Like I said before I am new to rod building and am trying to get everything set up. I was wondering how is your rod building room set up?

Hi Kevin,

Welcome to the board! If you take a look in the photo section under equipment and tools you can look at pictures of some rod rooms. You can also do a search in the photo section for rod room, etc. You do need to register there also - just use the exact same username and password.

Chuck

thank you for the info...

Kevin, here is mine
[www.youtube.com]

I love that intro Kevin.

My room(s) are very much a work in progress. In addition to making rods I tie flies and make custom lures, and miscellaneous special order tackle. So I have a small bench for that too.

Rod Bench:

12' long. Top is made of laminated pine with 3 coats of verathane for protection. The bench is wired with 110v power in 3 locations using so I can plug in other lights, motors, etc...

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Fly tying/lure making side is 8' wide.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Through the swingin doors is where the dirty work takes place. Its also where I store blanks and finished rods:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Lighting is crucial as you may know. I have 450 watts of halogen for general lighting and three 48" flourescents for work lighting. Also, my workshop is painted with the whitest white semi gloss paint I could find. A white background not only helps brighten the room but aids your vision by contrasting agains the darker stuff you work on. Temperature control is important. You are going to want to keep it warm for finishing or build a rod dryer box. I like the wood floor but concrete or any hard surface is good. Carpet traps dust and dirt, makes it difficult to roll a chair and wears out. I like to be able to just sweep up thread scraps and wipe up spills without worrying about carpet. You do not have to separate your dirty work into another room but if you ream, shape and sand a couple cork handles clean the area thouroughly before you go to epoxy. Its amazing how that cork dust can hang around. A fire extiguisher is essential. I have an ABC mounted on the right side of the fly tying bench. I like to keep all my threads in covered drawers to help keep it clean.

Plenty of rods are built on kitchen tables, garage work benches and even TV trays set up in spare bedrooms and basements but nothing is better than having a room dedicated to it. Especiall if you have pets, children or a wife who frowns on having stuff left out. Being able to walk away from a project without putting everything away or worrying about someone or something messing with it is invaluable.

Hey Kevin,

Welcome to the fun. You've already received a lot of good advice. Can't stress enough the need to keep you wrap and finish area clean. If you have to turn grips or create dust then look up the portable dust fan/filter on the photo's page. Basically a furnace filter taped to a big box fan.

The basic working areas have already been laid out for you. A wrapping station at least 8 ft long (12 or 15' is better), a finishing station (sometimes this doubles with your wrapping area), a place to epoxy up handles and grips, a place to grind guides. Always consider storage. kevin's video does a good job and there is also a Rodmaker article where Tom does a great job of detailing the various storage and work areas that make the effort more efficient and enjoyable. The only thing the other guys didn't mention that I use is a place to flex rods and lay out guides.

Good luck and ask questions when they come up.

Terry

Lighting is crucial make sure your fluorescents show a white light and does not have a yellow tint. yellow well not give you the right light when looking a thread color

Good Wraps Bob

I do all my grip work in a small shop at the house. All my wrapping is in done in a spare bedroom downstairs. The only problem with that is when my in laws come up (rarely but it happens) I have to stop working on rods until they're gone.

Matthew,
As with you, I do all of my grip work and drilling work in a different building than the wrapping and finishing work.

Many years ago, I moved the grip and drilling work to the different building and have not looked back. Although you can use filters, cleaners etc. it is just so much simpler to avoid the dust problem by having the dust generating activities in a different building.
When the dusty work is complete, a quick sweep, then open the door and use high pressure air to blow any residual dust off the tools and out the door.

Simple, easy, quick and no head aches ever with respect to any floating dust in the air of the wrapping and finish area.

Take care
Roger

My 1/3 hpr lathe is on a stand that I can easily move to a bench outside or to a bench in an old shed in the backyard. I believe this has been a major contributing factor to remaining married along with building a nice pink rod for her and never inviting her to go use it!

Here's some additional ideas for you:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

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