The earlier suggestion of having good lighting is spot on. Being able to see what you're doing, will lead to less frustration. And as a new builder, there will definitely be things that frustrate you. Nobody was born knowing how to start a guide wrap, or get a perfectly wrapped guide, or perfectly applied finish. Not putting undo pressure on yourself will lead to fewer frustrations. For me, the number one frustration I encountered, was brought on by myself by thinking I should be doing things faster than I was. Don't go in with preconceived notions of how long it should take you. It will take you as long as it takes you. With experience comes familiarity, Get familiar with what you're doing before you try to go fast doing it.

Also, the suggestion of sharp cutting tools is another one to take to heart. Just like a dull knife will cut you more easily than a sharp knife will, dull razor blades or scissors. are more prone to lead to problems like accidentally cutting a wrap when trimming a tag end.

When you mix your finishes and epoxies, mix them thoroughly. When you mix your guide finish mix it slowly as well, and don't let your mixing utensil leave the finish. Every time your utensil leaves the edge of your finish while mixing, it brings air into the mixture. And air creates bubbles. To help the finish release bubbles, don't leave it in the cup you mixed it in. Pour it out on some aluminum foil so that it will spread out. The finish spreading out allows any bubble deep in the mixture to come to the surface more easily. I personally use the little foil dishes that Mud Hole sells to pour my finish into.

Don't play with your finish trying to get it perfect while putting it on. The more you play with it, the more likely you are to create problems with it. Put it on and let it do its' thing as far as self leveling. If you put on too much you can always let it sag and wick off the excess. Everyone wants nice thin coats of finish on their wraps, but at least in my case, that came with experience.

If you're using winding checks or other trim rings, don't forget to put them on. It's a good idea to lay out your handle and reel seat assemblies in the order they will go on the blank. There is nothing more frustrating than getting everything glued up and in place, only to discover you forgot a winding check.

And finally .... the opinion advanced earlier in this thread, that a lighter rod is better for fishing, is simply an opinion. And is something that you will learn as you build more rods, or build rods for specific purposes. If fancy thread wraps and trim pieces that add weight to a rod make fishing with the rod more enjoyable, then they made the rod better, not worse. Of course that's just my opinion.

Enjoy the process, because it is a lot of fun, and so very cool to catch a fish on a rod that you built yourself.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2021 04:53PM by David Baylor.

Nail polish remover, is Acetone with additives. If you wish to use acetone instead of DNA, be sure you test for any possible damage or contamination.

One aspect of taking your time (and what not to do also) is making sure you get the parts you want.

Some things, like deciding you want snake guides instead of single foot guides aren't that hard to change. The other way around is likely to be a cosmetic blunder.

Fly rods are usually understated and elegant. The reel seat and the grips are going to be the bling and will also be the hardest parts to change later on. My advice is to get them right the first time around. Try to find some rods to cast that have cigar, half wells, reverse half wells, and full wells....Ideally in both cork and carbon. Then you have up locking vs down locking....recessed hood or not....fighting butt (and do you want it screw on or glue on) or not. You don't
'have" to spend a lot to get something that works well and looks nice.....but you sure "can" spend a lot.

Guides are a little easier to decide on. For a 3 weight I can't see going with ceramic insert running guides....nor do I think you need recoils as I assume it is strictly for fresh water use (Now Herb loves recoils and doesn't care for carbon grips). Point being you need to decide for yourself. I might pick a light wire single foot but you might like the looks of a snake guide better.

Keep the guide wraps fairly simple. Something like one color with a single/few turn insert (I like metallic thread for that). Keep in mind the guide wrap will not end up being the same color as the thread on the spool unless you use CP, or NCP thread, or black thread. That isn't a problem as long as you know ahead of time. Do a practice wrap on a part that will be hidden using a guide, then douse it with rubbing alcohol, and it will be close to how it will look with epoxy on it. Notice that the guide foot shows through. Black thread is the easiest to work with IMHO and gold or silver metallic makes a nice contrast.

Wrapping guides out near the tip of the rod can be tough on light power rods as they flex so much. Consider adding a fly tying bobbin (or two) to your shopping cart. Flexcoat guide adhesive is handy also. Lot of rags, alcohol, and blue painters tape (I like to have surgical gloves too). I would not use acetone for a variety of reasons. The handle and the grips are the easiest place to mess up and the hardest to fix. Glue lines that show and handles/arbors reamed off center to grips scream amateur.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

First, congratulation with a great blank. I think you have gotten many good answers here. For my my winter project here in Norway I bought two 7,6 CTS blanks, one Affinity X and one glass 3wt. The glass rod, I wish to make a into something special. First I wished to to have genuine nickel reel seat. I after buying one , I found too heavy, heavier than blank itself. At the moment I have two choices a polished Struble u-20 or a lemke nickel silver plated reel seat.I will dry mount them on the blank to see which one I prefer. The guides were easy : Snake brand ECO lights and skipped fragile agate insert as stripper and chose ceramics. Thread colour was dificult to choose, except I will use silk. Regular thread is easier to wrap. I will either go for invisible wraps, chartreuse silk with or without CP. I have to do some test wrapping first. As others have said take your time. I will also turn the grip and wood insert myself., but as it is your first build, buy a prefabricated grip and reel seat with insert. And use slow curing epoxy as Rod Bond, so you get plenty of time to clean up any spill. Any acetone or rubber alcohol you are tempted to use, try a test where to reel seat will be first.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2021 10:02AM by Terje Bendiksby.

Welcome, Joel.

Before I permanently attach the guides I attach the guides with masking tape, I install the reel with line and I go fishing. The masking tape will hold up long enough for me to see how the rod behaves and make any adjustments to the guide spacing. I record the final position of the guides and prepare the blank for installation.

When I work on a rod I make sure its FUN time not CHORE time and I get better results.

Have fun

Hello Joel,

You made a good choice with the CTS glass blank. For a first fiberglass rod, the choice is good because if you’re transitioning from graphite the change won’t be overly dramatic.

Regarding what not to do on your first build, I’m going to offer advice that generally gets dismissed when I offer it to new builders. The urge to build out the rod quickly overcomes people, and they often don’t consider the visual impact that spending time seriously practicing assembly steps will have on that first build. A week after some new builders ask your question, they report back that their rod is finished, and that they wish they’d done some things differently.

Wrapping guides with thread until it becomes second nature will show up in the finished product. So will practicing epoxy application methods (on spare blank sections) until you get the look that you desire. Focus on how well your components match up against each other, and refit if you find gaps may result. Consider carefully how the right amount of bonding epoxy will result in far less cleanup when you mount the grip and reel seat.

You may have selected great components, but ‘fit and finish’ will be the first thing that rod builders will examine.

Enjoy your first build,
Jeff

"The greatest barrier to discovery is not ignorance, it's the illusion of knowledge" - Daniel J. Boorstin

t he best advice i can give to someone starting out is please ignore the self-appointed experts be your own expert, learn at your own pace and have fun..

In spite of advice to the contrary - do NOT ingest an alcohol during the build of a rod. After you are through for the day or night - fine, but not while you are relying on your eyes, and tactile finger responses to build a perfect rod.

This is the same advice that police officers give to drivers who ingest alcohol and go for a drive, using their vision and tactile senses to control a vehicle.

Acetone is a pretty good cleaner for uncured epoxy.

Acetone can completely destroy the finishes on some rod blanks. Always test a product that you want to use on a blank for any reason - including in a location that will be covered when the build is complete. For example - the butt of the rod where there will be a grip covering the area.

For simple new blank cleaning a product like simple green cleaner does an excellent job - removes dirt, grime and grease without leaving any after effects.

If you find yourself in a position where you really need to work with epoxy and not have any side effects- and only use it if you are very careful and if the room is well ventilated - you can use Xylene. This is a very potent chemical and is a perfect mix for epoxy since this chemical is used during the production of epoxy. Do NOT use alcohol for any sort of a mixing with epoxy, because alcohol does not mix with epoxy and simply forms clumps if you try to use it as a solvent or similar applications. However, for cleaning cured surfaces, and or grips etc. alcohol works fine and it normally does not have side effects.

If you are not sure about the action or reaction of using a specific product for anything, in any activity, but are not sure of its action or reaction on the item and its uses, test, test, test in a spot or location which will not either be ever used for anything or if used on a product that is going to be part of the final item - always test in a location that will not be visible in the final build of the item.

If you use singe edged razor blades in your build cycle, buy them by the box and exchange them frequently. When you want something cut, you want the cutting device to be "razor sharp" for clean cuts. My personal preference for any thread cutting, is a pair of scissors. I generally have several pairs of scissors on the rod bench when building A pair of high quality cloth cutting scissors for cutting larger items, a pair of thread cutting nippers with no finger rings, just a handle on each side they ou put in your palm and squeeze for general thread cutting, and finally a pair of very sharp micro tipped Dr. Slick fly tying scissors to do close cuts to thread wraps. Quality micro tipped scissors work much better for this task than a razor blade because the single sharp edge of a razor blade can always nick a previous wrap that eventually causes a failure with an ensuing rewrap of that thread guide - due to the thread failure. With a scissor on the other hand, one simply slides the tip of the scissor down the thread that is being cut, and no risk of nipping a previous wrap.

Double-edge razor blades are sharper than single-edge blades, or so I'm told. You can break a single edge razor blade in half by carefully folding it in half along its long axis. It will break before it folds flat. Then you can fold pieces of masking tape in half over the broken edges of the two razor pieces for better grip. I always cut by moving the thread into the razor edge rather than moving the razor edge into the thread - it makes for fewer unintended cuts of wrappings.

I started building rods late, just 2 years ago. I've learned almost everything I know from this web site with helpful and great people. The thing that bothered me the most was getting fancy wraps for my first builds, which were for grand children. Trying to add foo foo was and still is difficult for me after 20+ builds. Trim bands are a PITA to me and I'm slowly getting the hang of it and it probably doesn't help that I'm 71. I helped myself by getting a magnifying glass to see better (wall attachment with led lighting). So, start simple, make sure you can see detail when wrapping especially and take your time when gluing up end cap, handle, etc.

DON'T get in a hurry.