May be for a while you could get paid for your materials at least. Labor, ??
Even with a new blank from the company, your going to have to build a complete rod. You may be able to save the seat, cork is usually shoot. Drilling out a complete handle assembly is real hard.

I'm with Mike on this. If you can't get time to fish or be with family and friends, whats the point? I never want to turn my hobby into work. If it ever gets to be work then I'll give it up in a flash!

"That amazes me also! 75% of the rods that I repair aren't worth the cost of repairing when they could buy a brand new for anoter $10-$20. When I explain that to them they still almost always opt to pay $20 to fix a 10 year old rod that they could replace with a brand new one of $39! "

Mike, you are not explaining it to them properly. I have figured out a way to get yur point across, and really find out if they really want that POS rod repaired.

Charge them $50 instead of $20. Now, if he still wants you to do it, it will be well worth your time. And since he paid $50 to get it repaired, it will be even more sentimental to him, and that when he messes it up again and brings it to you again, he knows in advance it will be another $50.

Or he will turn away and go to teh next sweatshop to try and get it fixed for a "nromal" price. In that case, you may lose a customer, but you said yourself, Your Terms, so big deal - instead of fixing his rod, you went fishing.

....and some WILL pay $20 per guide wrap for sentimental reasons alone!!...prime time to hit them with a real fishing rod and not repairing a Huck Finn/ Tom Saywer/ Betsy Thatcher/ "Big Jim" "pole".

Don't do it. Considering all of the trouble with taxes and what not , you will also be inundated with telemarketers at all times of the day. I did it for about a year and actually paid for all of my fishing trips and a few rods for myself with the money. The only hassles were the taxes and the telemarketers and creditcard mailings I still get and I quit my small rodbuilding business four years ago. Jus tdo it as a hobby and if someone asks you to build a rod then do it. That way you'll have time to fish and spend time with your family. I also had people inquire about a rod they wanted built and I'd have to spend a couple of hours hunting down their chosen blank and components only to have them say they aren't interested. I even had someone tell me they weren't interested in the rod after I spent the money on the components. After that I requested the client pay a deposit before any work would be done on the rod. If you choose to make it a business good luck.

Randy