Hello all,

This is my first time posting here. I have built a few rods before, but its been awhile. My new project is a brown Fenwick Blank #FL 90-6F. I have the reel seat and full wells grip installed and I am getting ready to place and wrap the guides. I want to wrap this rod in a somewhat traditional Fenwick style. I have a FF75 to use as a pattern for approximate guide placing and thread colors and wrapping style.

I know its a subjective thing, but on a retro glass rod, do you think that a spar varnish finish on the wraps would be more appealing than epoxy?

Will spar varnish make my brown thread darker than the epoxy finish would?

I did a little more research and came back to edit this posting. Its been awhile since I built a rod. There is a TON of information out there now that wasnt available 10 years ago. Forums, Youtube, and the vendors have made this a little easier for me.

Thanks to all

Jesse Shipe



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2012 08:12PM by Jesse Shipe.

Jesse, it is totally subjective, try a couple of test wraps on a scrap piece of blank, coat one with epoxy and the other with spar varnish. Go with the one that suits "your" taste. The Spar Varnish will probably give you more of a "retro" look than the epoxy.

As far as locating the placement of guides, you can use the other rod as a start point but don't stamp that in stone, do a static test on the blank to make sure the line is following the same path as the curve in the blank. Every blank has its own unique properties, one of the things that sets a custom built rod apart from a factory version.

Those old Fenwick Glass blanks have quite a following in some circles, should be a nice rod to fish once you get it built out. You might want to check out another forum called Fiberglass Flyrodders. The blank you have and the finished factory rod show up there quite often in member posts. While this forum is much better suited to answering the how to about building rods and tips to improve you skills, the other is just about glass fly rods, so both would be beneficial to you.

Thanks for the reply Bill. Makes sense to me. I love my old FF75, its been rated as one of the best fly rods of all time. I have been reading these forums off and on for a long time. I am always amazed at how much information is out there about fly fishing, its a lot to go through. Thanks again.

I put a reel on the rod and moved the guides a bit from the static placement. Im hoping this rod fishes better than my FF75, time will tell.

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

Jesse Shipe

If memory serves, the wraps on the brown Fenwick glass blanks was a dark or chestnut brown with a tan NCP trim band. Thread was either made by Gudebrod or Holland.

Hi and thanks for the information. I ordered more thread and a few supplies, hope to get on this real soon.

Jess