Hi all.

I have only just joined the forum..though i have been reading threads as a guest for sometime now im pleased to finally be able to call on your wealth of experience :-)

I head over to Ireland for some bream fishing with friends every year and this year have decided to go old-skool and build myself a dedicated swingtip rod to take with me. I have stripped the blank ready (im using a 9.5ft old hardy graphite swingtip) and purchased all the bits and pieces through guides and blanks with the help of Gregg.

I have a couple of quick questions im hoping someone can offer advice on. Im fitting a full length (22") cork handle and have taken what i thought would be the easiest route with 2x 2" flared ends and an 18" single piece centre. Im using graphite sliding reel bands. The blank on the hardy is pretty slim at about 12mm and the pre-bored corks centre hole is about 14 so i need to build up the blank before i fit it. Im considering two ways...

1. Masking tape..would need a couple of wraps around. Some recommend it but others say if it gets wet through the corks it will lose adhesion. I wondered if a thin smear or epoxy on the blank first and between layers will do the trick and stop it from degrading over time
2. Fiberglass tissue paper ...cut into 1" long strips and wrapped around..again would use epoxy to fix and between layers as its about the same thickness as masking tape.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Secondly i will be fitting fuji single leg guides 12 down to 6 (apart from a single three leg butt). Was intending using simple black Gudebrod A grade nylon for the whippings but have realised over the last few days that you just cant find it anymore. What is the best equivalent nylon? I do have two spools of grade d gudebrod but figured it a little thick for my purpose?

Thanks everyone...Gav :-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2016 10:21AM by Gavin Frusher.

Gav

Nothing wrong with using masking tape or fiberglass tape. The tape bushings serve two purposes, the first of which is to center the grip or seat on the blank, Additionally the tape bushings are the structures around which the adhesive forms fillets from the blank to the grip or seat. The woven fiberglass tape is arguably the better choice as it permits adhesive to both form fillets and permits the adhesive to enter the structure of the tape. My thinking is the more, relatively narrow tape bushings the better. Not certain how the tape bushings might get wet through the cork provided the adhesive is applied evenly and in sufficient quantity to fill the voids.

Everyone has their favorite nylon. I primarily use ProWrap as it has a wide selection of color choices. And have recently use the Fuji ultra poly thread. Yes, size D is a bit thick and not as aesthetically pleasing.

Thanks Donald.

As i will only be gluing cork to the blank (no reel 'seat' ) i figured on completely covering the area to which the cork will be fitted. Would you still recommend multiple 'bushings' instead with say 1 " masking tape then 1" gap etc along its length?.

Thanks...Gav

That ought to work resulting in about 18 adhesive fillets. Do mix enough adhesive to slightly overfill the gaps, rotate the cork as you push it into place, and clean up any drips and excess adhesive with alcohol. Epoxy paste adhesive will tend to stay put and be easier to work with over the 18" while sliding the grip into place.

Cheers buddy...appreciated :-)

If you are interested in the lightest grip then I would consider using sections of rigid poly foam reel seat shim material using similar width/spacing as masking tape. If weight is not an issue, then masking tape is probably the easiest, and is reliable. Make sure that each tape section is totally encapsulated in epoxy, as was mentioned earlier.

Thanks Michael.

Cheers guys. Got the bulk of the handle fitted today. Went with the multiple bushings using fibreglass mat and rod-dancer 15min epoxy paste. Really happy with the result. Just need to turn the corks down when its set from 25mm to 22.5 to fit the reel rings before fitting the flared ends.

My usual suppliers appear to have the fuji ultra poly thread or fishhawk nylon as the only choices in black grade a thread. Though i have some rod-dancer colour preserver in the kit i bought i figured if using black it would be a step i could miss out?

Being polyester does the fuji ultra behave any differently from nylon? What would be your first choice for a beginner?

Thanks again ...Gav

Poly does not stretch as much as nylon, but it has better UV resistance. It works very well.

I have used Fish Hawk, Pac Bay, Gudebrod, Pro thread and they all work well.

When I arbor up a grip as you are using I will use masking tape. Near the ends, I use narrower masking tape, Then towards the center I use wider - like 2 inch masking tape. In all cases, I separate each roll of tape by about 1/16th of an inch, that is well filled with epoxy to form the bond of the grip to the blank. I have never had an issue with a grip coming loose using this method.



Good luck



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2016 07:13PM by roger wilson.

Thanks Roger...have ordered some Fishhawk today in 'A' . :-)

Gav

If you need to take up a small area for the cork grip to fit the blank, consider using a spiraled thread wrap for that purpose. There are various sized threads which allow you to take up space as needed, and you can even spiral up and then back down to double the effective thickness.

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

Cheers Tom :-)