Good afternoon and hello to all, I would like to say first this is a fantastic forum, My knowledge and respect to this great craft of rod building has become 100 percent improved, now I am ready to try my hand in building for my self, thank you to all.. I have been looking at just about every tool out there on the web, seen lots of comments about most but have not found much about the CRB, does anyone have any insight about there equipment? I'm at the point throwing a dart of which one to buy.. (although it does take me 5 min. to pick out a loaf of bread) any advise will be appreciated. thank you in advance. Bret from So. Texas

we need a bit more details to help you with what tool or piece of equipment you are looking to purchase

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Something to start out with. Wrapper and dryer.

I bought the rail kit for the hand wrapper, and the rails are nice the plates and screws they include were not to my liking, so I got some 1/8" alum (the same width, and cut it into 4 pieces and drilled it to match the ones that came with it) from Fleet farm, and made new ones, now it is rock solid.

I just started building about 5 !Months ago, and bought the CRB HWS-1 hand wrapper and the CRB rod dryer. I didn't want to make a big investment in equipment until I knew this is something I liked, and for the price and my interest, it was a good fit. I'll be upgrading to a power wrapper soon, but won't upgrade to the CRB power wrapper. No complaints with what I have...Great price point to find out if you like it.

Terry, could you post a couple pics? I'm having a hard time visualizing your reinforcement.

Thanks,

Craig

Anything you would have added with the initial investment to start? Mixer, more stands etc. I can see adding rails like Mr. Fude said would give more space for adjustments while working.

Rails would be helpful, but I just set the spacing I wanted with the stands and move the thread carriage as needed. If you get the hand wrapper and rod dryer, you'll have plenty of stands. I was mostly drawn into rod building because I wanted to try thread art, so my initial investment was the hand wrapper, an inexpensive but large e-glass blank, a thread pick, burnishing tool, razor blades, and half a dozen spools of thread. You really don't need to spend a lot to get started. You'll figure out the things that you need to make it easier for what you want to do.

currently I have a rod on the wrapper, and can not turn it over to get the pics. but if you look at the plates that come with the rails, they have 4 holes, and are quite thin, so the 1/8 in thick alum strips bolt in their place and dont have very much give to them. when I get the wrap done i will get some pics up of them.

Thank You that would be great!

Craig

I have the CRB wrapper and dryer as well. I just move the stands and the wrapper on my workbench as needed. My space is limited otherwise I would consider buying the rails as well. The system works well for what I am doing. If I start to build rods more regularly then I will need to upgrade it but I dont see that happening soon.

Bret, If your going to throw a dart ,aim for the Pac-Bay set up. I have one from 20 years ago that I bought used. Used it for 4 or 5 years and bought a Renzitte after upgrading the Pac-Bay unit with an aluminum chuck and new uprights about 10 years ago and never had a problem. The new units are even better now. I keep the Pac-Bay unit as a back up.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

We have bought a fair amount of CRB equipment over the past two years, because Mudhole was the only source for supplies and tools that we knew of when we just started out and the CRB equipment was what they recommended or came with the original kit we purchased. Overall, I'd say the CRB stuff is fine--especially for someone just starting out. I mean, it is better than nothing, and it will certainly allow you to do a good job assembling your rod. However, in my opinion, most of the equipment is designed around and aimed at the new rod builder, and if you continue in the craft, you will most likely, upgrade many of your tools and the upgrade will be to a different brand, Nothing wrong with the CRB stuff at all, but most items will not be ones you keep long term.

Father to William (15 yrs), who I hope has found his passion in custom rod building!

Gib..I would agree. The CRB stuff works fine for me at the moment. Watching youtube videos of more experienced rod builders has shown me more advanced wrappers that are out there. I would like to upgrade my rod dryer sometime soon. The suction cup type attachment can be a bit of a pain at times. I like the 3-point chuck system that I see on others. I may create my own version based on some different ones out there.

If you are unsure if your interest will be piqued and you will want to continue I would recommend you consider looking at buying separate parts of wrappers that can later be upgraded to power wrappers - should you find this as addictive as many others. Check Angler's Workshop (to the left) as they sell "piece parts" that can be added to as you feel budget allows. Others such as PacBay, AmTak are also available starting with simple tracks & stands purchased separately. If you find later that your interest is not as serious you should easily be able to sell off the parts on the buy/sell page here.

Thank you everyone for all the advise, knowing me and how much passion I have for fly fishing or any as far as that goes I will be building rods for all my[ adult now] kids and more than likely just to build. I decided on a custom built hand wrapper made out of wood with 3 stands, a 2 spool tensioner and a dryer with 3 stands, I will see how it goes, build some rods and up grade if needed. Thanks again for all the good advise and this forum.. Bret

Just to let you know...there's a lightly used wrapper for sale on this board right now. Looks like a nice setup with some nice upgrade....ai think its a Pac Bay unit. You should check it out...

Looks like you've gotten some really good, solid advice.

Good luck!

Dave

I currently have CRB equipment and it works good for a beginner like us. The problem is as you advance you have to be willing to modify it to make it work with other brands. I like it better than the wood stuff. I will try to add pics of my stuff or pm me on Facebook and will send them to you there.

David C. L'Heureux
ET2 (SW/AW) USA RET.
100% Disabled Veteran

Hey Bret (and all)

Just wanted to touch base on a few things in this thread.

Bret - if you are looking to build your first rod, we have some great turnkey kits (rod kits plus all the supplies bundled) well priced to help people get started - here:

[www.mudhole.com]

We also have multi-option rod kits that allow you to basically pick your rod, handle type and material, application (spin/cast) and even your guide colors. They can be found here:

[www.mudhole.com]

Those rod kits do not come with supplies - If you need an all-in-one starter type supply kit - I would suggest this (our best seller):

[www.mudhole.com]

Any of these choices will allow you to get started with quality products - without breaking the bank. The more you get hooked on rod building, then you can invest in different tools and equipment based on your needs and preferences. But these kits are a pretty good starting point that will serve you well.

Regards.
Team Mud Hole Custom Tackle
Web: [www.mudhole.com]
Email: sales@mudhole.com
Toll Free Phone #: 1-866-790-RODS (7637)

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posted a pic of the strips i built to replace the ones that came with the rails, in the equipment section