trim of metallic to match the copper as closely as possible.

As far as the shrink; come bow hunting with me. 3 hours in the tree stand watching the wildlife is better than a week on the couch...


Putter
Williston, ND

I wish I could take you up on the offer of a hunting trip but I do most of mine with a camera these days.....Unless you are talking hogs.......We might be in business then but only if crossbows count. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from the inside with all of the windows and doors shut with a Bow. Used to compete on a national level with pistol and rifle though. Fishing is my relaxation for the most part.

I was thinking of metallic red w/gold trim or metallic green w/gold trim, but trying to match the colors of the shift pattern might be interesting. Any ideas on vamping up the grips?

Derek

There was a post on the rodcrafting forum about a product that restores the foam style grips back to like new; sounded magical. I believed it because the guy recommending it to another guy; the other guy came back next day and posted that he couldn't believe how it worked. Tom was in on the post; been a while ago. Maybe I saved it in a My Documents file...

Re: dyeing eva grips / 303 Protectant
e: dyeing eva grips / 303 Protectante: dyeing eva grips / 303 Protectant
having some older eva grip material i was wondering if you could dye it back to its originial color . its black but it has gotten lighter in color over time. and i would not use it as is on a new blank. sanding did not help much ... thanks all.

Author: William Colby (---.proxy.aol.com)Date: 08-10-04 23:19Mount it and then hit it with 303 Protectant. The color will come right back into it. Don't do this until after you've finished the wraps though.

Author: Bill Vivona (67.72.26.---)
Date: 08-11-04 09:25
What is 303 Protectant, and how does it restore the color of EVA?

Author: Tom Kirkman (---.152.54.74.Dial1.Atlanta1.Level3.net)
Date: 08-11-04 09:37
Think of it as a high-end type of Armor All, except it has no silicone oils or petroleum distillates. It's also not greasy nor does it attract dust or grime. It's a "screening agent" really, which works much like a sunscreen to ward off UV rays but by sacrificial means. I can't say exactly what the make-up is, they won't say, but the stuff works as advertised.
It works best when used on new items - it keeps them looking that way. Kayakers and boaters love it. I wouldn't use anything else on mine. But even when used on tired and bleached surfaces, the fact that it "wets" them helps restore the original color. This is why it will return faded grips to most of the original color.
Although it's advertised as not having silicone, it does have something that will repel finish. That's why I wouldn't apply it until after any finishing is done.

Author: Scott Melton (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: 08-11-04 12:18
We use the 303 protectant on the pontoon boats that we produce. The stuff is awsome and works as advertised. We have 2 OZ bottles instock feel free to contact me a 206-372-9998.
Scott Melton
Rod-Blanks.com
BlackBear Pontoons Inc.
206-372-9998


Putter
Williston, ND

What type of paint do you plan to use on it? You said some thing of a color shifting paint? If this is one of those paints that has a base color, then a top color, you may be putting on a lot of material? I looked at those Camelion paints, but my self will not use it on any type of light rod because it needs a lot of coats of paint to work. More paint, the thicker it becomes, then the heaver the rod, and the tendency to crack over time.
The less material on the blank the better.
I put two " DUST " coats of auto paint - lacquer type paint on, then one or two of clear.
Just me 1 1/2 cents

Like Putter said, but I like fly fishing to clear my head

Derek,

Consider flocking the grips. There is at least one article in a back issue of Rodmaker Magazine (Volume 7 #4 Jul/Aug '04 ) and lots of talk of it here in this forum.

I works great over cork but I'm not sure about the forgrip, might work fine on that too. If not, you could cut off the hypalon and install cork. You are going to cover it anyway so you can cut the rings in half and glue them on the rod, then shape the forgrip. One you cover it with the flocking material it will look brand new!

Bill

The Rod blank is already black so I am putting the blue/copper flair directly onto the blank so that should save a little weight. Using an airbrush for maximum even coverage without too much build-up and the blank is a 9' med/heavy SW spinning rod..

John

Was considering flocking the grips, but since this is a SW rod and I fish a lot of bait I was worried about stains and odors on the grips. Any thoughts as to this concern?

Show pictures

I think it will be just fine myself. Its a synthetic material (nylon?) and you seal the cork under it first before putting the glue on for the flocking so I don't think a smell will get embeded.

Here is a thread to read too..

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Flocking the grip will work just fine - and clean up if it gets dirty is warm soapy water. Very little maintenance - especially if you choose a dark color (dark blue since your're going with the blue/copper color shift. You could also use stair tread material (medium grit) for the rear grip. It comes in long strips (Home Depot/Loews) and uou wind it on as you would cork tape. For a point of reference G.Loomis surf casting rods have handles made with this material. I was shown a piece of this by another rod builder in Charlotte (whose name simply escapes me at the moment - I hope he sees this post because it's a fantastic tip and it works great). When I first heard about this I thought that it might be rough on the hands - the medium grit is not at all. Another product you might want to at least look at is the American Tackle flocked shrink tubing (which can be had through MudHole - at least and probably others). This material too would have a nice feel over cork and 'dress up the looks) as well as match any flocked foregrip. I'm interested in seeing the results of your airbrushing technique. I really wanted to learn how to do this in Charlotte - but I just didn't have the time. One proficient airbrusher did email me off line with 'entry level information' about airbrushes and the very valid advice: "You just have to jump in and learn it". I just haven't had the extra $$ or time to really get involved with this approach yet.

Hmmmm.....That stair tread tape...just happen to have some of that laying around but it is about 2" wide. That heat shrink flocked tubing sounds interesting as well. Would love to marbelize the grips but to be quite honest....I just don't have the clusters if you know what I mean. I have received several other interesting suggestions via email.

1) Seal the cork, wrap the cork w/12wt cotton (mercerized if you can find it) and singe off most of the fuzz.Use color preserver. Coat with spar varnish.
2) Seal the cork, wrap with bicycle grip tape (comes in a wide variety of colors).
3) Seal the cork, Cover w/heat shrink tubing
4) Paint the cork with rubberized paint used for tool grips (comes in blue)
4) Cord wrap the front an rear grips and seal with spar varnish

Don't put too much into the "airbrush technique" I am very new to this stuff.

Ken,

You can put together a great airbrush setup like mine for about $100. It is entry level, but it works