I've been asked by a local shop if I would be interested in teaching a rod building class.
i kind of like the idea but have a few questions for those who may hav edone this before.
1. do you meet withthe students a few weeks before and discuss rod and componet selection then order or make it a set "this is the rod you will build" situation. most of the people that go to the shop are fly fishers.

2. wrapping etc should go easy but what about finishing. i'm thinking the class would go for about 2 hours so not really enough time to do epoxy. would perma gloss be a better choice. what have others done?
3. any other thoughts/help would be appreciated.

You can apply epoxy and use the 2 hours to rotate the rods, discuss other areas of rod building, etc. Have the students leave their rods at the shop overnight to allow the epoxy to set. They can pick them up the next day.

You may wish to determine what rod types and size will be built. Limit them to a few options so that you aren't confronted with all sorts of possible scenarios once the class is underway. If you would rather use the first class to meet with the students, discuss blanks and components and then order them, that's fine too. But you want to make sure you can actually get everyone's blank and component parts before the next class. You know the backorder situation most builders face when ordering product these days.

...........

Being that I am a mother of 3 kids, and my 2 girls are in school. I think it is REALLY REALLY cool how you guys go into schools to teach rod building classes. That is absolutely amazing. I dont believe anyone has done that in this area. But what a great idea though. You guys get a huge pat on the back from me. That is awesome.

wishn i was fishn...at the beach! <*)}}}><

the classes we run are for 3 FULL saturdays. we usually have the teachers and students get together and discuss the rod they will be building. as the students sign up they are usually paired with teachers that have built the same style of rods .we take 10 new students a year, classes start in january, the classes are lecture, demos, and ALOT of hands on... the student is expected to Finish the rod by the end of class, they work one on one with their teachers for alot of the time ..and some of the guys open their building shops to the students



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2006 11:19AM by paul reyburn.

discuss each persons ideas and choices. you could give each student a list of suppliers to get their parts from. maybe allow 2 weeks to get supplies before beginning teaching

When I started Rodbuilding I took a class from put on by a local flyfishing club...

We were given a list of suppliers and told we needed a blank,handle,reelseat,winding chk, guides, & thread. We were advised it was best to get your components from one supplier for your first rod so they could match them up so everything fit together. Several of the suppliers are sponsors on this site and many offer kits. Some brought inexpensive kits that made nice rods others weren't at all concerned with cost and spent 400.00 on components for their first rod. I thought it was a good way to do this because everyone essentially got a rod they wanted

It was one day a week for 6 wks....after work from about 6 til 8 or 9.

First class ....explain about how blanks are made etc...learn how to spine your blank and mark the spine.
Second class....Discussed guides then using a chart we marked our blank for guide placement ( could have also taught static method)....Bored out grips to fit blank....scuffed blank w scotchbrite...epoxied reelseat parts together
3rd class....discussed grips & reelseats....used rod bond to glue up grip & reelseat
4th class...discussed and learned how to wrap.....also how to build your own hand wrapping jig out of scrap wood & a few parts...or where to buy one..or use a cardboard box
5th class...wrapping and lining up guides....
6th class....discussed the do's & don'ts of finishing......finished this was done using small pcs of rod blanks that were cut up...

Intructor charged a small fee for epoxy and rod bond....he provided reamers that were shared. It was a pretty lose environment and had time to see each person getting one on one time and learn from Q & A during the process. Mostly the instructor explained the techniques and why things were done then helped each person do it themselves. Some people picked it up right away and others required more effort. All the rod turned out very nice .

I enjoyed it and hope this helps you

I have taken two rodbuilding classes the first in 91 and the second in 2002. And it was about the same as Joe posted. A period of formal insruction then a Group session with everyone practicing the lesson Student who learned faster helped others

I recently conducted a class in a local fly shop. Three sessions over three weeks, meeting after business hours, 6-9 PM. We met the first night, discussed basic steps in rodbuiilding, and assembled the grip & seat. We then had a little time to start learning to prep and wrap guides. Homework was to prep all guide feet before next week's class. Session two we began wrapping guides. Homework was to finish wrapping on their own. I provided them with a wrapper to use at home. Week three, we finished up any wraps, checked that the guides were aligned properly, and applied the finish. Then let the rods turn on the driers I provided all night. Next day, they came and picked up their rods. I structured the class with 3 chooices of rod "kits" which I put together with 3 different blank choices, preformed grips, and a complimentary reel seat. They bought the kit, and I charged an instructor's fee, which included a book on rodbuilding. By buying components at the Charlotte show last February, I will be able to increase my margin on the next class. I'm getting ready to hold another class soon. There's actually better money in the classes than there is in building and selling custom rods, if you can spend the time marketing it properly.

Thanks for all the info.
The next question is what do you charge for a class? If I purchase the components and blanks up front and roll that cost into the class fee, how much for instructors fee?
Or for those that paid for the classes, what did you pay?

we charge 100 and it goes to the club......we give up our saturdays for free to teach and setup / cleanup

I have heard here, and consider... that ordering is one of the most important and complex parts of the entire rod building procedure. To order the correct components takes a complete working knowledge of the assembly operations, it requires more knowledge of the "big picture" than anything else. Due to the limited amount of time involved certain things must be over looked , such as gluing up and lathe shaping grips, preformed grips and common set of reamers would then need to be provided. It is true the shaping of grips is possible without lathes as an upcomming issue of Rod Maker illustrates, but there not may not be time enough during the class itself for such operations, moreover some aspects might require additions "Homework" time be incurred by the student to complete thier rod. There are many questions that arise when ordering: What Dia reel seat? 18 mm is most comfortable but 16's are offered and then there is issue of correctly sized arbhors to fit the O.D. of the blank as it tapers and the inside I.D. of the reel seat. What I would refrain from teaching is using the horrid (yet universally simple, considering the time restrains) practice of employing masking tape for reel seat arbhors. Some complete build kits might accomodate what is necessary when ordering, but I have seen some constituent kits (handle) that require the glue up of individual rings. To complete the many build(s) uniformly one would think the big picture view (outline) of how, and what the class covers would facilitate a plan of action starting with the correct components to keep everyone on the same page at the same time, having avoided the malody of ordering mishaps which especially plague the novice builder. Tom pointed out a very important consideration of possible back orders; in order to avoid this the student would have to call the distributor a day before and tentitivly check for availability of his/her intented components and have alternates at the ready if items will not be available in time. I can think of many many questions to ask just in the ordering process, but what I am sure is also true is the fact that it will be much easier to teach the second class after you learn what pitfalls there are to bridge after scrambling to do that just that in 1st class.

Chris,

I think most classes are meant as a basic rodbuilding tutorial.....which isn't all that hard to comprehend. Granted if a person persues rodbuilding they will have many many more things they could learn.

If one wants to get a better education there are many places you can pay a bit more and go for a week long class. Especially among bamboo builders.

Joe:

I was not reffering to anything near as complex or complicated as Bamboo rod building, but moreover my point is that there is enough pitfalls in just in the ordering phase to warrant special attention, which I consider a major part of the rod buidling operation, thus sets the tone for the rest of the build, determining weather it goes smoothly or not. Now if all your students had the same rod building kit that had been approved, noting all the fixtures one would need to complete it, then your all on the same page and any possible ordering problems are behind you. To me gluing up and turning grips is a basic part of rod building but one that would not be fesible here without specialized fixtures to save time as you not just making one.