Ok I don't really have a questione as much as just wanted to let you guys know of a problem I ran up against and let you know how I fixed it. I would appreciate any comments about the practice and whether or not you have a better way of accomplishing the following.

When I made my first order for components as I was just getting started I bought some clearence guide sets from mudhole. The sets were from AT the one set was blue frame with gold rings for spinning and the other was a set of blue frame halo rings for casting. For some reason when I ordered those I accidentally ordered one of the blue/gold tops without knowing what rod I had planned on putting the guides on or even really fully understanding the sizes at that point.

Anyways, I recently started putting the blue/halo guides on a rod I am working on and realized that one, those tops are expensive and the size I needed just so happened to be the same as the blue/gold top that I had laying around. I quickly considered that color case hardening or the like might solve my problems. I couldn't really remember the finer points of the process but for the money plus the shipping it was worth the effort since the I planned on using the blue/gold guides on a salt water rod and the blue/gold top was only a 6-6.0.

Ok, long story slightly less long, I got a pencil torch from Harbor Freight and heated the center ring. I think that I over heated it as it almost melted right out almost immediately. But after cooling everything looks good and the heat did add color to gold ring making it look halographic, it has has slightly more red in it than the other blue/halo guides, but it is pretty hard to tell.

Hope it helps anybody else who runs into a similar situation and does anyone know of a better way I could have accomplished the above?
James



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2009 04:10PM by Tom Kirkman.

You could have electroplated all the guides and tip top.
Elementary chemistry book should get you started.
Mild acid, dc voltage and a compatible plating material gold, copper, nickel, silver are available to the home chemist.

Wow, as complicated as that sounds I used to be really heavy into chemistry back in high school and I realize that that is a very real option except what element would I electroplate on to make it look halographic? And that would have been an aweful lot of work and more expense than the cost of just a new tip top which is all that I needed. Thanks for your opinion.
James

I had to look to see if Mike Joyce wrote this post( he is known for off the wall antics) . A lot easier to get the right top. Not sure what the heat did to the ring. If shipping is the issue order a few more items to make it worth it. Good practice is to order several tips in different sizes as the blanks are not always what they say they will be. That way you build an inventory.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

If rod building hadn't already melted the majority of my credit cards I would be more than happy to order a bunch of extra stuff and have an inventory so that I would not have to wait for an order anytime I get a new project idea. I would also buy in bulk to save money, but alas, you must have that initial bulk of cash to save cash in the future. Thanks, I think that i will have to do a search on here for Posts of Mike Joyce, I always enjoy those in the McGuyver fan club. lol
James

Unless you were in a rush to meet a dealine for completion, you could have contacted Mudhole to exchange for what you needed.
Chuck

Shipping would have cost me more than the part, I have run into similar situations with mudhole more than once. And besides I am kind of proud of figuring out a solution to a somewhat complicated challenge.
James

Mud Hole's shipping charges are plainly listed in the catalog and their website.

Guys cannot expect a company to take an order, process it, pick it, pack it and ship it, for a few dollars. On such an order, they lose money.

If you need a small item, buy some additional pieces or parts so that the shipping charges are broken down over a greater number of items. This is just common sense.

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