Have any of you tried doing a split grip with the woven graphite tubing? I was thinking of using a traditional cork butt with a short section of the woven graphite for the grip behind the seat. What do you think? I was looking at doing one for a bass rod and I was going to do a tenn style on a ultra light.

Speaking of ultra light. Who do you think has the best blank out there in a 5-6 footer for panfish and trout? It will be mostly used for small spinners. Cost of this one is not a concearn as this person would like the best. I am traditionally a St. Croix person but am wondering about some of the Rogues, Loomis, or Shikari's. I am open to any and all suggestions.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for the help.

Tom Kaufmann

A G.Loomis GLX was just introduced that may fit your need....Model SJ721-GLX, 6' , LIGHT FAST 6-10lb. 1/16-5/16 oz.

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[www.rodbuilding.org]

I have to redo the grips on this rod, as I used the only ubing I had - there is a larger size which butts up perfectly wit teh size 16 reel seats - I used the medium. With teh Medium tubing, the rod was a little uncomfortable to fish with, as my hand was wrapped too tightly around the rod due to teh diameter of teh grip. I was going to put cork over it, but when I recieved teh larger Tubing, I scrapped that idea. It was more slippery than cork, but not that bad - if it was I'd just use Cork instead of tubing when I redo it.

This was a "test" rod, something I thought would be cool so it is a little drude at each open end of the grips (middle of the grip). I haven't even thought about what to put there to neaten it up, might just use epoxy, or figure out how to make a Winding check.

I have built several Tenn. split handles using the graphite tubing ice rod handles from Janns Netcraft. Worked slick and my son outfished me with his sensitive new rod in Canada a few weeks back. I'll be making more and on the next one I will actually shorten the ice rod handle another 1.5 inches too... theirs actually have cork bushings to fit into the ends and I added a brick foam bushing to the center beneath where the reel was taped on... very nice... Chuckles

Very slick Billy, I am going to give it a try. I will put up some pic's once I get it done. Where did you get your tubing? I was looking at Jann's for the ultralight and fishsticks4U for the bass rods.

Tom

I got 15mm from Custom Tackle, the other 2 from Angler's Workshop. Have fun with this stuff - hopefully I will have more time to build this Winter & I'll be able to play with this stuff more.

Nice handles, Billy! About the ends of the tube, what were you thinking of doing? I'll be facing this issue soon and have been throwing around ideas in my head, but nothing certain yet. Flexcoat arbors rounded and left exposed could be covered with epoxy (tainted with black Testors pigment). Might be easily dented even with epoxy.

There is a product known as Quiksteel which is basically an epoxy putty that's quite strong, but also pretty light. Never used it on a rod, but it's tough stuff and is also sandable and drillable. Comes in a little mixable roll and behaves about like Play-Doh prior to set up. Anyone try this putty for a nice, contoured end to the Sensor tubes?

Tom,

If you are about no smaller spinners than #0, I think Shikari IS 601 (SH III series) will turn into a nice rod for that application, I think. If you prefer a softer rods, you can step down to SH II series blanks. Apart from being stiffer and lighter, SH III blanks are also more sensitive.

Pavel,
Moscow, RU

Joe, look directly behind the reel seat, there is a Fuji Aluminum trim ring which fits into the end of the seat.

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Obviously, I couldn' use it at teh ends of that tubing, because the OD of teh tubing was smaller than the OD of teh seat. With teh larger tubing, I'll be able to use one at each end. I don't have enough of these rings to do that though, and I'm not sure if these specific Fuji Aluminum's are imported into teh US. I would have to order from Japan, and it's a bit of a hassle for a couple of Aluminum trim rings, so I haven't figured it out yet.

I like the X-Fast Mag/UL, SJ6400IMX Loomis, 2-6 lb line rating, 5 ft 4 in. for applications like yours. Especially if there's any size to the trout or deep water Crappie in the mix.

Spencer and Pavel,

I think that I just may order both and set them up and keep which ever the person does not want. Heck, they may even decide that they "can't live without it" like I usually do!! One of these days, I am going to decide that I really dont NEED all of the junk that I have but what fun would that be anyway?

Billy, I will try to give the folks a shout over at CTS sometime this week before I go on leave.

thanks guys.

Tommy K

What I end up doing for the ends of the tubes is either use wood or corian and turn an end cap. I have some black corian I just used for a casting handle I am making for a rod right now. Will try and post some pictures of the handle here.

Corian & Wood are a great choice for the inside of the split. Probably for the butt end as well, but not for me as it would get messed up pretty quickly. The boats I fish have rod holders that use a threaded Bolt as a stopper. I would love to be able to turn a piece of rubber the exact shape I want - right now I take a Fuji BRC butt cap and cut it down to a length of about 1 inch. Basically, I only use the very end of the cap & throw the rest out.

If turning Corian any different than turning wood with a Skew Chisel & Roughing Gouge?

I use the same tools as I do with wood. What I have done is this. I cut 3 rings of corian with a hole saw on my drill press. The material I have for corian is 1/2" up to 3/4" thick scrap from a cabinet maker. The hole saw I use is a 1-1/2" dia and that leaves you with a ring that is close to 1-1/4" dia. One of the rings I do not use the center drill bit on the hole saw. I then drill out the other 2 rings to fit my mandrel. I then glue up the rings onto the end of the mandrel. I found a glue from Woodcraft that is meant for solid surface material that seems to work best. I tried other epoxies and such, but didn't have a whole lot of success with them. The glue I use does expand and then holds the corian onto the mandrel. The mandrel then slips through my 3 jaw chuck on the lathe and I lock it down with the corian rather cloes to the chuck. I then start to shape it like I would wood. Just take your time and really make sure you have a sharp tool. It will take longer than wood because you can not take as much off when roughing it down to size. Once you have it turned down to the size and shape you want, sand it smooth. I really like using the micro sanding sheets from Woodcraft, you get a very smooth polished surface. After that, take your time getting it off the mandrel. The 3 rings work for a small butt cap that just covers up the end of the carbon fiber tube. You could adjust the number of rings used to make what size butt cap you want. Was not able to get pics yet of the handle I am working on now. Will do that tonight when I get home from work.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. Looking foward to teh pics.

Here is a couple views of the split handle graphite tennessee I first made. Built another for my son more recently that was similar. When I build another I will cut the ice rod handle down another inch or inch and a half to further reduce weight and unused handle materials. The cork bushing came with the kit from Janns Netcraft and I used a graphite arbor beneath where the reel seat was to be taped on. I used Tommy tape on the more recent project to hold the reel in place on the graphite tube and am pleased with the results.

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[www.rodbuilding.org]

Here are several views - one of the complete handle and one closer look at the butt end and cork bushing.

Hope it sparks some thought for you all,
Chuck Ungs