I have tried the golf style small chop saws in the past and they are too weak for cutting the butt of a Calstar blank.

Dremels are just too small. I want a clean cut otherwise would go back to the hacksaw method.

Starting to lean towards a Compound Miter Saw because have some home projects that could use that tool also.

A chop saw with a Masonary/Steel blade has been a mainstay in my shop for cutting blanks, reel seats, and misc household jobs..the air compressor is great for tires , blow up pools and other flotation devices , though I originally purchased a compressor for mounting grips, its become rather obsolete. I love my chop saw!!!

Mike

NERB that types with a bar of Ivory soap in his mouth.

Well it seems you certainly build a "few" rods a year. That's a lot of epoxy. If you are set on a air compressor go with one that has cast iron heads and DOES use oil. You can bank on anything from Lowes to Sears is going to give you a probelm and I consider them junk. I say that with experience of trying to get them fixed only to be told it costs less to get a new one. I found a Shulz , German company that's been building out of South Americal for 10 - 20 years, I consider it a "lifetime" buy in that I have a reliable place for parts and gaskets if anything ever goes wrong which is unlikely due the quality it's built with. I bought mine for other reasons than rodbuiling and install grips with expoxy and two fingers then used the money saved and invested in a lathe. Good luck.

I purchased one of the Dewalt D28715 chopsaws today. I'll cut a heavy trolling blank this evening and let you know how it went.

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

But if it evaporates, how does it do so under a closed cell foam?

Tom,,, I think you'll be done before it even has a chance to warm up. At least if you are talking the real chopsaw and not a mitre saw. Metal headed friend of mine slices and dices heavy steel pieces all day long with his 14" Dewalt chopper.
Tradesmen use so much Dewalt now that it if probably the best stuff to get, when given a choice. With lots in use, replacement parts like brushes are easy to find. Sears dropped the ball decades ago.

Being in Calif. I always get the tail ends....Jesse is right there with the little chop saw from Merrick. I have the BIG chop saw with the diamond blade. Compared to the little beauty Merrick sells at $75.00 my unit would be money right out the window . As far as the compressor goes and you are making these rods in mass you can get a good one for less than a $100.00. I learned from Clemens books and this method is great but in todays world I have gone the same way Emory has with the golf slick tape and used gasoline[ I know dumb and dumber] only in that they are not produced in mass then it's back to air.

Tight Lines
Tight Wraps
Fishin'Stix by Fred

I'll stick to the grip mounting method listed in the FAQs page - it's quick and certain and doesn't require any hot solvents - IPO will do for clean up.

The Chop saw works fine on heavy butt blanks. Puts out a lot of graphite dust, but that's going to happen with about anything you use.

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

Friends dont let friends buy yellow tools.

My tool repair man almost refuses to fix them. I own four sliding compounds for home building. My picks would be,
#1 Makita
#2 Hitachi
#3 Bosch
Compressers
Buy Made in the U.S.A. Most of my tools are not ,but my compressers are.
Cheaper tools can cost almost as much to repair as to replace.
Also, find a tool repair man in your area and talk to him. And ask him about reconditioned. I have been very pleased with the few I bought.

Robert Knox
Whitefish, Mt

i think it depends on what tool you are getting when deciding on a brand....i do restoration and we burn up the dewalt grinders with the quickness(we used to go through 3 or 4 a week) but the drills hold up well....same with makita the drills dont hold up but the other stuff we have holds up fine etc etc

Michael,
I have a masonry blade as well but I will bet if you invest in a good diamond blade you will be very happy with the investment. The masonry blade works fine but does not cut as quickly or give you as nice a clean cut as a diamond blade. Plus I am not sure why but the diamond blade does a beautiful job of cutting cork. I bought mine originally because it was the only thing that would cut the titanium tubes but now use it for virtually everything.

This is a question, as opposed to a suggestion. Would you be better off with an oiless compressor since you are using it as you are applying the epoxy? I know its hidden under the grip material but seems any discharged oil may create voids.

Royce,,,, regardless of the compressor type you should run filters. All of them can have problems with water in the air.
I was having some very spotty results powder coating until I upgraded my filters, added 25' of line between my filters and compressor, and replaced the line between my filters and gun. From the looks of what I catch in the drain cups, it is mostly, if not entirely, water. Not too surprising as I've never seen the oil level drop between the oil changes.
Only thing that is going to 'create voids' is less not filling the space in the first place

I have an odd train of thought. I have not tried this as I'm only a hobby builder, I'm just thinking out loud. I know that cutting vinyl siding is done with a fine tooth (plywood) blade turned backwards, the teeth don't cause chipping this way. Could this same thing be done with a normal 10" miter saw? I don't work with fiber glass or salt water rods so I can't try it out but this would give you a dual purpose tool with just the change of a blade. I'm just thinking out loud. MB

Jon,,,, you mean the Dewalt angle grinders died? What did you do to instead? I've had no troubles with mine other than replacing the brushes once. I do blow out the enclosure with compressed air from time to time, but that's it. Just a habit I picked up after doing a lot of tipe work in the past and finding my tools were builting up a nice coat of fused ceramic on the windings.
I've an Hitachi router that has held up beautifully. No Bosch or Makita drill has survived for me, but they were cordless. Porter Cables have done good or me tho. Electrical tools that have given me no trouble over the years have been Milwaukee in portable tools, Powermatic and Delta in stationary.. I slowly keep adding to my pneumatic tools though, as they are more powerful than their electrical counterparts and cheaper

it was the hand held grinders i dont know the actual name of them...we used them to cut lines in concrete so that probably didnt help haha(its funny when you goto home depot and buy a grinder everyday and the people that work there look at you funny) but the one we use now(no idea the name its all green with no name on it) but it holds up to it fine

everything else we have thats dewalt(drills, sawzall, miter saw, etc) have held up wonderfully...Makita drills havent held up for us either(they were cordless also)

new to rod building have found great information on this site was wondering if anybody tried a high speed arrow cutoff tool for cutting blanks i have cut plenty of carbon graphite alumin and fiberglass arrows of different diameters with this and with a little modification it should work on blanks,also
new to rod building i have been practicing my wraps on the arrows and flex coating on bad arrows that i get from the archery club for free they are very
similar in composition.and color of many rod blanks.

I though I was wrong once,but I was only mistaken.

Dave, I am fully aware of utilizing filters in air systems. Don't kid yourself, any recipricatiog type compressor (that is oil lubricated) is capable of passing oil into the system even with the best of filters. Also if the relief valve should open or when you drain the tank, you can get airborne oil.

If you are getting water, an occasional purging with denatured alcohol will help.

I also know what causes voids. He said that he applies epoxy and uses the air to help position the grip. He did not say how much epoxy he is using. But if he were to introduce any oil it would displace some of the epoxy. I did not say that any type compressor would not work, just queried if he thought an oiless would be beneficial.

Emory,

I worked at a golf course pro shop for several years, making spending money in high school and college. We replaced grips on golf clubs nearly every day. We always used Naptha as the activator for the tape. Ronsonol lighter fluid in the yellow can is pure naptha, and comes in a handy dispenser. One can should last you a long time. With a rubber golf grip, sometimes you can even put Naptha in a syringe and inject through the grip it in enough places to remove the grip. Doesn't always work, but often enough to give it a try on re-usable grips.

I've never tried the tape on rods, but it sounds like a good idea. That tape is some strong stuff!

Oh yeah, the tape is exactly the same as double sided carpet tape available at hardware stores.

And of course Naptha is highly flammable, so be careful.

Harry Boyd

Harry Boyd

Harry,
Yes, I remember years ago replacing my golf club grips and using lighter fluid. But I did it outdoors and it does seem a little dangerous. On the other hand maybe the activator fluid is also just naptha.
I have put on a lot of EVA grips and sure like this approach better than using epoxy.