Thanks again y’all for the tips and advice.

Rod maker magazine only has 15 vids on YouTube, am I looking at the wrong channel?

For epoxy for grips how much do you mix and how do you measure it?

I don't know about the other ones, but if you're using U40 Rod Bond, you can measure it out any way you like. Just be sure to use as close to the same amount of each part that you can. I use popsicle sticks, one for each part (you don't want to contaminate them with each other in the jar) and put a glob on a scrap piece of cardboard. I just eyeball them until they appear to be the same amount. If you have a good eye, there is no real need to measure or weigh each part out. You have a little bit of play in quantities when it comes to the Rod Bond. But try your best to get them looking as close to the same amount as possible.

Thread epoxy is different. You want to be precise in the amounts you mix. I've used both low and high build, Two coats are recommended for low build. A single coat for high build. High build is thicker and may be a little bit tougher to work with as a newbie, but you only need one coat. It's easy enough to practice applying finish on anything that is round, before you actually apply it to a rod. You can practice using finish while you are waiting for the epoxy used on your components to set and dry.

Lynn suggested EVA grips, and I concur. They're inexpensive, are easy to care for, and take a beating. Plus you can get the material in different colors which is nice for kids rods.

The biggest thing I would caution against is putting yourself under the gun as to how fast you're building a rod, or wrapping guides. When you feel that you aren't going fast enough you're going to rush, which is the fastest way to forget things. Rushing also leads to frustration. Frustration takes the fun out of things and can lead to shoddy work. It doesn't matter who you're building the rods for, you're building a gift. Take your time and do it to the best of your abilities. You'll have more fun doing it.

Rod Maker doesn't have a lot of vids out there, but the ones that are you can trust as a professional way to do what is presented.

I recommend using a paste epoxy for grips, like Rod Bond; it is easy to use, doesn't run or drip, and is very forgiving with the mix ratio (It will still work if you are off a little). Eyeball equal parts on a piece of cardboard (I make two little lumps), and fold it together well with a small, metal spatula. (Rod Bond doesn't smell bad like some other paste epoxies do, IMO)

How much should you use for one spinning rod grip? I would start with a batch about the size of a bottle cap - that's 1/2 hardener and 1/2 resin to get 1 cap size glob. If you need a little more, mix up another batch and apply. If you have all your parts dry-fitted and ready to go, you will have time to add extra epoxy if you need to. (Caution: some of the liquid/syringe fast-setting epoxies can start to harden rather suddenly. That's why I don't generally use them) If a bottle cap size was too much, then use a little less next time. I usually have varying amounts of waste because sometimes I guess wrong. I'd rather have mixed a bit much than a bit little. What's important is getting a great bond between all parts!

Save your mixing board so you can check to see how the epoxy is progressing...and as a gauge for the size you need for the next job.

Okay cool, thanks. I'm gonna try to do all the grips and seats for all 4 rods in the same batch of epoxy so I'll mix a pretty good size glob. That's a word we don't use enough in life - glob

I see often when people apply epoxy for grips and slide on a ton gets bulked up and pushed off - can I just drop that back onto my mixing paper and apply to next grip? How snug should the grip be dry fitting (do I leave a tiny wiggle for the epoxy to actually fill up space or snug to where it stops itself from going down the blank any further without excessive force)?

Be careful, sometimes when you mix a large glob of epoxy the exothermic heat generated will cause the epoxy to cure a little faster. Because of this when you get near the end of your project the epoxy will be stiffer making harder to slide the grip components into place. So, spread your epoxy out to cut down on heat generation. Nothing wrong with using the excess squeezed out epoxy. Also nothing wrong with using smaller batches of epoxy, in many cases less wasteful doing so. To help spread the epoxy into the grip try chamfering the components.
[www.rodbuilding.org]
Norm

@NORMAN - thanks my man, very helpful info and tip. Makes me wonder why more videos don't include chamfering.

Is rod building like fishing - where some people will discover a very effective modification/lure/technique/location and then die without telling anybody so nobody gets to ever experience the same joy and success? I feel like even on forums people will only share so much, but we know there is some dude out there on a lake with some obscure approach to fishing that is working like crazy and he'll never tell a soul, he might post about using a certain weight or rod or retrieve, but never the good stuff.

Check at your local hotdog stand to see if they have the plastic ketchup cups they work very good for epoxy mixing also

Jim Berry Wrote:
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> Check at your local hotdog stand to see if they
> have the plastic ketchup cups they work very good
> for epoxy mixing also


When I see people on Youtube globing epoxy on for grips and seats I can't imagine a small ketchup cup holding enough, they could fiull a catsup cup with the epoxy that falls off after sliding a grip on - or do you mean filling one and another evenly to get almost equal measured parts (aside from what stays in the cup after pouring out)?

No for thread epoxy mix sorry for the not enough explaining

[flexcoat.com]

@JIM - okay yeah I like that, that makes more sense haha

@Lynn - Thanks, nice consolidated content

When applying epoxy for grips and reel seats, I put epoxy above where the grip and reel seat will mount, as well as in the area they will be when done installing them. To determine how far up the blank I put epoxy on I slide the grip or seat on the blank to a point where they are rater loose on the blank. I want the grip to slide over the epoxy so it takes some of the epoxy with it as it slides down the blank. Doing this helps coat the inside of the grip or seat.

I always have plenty of paper towels folded and ready to go to soak with whatever product I'll be using for clean up. (I use 90 - 100% isopropyl alcohol) I am liberal in the use of epoxy for mounting components. I'd rather have too much on, than too little. As Norman mentioned, no problem in using epoxy that got pushed off when installing a component. As for myself and how much component epoxy I mix up, I mix up more than I think I am going to need to do one rod, or one reel seat assembly, but I don't mix up large batches to do multiple rods. If you're using U40 Rod Bond, it mixes very quickly and easily. Why take a chance of having it set up too much by the time you get to your 2nd, 3rd, or 4th rod?

I'll also wrap parts of grips and reel seats with painter's tape to keep stray epoxy off of them. I have no problem completely wrapping a grip with tape to keep errant epoxy off of it. It's easier to keep it off of something, than it is to clean it up.

Mix enough for one rod and assemble it, clean it up etc. Then you will know if you're fast enough to mix a big batch and do the other 3. You don't wanna become the one arm paperhanger. FYI: turkey is highly over rated.

If I followed OP, you’ve never built rods before? I agree with working with a Mudhole rep when choosing your components and supplies. Let them set you up with what you need. All I’d add is if this is your first time, order five component kits. As a first timer chances are good you will have an “aw poopie” moment. It would be a shame to need a single item to redo a rookie booboo and have to place an additional order to get all your gifts ready by Christmas. If you get done without having to dip into your insurance, you have another potential gift ready to build.
I would also buy extra finish and do some practice wrapping and finishing before you attempt to do it for real. You can use the butt end of your blank for this. After you lay out your blank, keep your practice in the rear grip area and clean up the blank and guide you practiced with when you are done. Just make sure you don’t gouge the blank.

Since you are on a time crunch to learn everything about why, I would go to a big sports store and look at their rods. You will notice the cheaper rods have fewer guides to save parts and labor costs. You can get an idea about grips lengths (take something to measure and take pictures with your cell phone.) Before you order thread, Find out each kids favorite color. before you slide grips and seats, get some blue painters tape maybe 1" wide and tape right up to the edge of them on each end to help with cleanup. Sure as you find the paste epoxy building up as you slide grips into place, use your stir stick to scrape off build up to reapply at another spot. I would not get any faster setup epoxy as a beginner to leave you plenty of time to clean up and work on a second one with same batch. Have plenty of paper towels and Isopropyl alcohol for clean up and when you have the joints all cleaned up, the remove the blue painters tape. by getting regular cure epoxy it gives you a good amount of time to align and clean. I used large newspaper bundle rubber bands to connect to fore grip then pull down to butt cap to pull over it to keep all parts tight together.

El no pressure but how are the rod builds going? I have some tips? maybe to help spine the blanks wrap masking tape to mark the spine inside for spinning rods size the rear grip mark the blank to where it will fit i find it easier to put the rear grip on and glue it in place so you have that to back stop for the reel seat and fore grip when you are going to put on the reel seat and fore grip slide them in place and take one of the guides a big one and line it up with the ink mark on the tape you can use a rubber band to hold it in place this gives you a site to look when you glue the reel seat and fore grip mix some epxy and smear it on the blank the best thing i have used it tongue depressers from the doctors office mark one for resin and one for hardener and one to mix and apply on the apply stick put a curve to spread the epoxy on the blank it helps to get around the blank get the clamps on it and sight the reel seat to the foot of the guide at the rubber band the masking tape sometimes leaves the glue of the tape behind so wipe it with alcohol happy holidays and good luck but the best part of building a fishing rod for you or your kids is letting it work in your hand catching fish.

Thanks for the advice and input yall!

So far the biggest issue has been setting up the space in the basement. We just moved here not too long ago and haven't spent time in the basement to make it a usable space yet. I forgot the wiring down there isnancient so I can't use 3 prong plugs which screwed up my plans pretty good. Also I was sent the wrong parts. But I'm still feeling good and am setting up in a different spot.

Once I epoxy the grips and seats do I just stand them vertical in a rack to dry?

Clamp them to hold the parts to hold them together they can be stood up to cure but clamp them so they stay together

Can I start wrapping while the seat and grips are drying?

The Flex Coat epoxy didn't seem thick enough to build up enough to touch the reel seat, is there supposed to be monster globs of epoxy in between the tape arbors that touch the reel seat?

How many rods does a set of two 4 oz jars of epoxy make?

Does it really matter if I use a regular lighter or a butane torch lighter?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2022 11:40AM by El Bolinger.

Personally I wouldn't start wrapping before the reel seat and grip are dry.

As far as the reel seat goes, your questions makes it sound as if you didn't build any arbors to take up the space between the blank and the inside of the reel seat. If you didn't, you need to make arbors to take up that space. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that show the process.

Two 4 oz jars of epoxy makes 8 oz of epoxy. Of course it depends on a few different factors, but 8 oz of epoxy should do about 30 rods. Maybe more, maybe less. It depends how much you end up throwing out.

And personally I wouldn't use a lighter or any kind, Any time I have used heat it has caused me more problems than it's fixed, But there are those that swear by using heat. It's a learning curve thing.