I am a newbie builder, and after doing one 7' medium rod for myself, I decided t try a couple of ice rods. WOW, what a difference. I am finding everything is a lot tougher with the smaller blanks. I must be doing OK with them however, because when the pictures were seen by some friends, the response was overwhelming, and now I suddenly have several to build for other people. My problem is I don't know what to charge for them. Is there a format that anyone knows of that would help me out with this? Do the "pros" charge based on the number of hours they have in a rod, or is there some other way of determining the worth? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Also, I am having a difficult time finding guide spacing info for ice rods.

Charging by the hour means that the more proficient you are, the less you'll make. So the real question should be - what are your customers willing to pay for these rods they've asked you to build?

Charge what your market will bear. If it will not bear a sufficient amount to keep you happy, don't build the rods. Hopefully you can receive more than any similar commercially made ice rods of the same style are bringing.

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

I say often "if an ice rod were my first buid, it would also have been my only build" it is like wrapping a wet noodle on those UL panfish rods!!!!

for spacing, I bend the rod, at the point where the rod makes is first major bend (on the butt side) I place a guide and work up from there spacing it as the action allows.

Todd, I also am going to build an ice rod soon (though I'm still working on another one - my first) and am wondering about guide spacing. I've done lots of searches and have some idea where to start but there isn't a lot of info. Mine will be a 27" including a 5" cork handle and use Pac Bay Minima guides. I'm thinking something like 12-10-7-7 plus 7 tip. I'll start the butt guide 10" from the reel face, and the first (from tip) guide 2.75" from the tip. From there I can space the other guides, do a static test and adjust or change sizes.
Does anyone know if Rodmaker Magazine has done any articles with tips on ice rod setup??

Man, this hobby is addicting. I have so many ideas of more things I want to do even before I get my first one done.
John

Right,
For most ice rods, it is seldom necessary to put on more than three or perhaps 4 guides.

Just make sure that the first guide is tall enough and far enough from the reel to prevent line snap as the reel is turned that happens if the first guide is either too close or too short.

Be safe

I am with you John..It IS addicting! I am having a blast with this. And Eric, I completely understand your comment as well. I have managed pretty well so far, but they will try your patience. The cool thing though, is that you rarely see any fancy wrapping on the cookie-cutter off the rack rods, so when people see what I have been doing they are fairly impressed with it. I am enjoying using some neon colors, since many ice rod blanks come with fluorescent green or orange tips, and they are looking pretty sharp. just finished one for a friend of mine in Chicago bears colors that turned out quite nicely as well. Once I figure out how to take decent close-up photos,I will try to post some.