Greetings all!
Aspiring new rod builder here...been reading lots on this site, lots of great info, thanks for sharing!!

I have built my wrapper, this photo was before I finished with felt lining and thread guide eyes....



I have purchased my first blank, a St Croix SC5 7' MHF from Mudhole to make a bass fishing jig / worm rod with. I have an Fuji exposed blank seat and a nice cork handle kit. Also have a drying motor / stand and Mr. Kirkman's book.

I know I need to select some reamers (think I will get the dream reamer set), thread, epoxy, guides... and i am in the process of trying to decide what type / style / size of guides now.

My question is, what other materials, tools and equipment would you suggest I get to get me complete and ready to start on my first build?

If you have guide suggestions I am all ears too, not looking for top of the line but don't want low quality either.

I'm a newbie at this stuff too, but I've been doing a lot of research on my first "real" build (building on an SC5 myself). I ended up deciding that the Fuji alconite guides were the choice for me. I found a lot of threads saying positive things, and they are also pretty affordable compared to some of the guides I saw available.

I second that Fuji Alconite guides i have built more then 5 rods on those guides, they haven's failed me yet! Tight wraps!

Fuji Alconite "K" series and Kigan Coalite "Z" series are what go on the majority of my rods. Both are very good values and offer "tangle free" performance.

Hi Mark

Very nice job on the wrapper you should have not to much trouble turning out some quality rods.Mr Kirkmans book has pretty much
everything in it to help you its just a matter of time spent perfecting the little things and experimenting.Check out mudholes site they
have pretty much everything so have the sponsors on the left of the page.One thing you cant buy but what you need is patience and
time never be in a rush think things through.
cheers

Ray Balmforth
Figtree
NSW
Australia

Hi Mark,
You have made a good start but as Ray said it needs patience especially when beginning. Do some practice first on an old rod or scrap piece of blank and make your mistakes there and not on the rod. Lots of bits and pieces that can be used or made so look in "equipment and tools" for ideas. You'll need a burnishing tool before you start and there're several about but you need to find one that suits you. The gudebrod plastic ones are cheap, good and can be easily modified. Magnifying lenses make working with fine thread a lot easier and a set of Hermostats and thread picks are also helpful. Just add to what you have slowly and won't be long before you have more than you need. Keep your eyes and brain open when in craft and hardware stores and you'll find other stuff that will help.
Welcome to the addictive world of rodbuilding just take it easy and don't stress if things don't go as intended, Plenty of help on the forum.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

"Decorative Wraps" by Billy Vivona is a must.

Thanks for all the replies fellas and please keep them coming!

I have several old rods in the corner of the garage in various stages of disrepair and I definitely plan to make a couple of them practice blanks.

For this build I just want to concentrate on making a high quality rod, bling, flash and all that neat stuff will come with additional builds. I want to do a nice complimenting color wrap to the blank and possibly a small trim band and that's it.

Fuji K series in Alconite it shall be!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2012 07:38PM by Mark Fink.

Hi Mark,
There are some good guides about with SiC rings which are resonably priced and good quality. Unhide your email or send me one and I'll give you the details. Their not a sponsor, yet, so can't mention them here.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Col Chaseling Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Mark,
> There are some good guides about with SiC rings
> which are resonably priced and good quality.
> Unhide your email or send me one and I'll give you
> the details. Their not a sponsor, yet, so can't
> mention them here.

Thanks for the offer, email is now visible.

This is my pending and subject to change materials / equipment list that I think I need to get started on the blank in my original post, please feel free to comment on my selections.
Guides-
1 BKWAG10J
1 BKWAG8J
1 BKWAG6J
6 BKTAG6J
1 BFAT6 (5.5)

1 8OZ pkg Prokote Thread finish
1 8OZ pkg Propaste epoxy
1 125 ct pkg 2.5 OZ mixing cups
1 set dream reamers
1 plastic burnishing tool
1 white china marker
1 box single blade razors
assortment of Prowrap color fast size a thread 100 yard spools
1 100 yard spool Sulky silver metallic thread

I figured I would get some of the craft brushes, iso alcohol at walmart.

with the dream reamers , if you use powered equipment to drive them, be sure they are rotating in the proper direction. if not you may peel the sandpaper off quicker than you would think possible. i would go with the other reccomendation of practicing on a scrap rod first. you will see(MY PERSONAL OBSERVATION OF MY WORK) subtle nuances of misspacing you didn't think you did, bubbles in finish, missed spots in guide wrap, more bubbles, misalignment, missed spots for glue. much more fun to do them on scrap than a good blank. like your st. croix. good luck with your building. it is addictive. rodbuilding is one of my favorite hobbies.

It all looks too clean. .... but give it some time. Nice job!

Where'd your guide sizes come from? I don't really know what i'm talking about, but wouldn't a size 10 be a little small for the first guide?

How much do the brushes cost at walmart? I found that the mudhole ones were cheaper than the ones I got at a local store, but I didn't think of walmart. I'm sure their alcohol will be affordable for you, as long as you buy it in 30 packs. :)

Forget the mixing cups, go with a reusable shot glass for thread epoxy mixing and doubled over pieces of aluminum foil for epoxy glue mixing with popsicle sticks or inexpensive flat spatulas.. You can also make small foil dishes out of the aluminum to pour the thread finish into. A Mickey D straw for blowing on thread finish to get rid of bubbles. Old pen bodies or small crochet needles make decent burnishers. Look for some inexpensive $3-4 synthetic 1/4 brushes for putting on thread finish, they clean up with DNA.

Col Chaseling, BIG thank you for the email, I plan to check them out today.

Woody, Thanks for the tip on powering the reamers. I definitely plan to do it by hand for the time being.

Thanks Steve! I am looking forward to getting some dirt and epoxy on it.

Scott, I came up with my guide sizes from some suggestions by other rod builders and by measuring some of my rods that I have now. You may be right about the first guide, hopefully someone will come along and give me some more input on that. The brushes that Mudhole has on their site appear to be exactly like the ones Walmart carries. I want to say around 30 brushes for maybe a couple of bucks. I make jigs and buy them for applying epoxy to the lead heads and they work great for that.

Ray, Thanks for info, much appreciated! I will skip the cups. I was wondering if I would be able to clean up the brushes and cups, sounds like the DNA is the answer there. The Walmart brushes only come in 1/8" (I think) so I may have to order some 1/4" from Mudhole.

Thanks again fellas for all your help!! Please keep it coming!

Mark,

It sounds like you have things pretty well under control, and have some sound advice.

My only suggestion is with your guide selection. You don't need all of the sizes. I would drop the 8mm double foot guide and the 6mm double foot, and replace them with 6mm single foot guides. After you build a few, the traditional guide trains used on factory rods start looking odd, but if you don't want to buck tradition too much, I would use the double foot 10, double foot 6, and then single foot 6s to the tip.

You'll probably need about 8 guides on that build, so if you order 1 more BKTAG6J, you'll be able to tinker with dropping one or both of the 8mm and 6mm double foot guides.

In regard to the sizing of the butt guide, it is large enough. It's not uncommon to build with 6mm double foot or smaller fly guide for the butt guide on micro builds with low profile bass reels. Also, take a look at Angler's Resource's KR concept videos on You Tube. The 10mm double foot and 6mm guides to the tip will put you in line with that concept of line management. Perhaps one of the most important lessons I've learned in rod building is that guide trains are fairly forgiving, especially on casting rods.

Joe

I wouldn't bother with anything other than 6SF guides, top to bottom. You will be just fine with any low profile casting reel.

Mark,
Just a couple of comments.
Cleaning any items of coating epoxy tends to be a bit of a bother and can turn into a major bother.
So, in spite of the other comment about mixing cups, I very much prefer the use of the plastic mixing cups for both slow drying assembly epoxy as well as finish epoxy.
I go to the local grocery store and go to the Deli Dept. I ask for a couple stacks of their Deli sample plastic cups. these are typically 2-3 oz cups and they generally charge me about $2 for 400 cups. So, a very inexpensive purchase.

Also, I never clean coating brushes. Rather, I buy the very inexpensive brushes for coating, buy them in bulk and pay about 5 cents each for the brushes.

With respect to the alcohol. Walmart is just fine for the purchase. Just be sure to go to the Paint Dept in Walmart and pick up the 100% alcohol that is used for paint thinning and cleaning. Do, not go to the drug store and get the watered down alcohol that is about 30% non alcohol.

Also, a quart of Acetone, a quart of Lacquer thinner, a quart of Mineral spirits and a quart of Xylene is not a bad idea. Each of these liquids will have a very good application some of the time in Rod building. As with any chemical, be sure to follow all guidelines for proper ventilation and use when using. Simply put, Alcohol will not do the best job all of the time for your use in rod building.

With respect to guides, also consider the use of the Pac Bay minima guides. In recent years, many of my clients and customers like the use of the Minima guides on their rods. Very very light, quite inexpensive and they do an excellent job on most rods for most applications in fresh water.