I am building on a 5' 9" St. Croix SC5 . The rod will be used for vertical crappie fishing. I prefer a natural cork Tennessee handle with the reel taped on ,but I want to try something different, maybe use a reel seat with burl or maybe a Tennessee handle with exotic burl. Does any one have any non-natural cork and/or reel seat suggestions that will closely match the
performance (sensitivity) of natural cork. If I go with exotic burl how much performance loss can I expect .

Don,
You could try making the grip like in the RM article, but use 1/4 inch exotic cork instead of poker chips. It's a lot denser than cork so it may give similar results to the chips as far as reel foot crush resistance to the standard cork. I haven't tried it though.

Don,
As you add mass the sensitivity of your rod will go down. The burl cork is about 3 times as heavy as natural cork and the exotic burl cork is roughly 4 times as heavy as natural cork. How much you will decrease the sensitivity will depend on how much of it that you use, how much mass that you add, but your best bet in terms of sensitivity is to use natural cork and epoxy it directly to the blank without any backing like masking tape. You also want to use as light weight reel as practical.

The current issue of RodMaker Magazine [RMM-10-(1) 2007-FEB] has at least one if not four of its feature articles this month dealing with UL's, Tennesee Handles & Sensitivity.

How much performance difference there is between your choice of materials is somewhat a matter of opinion. See Mark Gibson's values for a single material at [.*?*.] and Emory Harry's "Sensitivity" Article in RMM-10(1):28-31. Vibration transmission is also altered & reflected at the discontinuity of the medium.

On page 31 of RMM-10(1), Feb.2007, Emory J. Harry says: "Big surprise, ... CORK that is epoxied directly to the rod blank ... results in the highest sensitivity."

Far too many aspects of this EJH Article are worth considering, but next to impossible to discuss here.

Do an RBO "Search" = SENSITIVITY for the last 90 days, and you will get at least 3 Threads and over 150 Replies to keep you overwhelmed and "glad" you asked such a "simple" question. ... LOL !!!, ... Better to just order the back issue RMM-10(1) for $7 and have the entire subject covered at your finger tips. ... IMO, ... then you can digest it at your leisure. ... HTH, ... Cliff Hall, FL-USA.


Graphite, Texalium, Cork Weight
Posted by: Emory Harry ... April 13, 2006 ... 08:06AM
[www.rodbuilding.org]
VIEWS: 524 ... REPLIES: 38
Lots of good contributions from Mark Gibson as well.


Aah, here it is:
[*?*] = "Re: Rod Efficiency vs. foregrip and hook-keeper"
Posted by: Mark Gibson ... November 24, 2006 ... 10:53PM
[www.rodbuilding.org]
The degree to which a material will transmit the vibration will depend on both the mass and efficiency of the material. The mass will affect the amplitude of the vibration and the damping factor will affect the degree to which the signal is lost as it travels through the material. The key in rodbuilding is to employ both lightweight, and efficient (low damping) materials when sensitivity is important.

Here is a list of the damping factors of a few typical handle / rodbuilding materials that I measured a few years back. These give a rough idea on how some of these materials rank:
Damping ratios:
Stainless Steel = 0.006 -----> Most efficient
Graphite Composite = 0.01
Fiberglass Composite = 0.02
Thermally Cured Epoxy resin = 0.035
Rigid Urethane shim foam = 0.09
Cork from Struble ring: = 0.15
Hypalon foam from grip = 0.20
RT cured Threadfinish = 1.0 ( may be time dependent)----> Least efficient

Emory, I would make the distinction between rod sensitivity based on materials and design vs. the idea of strike detection. If you hold the rod so that the line is 90 degrees to the tip, you will maximize the effectiveness of the line to transmit a deflection to the rod. That means you need to change the rod angle depending on the location of the lure. Most people do this naturally, without even thinking about it. A rod held level if the lure is straight under as opposed to the tip held high if the lure is much further away, both tend to optimize the line to rod tip angle of 90 deg. The more you point directly at the lure, the more you depend on line properties and tension to transmit vibrations down to the hand. ... Mark Gibson.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2007 11:44PM by Cliff Hall.

There is an error in the article on sensitivity that I am embarrassed by but not related to the mass. Basically the higher the mass the more energy it takes to move the mass and the lower the sensitivity.
The error in the article is related to stiffness. I erroneously concluded that the more the rod deflected the more movement that there would be at the fisherman's hand and therefore the higher the sensitivity. In other words the stiffer the rod the poorer the sensitivity. This is wrong. Most of the energy that results in the rod deflecting will be lost to damping. Actually the stiffer the rod the better the sensitivity. This will be explained in the second article.

Oops! Double Post. Sorry

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2007 03:32PM by Mike Barkley.

I don't have any reg. cork as I rarely (almost never) use it and although the burls are a little heavier, I don't think that it has much effect on the rod. If that is a real concern, just over bore it and use Flexcoat arbors inside. As far as weight difference between the burls go, here are some numbers from Andy Dear from a recent post
"The weights are as follows given equal diameters: Standard Burl Ring: 0.14oz Exotic Burl: 0.18oz" I use a LOT of both types and can't personally tell the difference (after they are turned to the same size. One thing to consider is that the initial exotoc rings are larger than the 1 1/4" reg burl rings. So that would be comparing apples to oranges unless they are identical in size.
[www.rodbuilding.org]


Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!