I have recently build a couple of fly rods using Hopkins & Halloway stripping guides in size 16 and 20. The most recent rod is a 4 piece 12 wt fly rod built on a Lamiglass IM 700 blank. After applying a coat of finish to the guide wraps and letting it harden I test cast the rod and noticed a clicking noise that sounded like a loose ferrule, but it turned out to be the striping guide. I went back and checked some other rods I have put big stripping guides on and the same thing occurs to some extent. You can flex the guide back and forth along the axis of the blank and there is a clicking and popping noise. I don’t know if this is the guide foot slipping on the blank or what. If it is I don’t want a wear point on the blank. Any body have a similar experience?, and what did you do to solve the problem?. I am considering at least one remedy is to under wrap the guide so that the foot will not rest on the blank.

Austin

Two possibly problem areas - one is the ring in the frame moving slightly. The other is the finish where it gathers up around the junction between leg/foot and rod blank. The latter is a common area for this noise but doesn't really create any major problems. The foot isn't really moving on the blank, rather the blank is flexing under that junction and the noise you hear is the finish "ticking" against the guide leg/foot at that short area.

The former problem, of course, can lead to the ring leaving the frame. Give it a good check and make sure that isn't the problem. If it is, there is an on rod fix, but we'll go into that only if you determine that it may be the problem.


..................

Thanks Tom:

The ring is intact and not loose so its not that.

I removed the stripping guides and noted that there was a thin layer of epoxy that had penetrated beneath the guide foot so you were right it dosnt look like the foot was rubbing on the blank.

It sounds like underwraping the guide isnt the solution to the problem though.

So do you think if I avoid letting the finish build up at the leg /foot bend of the guide that this will prevent the noise problem? I supose that ending the thread wraps a few millimeters short of the bend might help also.

Its a funny thing because it only ocurrs on the biggest stripping guides (#16 and #20) but not on all of them. I went to the shop and pulled a couple of factory rods off the rack that had H&H stripping guides and gave the big stripping guides the flex test and noted some clicking also. Ill have to look and see where the finish is with respect to the bend of the leg/foot of the guide.

Austin

If you keep the finish away from that immediate area your problem should not re-occur. But keep in mind that even if it does, it usually goes away with some use of the rod and certainly doesn't hurt anything.

..........