Ok, there are many GREAT rod building tools and gizmos but which one do YOU think you think you could not live without or would cry if it was taken away.
Hands down, mine would be my Flex-Coat slip-clutch. Finish work would not be the same if I did not have one and every rod gets finish so every rod would be impacted.

Other favorites are my Doc Ski weaving jigs, my Wonder Weaver, my and cork slicing jigs. These are not as indispensable as my Flex-Coat SlipClutch but life would be hard to handle if they were gone.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

My drill press used for turning cork and foam ramps.

Dental pick!

Dream Reamers

Raymond

Amen, brother.

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

For me, a couple things come to mind. One would be my guide alignment tool. I made it from an old spinning reel. I cut away most of the gear case body and left the foot, stem and the front face portion that has the hole for the rotor. I use this for sight aligning guides on both spinning and casting rods. Aligning guides has always been a challenge for me and this “tool” works great. I tried one using just a reel foot with a notched stem, but it didn’t work too well.The “sight hole” on this one gives me a vertical window that allows me to center all components, reel seat, blank and guides.
Another “gadget”, would be my Rod Holding Fixture Setup that I use for measuring rod specs (RDA or CCS). I used to have trouble getting consistent, repeatable readings when doing RDA (or CCS) measurements, so I made a simple fixture from an old spinning reel. Its basically a fixed reel foot that I can install a rod onto and clamp the rod securely with the reel seat lock nut. Kinda hard to explain, so I posted a couple of pics in the photo section.
Anyway, not only does it give me consistency/repeatability, but allows me to measure a rod much the way its used on the water. I concede that my measurements won’t correlate with anyone else’s, but I’ve long given up on getting usable ratings input from other sources, so I use “my” system to give me the relative ratings for my rods.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2015 02:41PM by jim spooner.

3 things: Magnifiers, Razor Blades and Electricity!

Magnifier lamps & drug store cheapo reading glasses. Without these game over!
Rog

Hello,

Great thread!

For me it's the small everyday items that we don't seem to notice until we need to buy more:

1. Paper towels
2. Isopropyl alcohol
3. Line level (I use on blanks to make sure each end is level before applying finish)
4. Automotive masking tape
5. Razor blades/hobby knife

p.s. x2 on electricity!

-chad

My Midi lathe. As I specialize in custom fly rod grips, using exotic woods and materials.