I’m new to rod building and this page. Just wondering a couple things to start:
1) why no epoxy in between double foot guides?

2) I’ve built two mhx fly rods 9ft 8 wt and 11ft 5 wt. I have another 11ft 8 wt and 13’6” 8 wt both Mhx to build and an h and h Xi 10ft 4 wt to build. These are my first rods I’m building on from what I understand to be the cheaper side of blanks. I was thinking about a rainshadow switch rod to build but is it just more of the same cheap fast action rod that really seems to be just a medium action noodle or is it a broom stick? And how does Beulah compare?

1. Because it's unnecessary and does nothing but add a little extra weight.

..........

Thanks Tom I kind of figured that was the case. On my first rod I put too much on and found it easier to put the epoxy right through. On my next one I’ll try to eliminate the excess.

Zack,
Of course Tom is correct.
Rule of thumb: Thread epoxy is only used to cover "things" like thread and logos/labels. Maybe alignment marks.

Tom didn't answer your last question - I will not either.

I will say, however, that CTS fly blanks are considered by many to be some of the best in the world.
I have built hundreds of fly rods on CTS fly blanks. Most who own one - whether they built it themselves or had it built - put their Sage's and T&T's in the back of the closet - rarely to see the light of day.
What originally attracted me to the CTS blanks are their lightness "in-the-hand" (swing weight) and their blazing recovery rate. They are easy to cast and can be "pushed" when needed in windy conditions.
Every once in a while I do buy other brand blanks so that I can compare them to CTS. They never survive for me to fish them - just won't do it - not worth it.
I end-up selling them to another fly fisher for less than I paid for the blank just to make room in my rack.

BTW - I just finished a "Fund-raiser" for stripersonline.com - I put up 20 of my personal CTS fly rods at very low prices - sold 12 of them and the other 8 were donated to Casting For Recovery.

Really no sense building on mediocre blanks for experience. All that work and all those components - wasted grips. You can always rebuild a rod if you are unhappy with the outcome - done every day.
Contact me if you want to discuss.
Herb Ladenheim
U.S. Distributor CTS Blanks.

I believe fly casters of different abilities prefer different fly rod blanks, which makes sense. It's tough to give useful advice to someone when you don't know what their abilities or their aspirations are. I imagine that contributes to the popularity of terms such as "accurate", "fast", "powerful", "smooth" and "soulful" among advertisers of rods and rod blanks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2019 02:51PM by Phil Ewanicki.