I have conducted a respectable amount of research on my own, but I ended up determining that I needed to join a forum to get useful opinions and facts from people with real-world experience. I have fished for a over two decades now, and I have experience ranging from salt water and fresh water, from ponds, to trout streams, the Great Lakes, to the Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. I want to find out what a person that intends on building in the range of 12-24 rods a year should truly focus his dollar on? Money is an object and I am staying under the $500 price point for starting out in rod building. In case any of you are wondering if I intend on trying to sell rods right out the gate, the answer is no. I will provide a couple demo rods to fellow fishermen that I know, and have them field test rods to ensure I am actually building rods suitable for use and also I will solicit improvements from the chosen individuals who used and abused the rods.

I am interested in finding out about absolute necessities as far as tools and materials: e.g. 2-part epoxy, 9 rpm rod turning motor, ....

What are things/tools/materials that are all hype and have little impact on building rods successfully?

I was looking to start with the Mudhole Custom Tackle Pro rod building startup kit(FSB-3). Is this a decent choice or are there better options for build kits?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2016 09:31PM by Anton Tyree.

Anton, equipment is one thing, talent is another. It's a very rewarding hobby - especially if you fish, but there's an outside chance you might not "love" it or find some things that you're just not good at. I would NEVER discourage anyone from starting the hobby, and you've come to the right place for information, but it sounds as if you're starting a business without the benefit of a single finished rod under your belt. People pay top dollar for custom rods because they are not only functional but also stunningly beautiful as well (which is why I'm not in the custom rod business ;) ). I've been at this for 6 years and although I would consider myself technically sound, I still do not consider myself a custom rod builder. Build some rods for yourself. When a friend offers you $500 for one of yours, you'll know you're ready.

Well thanks for the reply but as I stated in my post, I AM NOT INTENDING ON SELLING RODS. I need input from individuals that are not my own opinions and they will use the rods in various applications that I either just don't use them for or I won't have time to do it. You seemed to have focused on one sentence and answered nearly nothing else. Also I am not looking to sell rods for $500 rods anytime soon because again, am looking to figure out what I need to do as far as fine tuning the fishability of rods that I build. Skill/talent is not a huge concern of mine, but thanks for mentioning it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2016 06:11PM by Anton Tyree.

Anton

I'm confused over the $500 thing and I assume you mean you intend to begin with a $500 investment for tools, supplies, blanks, etc. and not that you are targeting a finished product price point.

I suggest you look closely at the FSB-2 instead of the FSB-3. The FSB-3 includes things such as a spine finder that you frankly do not need. And the only item missing from the FSB-2 that would truly make life much easier is the 4 piece extreme reamer.

Thank you for the input . Yes I am referring to $500 that I am willing to invest in starting this hobby.

Anton,

Jim was trying to be helpful. He has his own business to run, as do many of the builders here, and not everyone can always give you a detailed answer. Thus many will respond to one aspect only. Hopefully you get enough responses so that you can piece together a complete answer to all your questions.

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

I asked nothing about selling fishing rods and I asked nothing about talent or love of the craft in my post. I am asking about required components, materials, tools and things of that sort in this post. Not something that I, the individual, will or will not develop such as love of the craft of rod building. I can absolutely compile single responses from members though, to get a lot of valuable information.

I will put my 2 cents in
A book on custom rod building is a good start in these they tell you a lot about tools and how to do it. I go to my book shelf often.
as Donald said the extreme reamer is a great tool I'm glad I bought one.

Not sure with the attitude you display, will get responses from those who might help you. Your original post was not clear and some of the early response were attempts to respond to what they interpreted.

To get started you do not need more then just the basic tools, thread, epoxy, razor blades, even a cardboard box with V notches for the blank holder, which is what many of us started with.

I don't have an attitude Phil. Im asking for specifics to building. My post said, and still does say I do not intend on selling rods anywhere in the near future. What I did receive in the first response was/is unrelated to my post. The $500 point I did however clarify, as to make sure it is understood that I want to keep my spending under $500 for starting out in tools and materials.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2016 09:43PM by Anton Tyree.

Maybe you do not realize that a statement in caps, is considered the same as shouting!

Also to emphasize when something that was typed in the original post was (A) either not read or (B) ignored.

Alton, What kinds of rods are you planning on making? To start off with you really do not need a lot of equipment to start off with. Hand wrappers works very well. If you are planning on making grips from scratch, you will need some sort of lathe, and it does not need to expensive. If you are planning on using preformed grips then you do not need a lathe to start with, and a cordless drill will work for final sanding of preformed grips. One thing you will need will be a good set of reamers, you can buy them or make them yourself. You can do a search here or on the internet to research how to make them, easy to do and inexpensive. I also think it is advisable to have a rod turner with rod supports for drying your finish, I have been using 9 rpm motors for a long time with no problems. You can hand turn and still get a good finish, I did this when I first started, but is extremely boring. As far as other supplies you will need a two part epoxy finish, most on the market are very good. Two part epoxy for gluing on grips and reel seats, paste and/or liquid types. Will also need hot melt tip top cement, and an alcohol burner. You will need an assortment of threads in different colors for you guide wraps and trim. If you are planning on doing decorative wraps buy a good book, like Billy Vivona's, along with a good thread packer. Decorative wraps do require an artists eye and patience, and is not for everyone. These are a few of my random thoughts on this. I will chime in again when I have more time. Hope this helps.
Norm

Anton,

Welcome to a new addiction, I just finished rod 28 today, I built my own dryer with a $3.00 motor and my own wooden Rod holding/wrapping station.

I am far from a professional, the tools you absolutely cannot live without are reamer, extra thread colors, color preserver, brushes, razor blades, scotch brite pads, multiple widths of masking tape and a drying station.

Popsicle sticks for the handle and reel seat epoxy are handy along with tons of denatured alchohol.

Enjoy your decisions!

RW-JR Pac Bay, or the HW-1 Flexcoat wrappers, or something similar would be my choice. Starting out I would want to spend my money on supplies, components and tools and keep it compact so I could build anywhere instead of spend my money, starting out, on specific furniture, or rod building area. The Forecast rod dryer if I remember right is a good value, and stores compact.

Strongly suggest you take a Mud Hole 2 day rod building class. You get the basics (far more than the basics in my opinion) on day one. Day two lots of advanced technique demos and a whole morning of questions and answers. Day 2 includes use of power wrapper and other tools. If you can't wait for the next class (January) then my suggestion would be to locate a builder in your area and set up an appointment where you can go to his/her shop/house ask your questions one on one.

Verbal exchange of information face to face will negate any mis-interpretation others might have of your posts.
Where do you live?

Buzz

Anton,
I wrapped one rod by hand.

I am an engineer by trade.

I said that is why we were given us a mind to reduce manual effort. As a result, I started on my quest of making power wrappers of various sorts.

After about a dozen different wrappers over the years, I finally have one that I am very happy with. All of the previous wrappers worked, just some worked better.

Same thing true of dryers.

Because I do other things in the shop beside wrap rods, all of the building tools break down and store in small spaces.

After the many rods that I have built over the years, the actual tools that I use is really a small number.

---------------------------
Exacto knife - supply of blades.
Fly tying scissors that I use to trim thread. I just find that a scissors work much better than a razor blade for myself.
A few different scissors that I use for trimming and cutting different things during the building process.
I few sharpened picks that I use for a wrapping aid to move thread and to assist when tying off thread.
Tweezers to deal with small objects
A few different sized needle nose pliers

Soap to wash hands. Frequent washing of hands work well to eliminate hand debris and oil that end up on the rod being built.

5 minute epoxy.
15 minute epoxy.
30 minute epoxy.

Tite bond III wood glue

Elmers light oak wood filler to fill voids in cork.

Sand paper - grit sizes 100, 150, 220, 320, 400 - for shaping and sanding cork when creating cork grips.

Alcohol for various cleaning purposes.

I prefer to use an alcohol lamp for heating tip cement for tip application. I also use the lamp to shrink the thread and melt the tag ends of thread.

If you use pre made grips, you will minimize the need for a wood lathe and the associated turning tools. However, if you do decide to make grips from cork, the use of a small wood working lathe makes the job a lot easier.

For myself, I much prefer the use of a power wrapper, as well as a good dryer.

-------------------------------------------
For many years I used a simple power wrapper with a power head mounted on a wooden board with a slot routed down the middle to hold the rod rests. A thread unit with an arm and tension device on the arm took care of the thread needs.
The thread unit simply rests against the back of the wrapper base board and slides along the back of the board. I made the rod rests from aluminum bar stock and pulleys made of skate board ball bearings with O rings on the outside of the bearings.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

------------------------------------------
Really good lighting is necessary to do a good job of wrapping rods.
I like to use a head band mounted magnifier of 2.5x power to be able to better see the individual wraps of the thread.

Good luck and enjoy.

A lot of great info. As people have stated, start with the basics. Buy a rod kit that meets your requirements, hand wrapper, single rod dryer, xacto or scissors, wax pencil, thread tools. If you want to find the spine of a rod do it the old fashioned way. You don't need a spine finder. You don't need a rod dryer but it will make it easier. I still have my original single rod dryer but now I use it to dry flies and bucktails. Good luck.

Anton, I too am new and this board is the place to be and learn. I suggest is you take one of the courses offered by Mudhole, you will learn a lot of basic stuff and will get you started. I made mistakes and so will you but that is part of learning. Its a great hobby and a lot of satisfaction comes with building a rod and having a good fisherman praise it. I hope you the best and welcome to a great board. Phil

Aton, you will find the forum's search function to be quite helpful. Just be sure to set it for all dates (which should really be the default setting anyway) before starting your search. There's nothing wrong with asking questions, that's what the forum is here for, but you can save yourself some time that way. Sometimes you might have to rephrase your topic a few different ways to get what you're looking for, but it helps. The 1st paragraph at the top of this page can be a little misleading, (feel free to post, etc.) as if you ask the wrong question or mention the wrong product you may hear about it. There's a learning curve, but a wealth of great info available here, and always someone willing to help. Welcome, Lynn