I just read a response to a post that stated:

10-20 minues to remove guides, remove a painted finish and clean up
30 minutes or less to re-wrap
10 minutes to apply new wrap finish

Under 1 hour total.

Whew,I am feeling very inferrior here. I have been building for many years at about 4-5 rods/mo and I am nowher near that fast. I do not sit at the bench continously. But If I could make rods this fast I could do 6/day easy or 120-150/mo.

What am I missing here?

The more you do, the more proficient you become.

I wouldn't try to break this down into how many rods you could build in a day - you'd still have to build the handles and you'd have to have a market that would buy all you could make.

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

technique and tooling would be my guess, I'm not that fast, I can remove guides and prep a blank in 20 min, but not with paint removal, wrapping takes an hour and finish about 20 min total with my cave man like setup.

Don't believe every thing you read. The faster you try to be the more mistakes you make and or damage to a blank- or your fingers

Do it once, do it right

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2010 09:55AM by bill boettcher.

Quality NOT Quantity means more

One of the things I hate about everyone's comments is you really don't know where people are coming from - most folks won't say how many they build a year, how many they sell, etc... so you kind of have to guess.

Of the builders who frequent this board - there are those who build 5 rods a year, 5 rods a month, 5 rods a week - and those who build even more. It's all relative and sometimes that skews perspectives.

The guy building 5+ rods a week is probably going to have a different outlook than the guy build 5 a year... don't sweat it if it works for you.

If you are building and selling 5+ a week - you probably need to consider finding efficiencies or you aren't making the $ you could be.

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I could in that amount of time but I wrap rods for the enjoyment and quiet I get from it. I'll wrap a 7' rods with a hook keeper an trim in roughly an hour. But if I feel like walking around or getting something to eat or drink, I do.

x



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2010 11:00AM by roger wilson.

if you are going to work that hard -- get paid for it

Bill - willierods.com

At that high rate of speed, you're essentially building the same mass-produced JUNK that I would never fish. Any rod that can be built in one day would never make it past my personal quality control guidelines. Two rods per week - including grip/reel set construction would be pretty borderline for me! There's so much "downtime" for drying/curing of glues/finishes that simply cannot be "rushed" without potentially dire consequences. I build mostly flyrods and do a fairly extensive guide spacing/static deflection test for EVERY blank - not just model. Any shortcuts would be a disservice to both my customer and the craft.

x



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2010 11:00AM by roger wilson.

Torin,

Perhaps it would be wise for you to choose your words a bit more carefully. Just because someone can build a rod in a few hours when it takes you 3 days does not mean that their work is "junk". If that's the case, I've seen some pretty nice "junk" being made! If someone has the ability to work quickly and efficiently while building a quality product, why does that offend you? Guys that build rods for a living must be efficient with their time. They can't afford to build 2 rods per week if they want to put food on the table.

As others have mentioned, it doesn't matter how long it takes you to build a rod.

jeremy

I build for friends...family and fun. Each time I build a rod I get a little better and a little quicker. Everytime I finish a rod there is kind of a let down because now I am not building a rod! I am sure if you are building for a living you need to do things so there is no "Down Time"....you fill time while one or a set of rods are drying with wrapping others....or gluing grips...whatever.

My point is that I spend all the time I want...prepping guide feet....I do underwraps because my stuff is all for saltwater....people build for different reasons....in different ways.

I watch fishing TV and try to see what the pros are fishing....a lot of guys are fishing very plain-looking rods....no fancy wraps. Is their stuff junk? I hardly think so...just quality components assembled quickly and competently...meant to be fished hard and often

I enjoy building rods and I do take my time. Some of the guys and gals on here have built more rods than I can ever imagine building and with that experience comes some time saving techniques. They are not shortcuts, but better use of time. Torin, to refer to someone else's work as "JUNK" because they have learned some quicker techniques is a little harsh, especially if you haven't seen the finished product. Probably should choose your words better next time.

Harold

For that matter, Billy V does his wraps in a heck of a short time. -- Would love to see him do one -- And he don't do no junk !!!

Bill - willierods.com

I would think most of you guys with two rods in one day is much nicer than the two weeks it takes me.

Although, I can bang out a buch of tax returns in one day and not get one letter from the IRS.

I only wish I had the time, confidence, and money to build more rods.

Building one right now for a friend who had major surgury, week 2, hoping I finish it before he is cleared to go fishing, lol.

I lost a build because of a $30.00 difference in price. The guy that did build it the customer told me the handle was to long for what he was using it for

I don't do things like that

Bill - willierods.com

bill boettcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't believe every thing you read. The faster you
> try to be the more mistakes you make and or damage
> to a blank- or your fingers
>
> Do it once, do it right

EXACTLY!

"They can't afford to build 2 rods per week if they want to put food on the table."
- If they take their time, and do better work, then they can command a higher dollar for their work and could EASILY support themselves on 2 rods per week - simple Supply and Demand here. If you have ALOT of your "standard cookie cutter rods" out there, the more discerning client will likely go elsewhere for a more substantial build and you will have to sell your offerings "on the cheap" to make money. They will be willing to pay quite a bit more for a Terry Henson rod than a rod from another maker that looks (and performs) like it came right off the rack at the local flyshop!


"Torin, to refer to someone else's work as "JUNK" because they have learned some quicker techniques is a little harsh, especially if you haven't seen the finished product."
- That's just it, the author of the original post that this post is referring to (who has now removed his comments from this thread) doesn't show his rod work! I wonder why that is?! He sure likes to offer an awful lot of advise and criticism, but we don't get to see his body of work. Why is that? Feel free to criticize my work - I will welcome ALL takers, at least I have the "kahuna's" to show my work!

Torin Koski Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At that high rate of speed, you're essentially
> building the same mass-produced JUNK that I would
> never fish. Any rod that can be built in one day
> would never make it past my personal quality
> control guidelines. Two rods per week - including
> grip/reel set construction would be pretty
> borderline for me! There's so much "downtime" for
> drying/curing of glues/finishes that simpl
> be "rushed" without potentially dire consequences.
> I build mostly flyrods and do a fairly extensive
> guide spacing/static deflection test for EVERY
> blank - not just model. Any shortcuts would be a
> disservice to both my customer and the craft.

Torin

For the last 20 years I have been an outwrapper making the mass-produced JUNK that you would never fish with. Right now I make JUNK for Burkheimer rods. Just because I have developed skills that you don't have doesn't make my work JUNK. If rod wrapping is a hobby you can take as long as you want, but to make a living doing what I do you have to develop speed and maintain quality. I would put my work up against yours anytime but at 2 rods a week you don't have enough rods under your belt to make a comparison.

Thomas F. Thornhill

Torin,

"if they take their time and do better work, they can command a higher dollar for their work"? You're way off base here. You're equating time spent on a rod with quality. Guys that have been building for years can do things in minutes (and it will be of higher quality) that can take a beginner hours to do. If I can wrap a rod faster than you, then my work must be inferior, is that what you're saying?

As far as supply and demand, how many guys out there do you suppose have a client base that allows them to sell two $1000 rods a week? I can assure you it's not many. Now, how many guys do you suppose can sell 20 $200 rods per week? It IS about supply and demand and like I said above, if a builder wants to put food on the table, than they have to work quickly and efficiently. There is hardly much of a demand for $1000 rods compared to $200 rods. Depending on where you live, it's impossible to sell a $1000 rod to local fisherman. It can be hard to sell a $200 for some guys. Not everyone wants a rod that has 20 hours of feather and inlay work. Some guys just want a high performing rod and they don't care much for inlays or wraps- they want performance! If I'm not doing hours of inlays and wraps, is my work inferior to yours? No, I'm just meeting different needs of different clients.

As far as your 'cookie cutter' rods comment, custom builders build what their clients want. If client wants a high performance rod that looks plain, can be built in 2 hours, and costs $200, why should that bother you?

Like I said earlier, choose your words carefully. There's no need for you to attack the character and work of the other builders on this forum.

jeremy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2010 09:52AM by Jeremy Wagner.