The write up on the grip you bought does give the suggested butt cap for it. I have several of those butt caps I salvaged from various broken rods. They were a very popular butt cap and have been around for a long time.. If you want some let me know and I’ll give them to you.
It seems that you are really a complete novice at rod building. Check to see if there is anyone in your area that builds rods and get some In person help and advice from them.
Norm

A complete novice is giving me too much credit haha, so far the extent of my building is gluing on a reel seat and foregrip. And the recommended vutt cap was out of stock and when I checked with Mud Hole they said the one I got was fine so I ordered the wrong things trusting the guidance they gave.

Honestly i don't think my schedule would sync up with anyone in person, I have a 3 year old and a 7 month old so I'm building strictly between the hours of 10pm-1am (sometimes around 8 if my wife and I don't spend anytime together after the kids go to bed.

Do you think my plan to chip the tenon and slice the butt cap and glue them flush would be alright? I think I'm gonna try to see how it looks tonight.

No, don't cut the tenon off and try to make that butt cap work. If you are uncomfortable accepting Norman's generous offer (he has made me and other members of this site similar offers) then order them from somewhere and just wait for them to arrive. Putting a butt cap on is quick and easy, and can be the last thing you do to complete the build.

I get the frustration of getting the wrong stuff, butt you're kind of doing it to yourself. You probably thought building fishing rods can't be that hard, and it's really not. But, and please understand I mean no disrespect, but with the confusion you had about the tenon on the grip, it's clear you're more than a complete novice. You've put yourself under a rush to get these rods done, and when things don't come together smoothly, it ups your frustration.

Personally if I were in your shoes, I would change my plan of having them all done by Christmas. You're too new at it and rushing is going to take the joy out of it, I understand the joy of having the rods completed in time, but if you are like me and they don't turn out as you'd have liked them to, you are going to be apologizing for this and that, Don't do that to yourself. Build them one at a time, With the limited amount of time you have to work on them, if you get 2 done and they're satisfactory to you, then you're doing fine.

Give the two you have made and tell the other two recipients that theirs are next in line. They'll understand, and they'll get to talk to you about it during the process.


Again, just trying to get you to take some pressure off yourself. You haven't even gotten to positioning and wrapping guides yet ........... you have a long way to go and things that have a learning curve are up ahead. Relax and take your time.

A little basic education goes a long way.

On Mudhole's page for that grip it says to get the RVB-1 butt cap. Had you done so you would have known right away that the tenon goes in the butt cap and not the seat.

Seats and grips can be one of the more complicated things as there are lots of options. I'd say go one of two ways. Buy a complete grip/seat/cap/trim ring kit. Here is an example (I don't like split grips BTW).

[mudhole.com]

Or buy a piece of EVA, a pipe style reel seat, a cap/gimbal, and maybe a fore grip. Pay attention to I.D's and O.D.'s and build your own. For example:

[mudhole.com]

[mudhole.com]

Notice O.D. matches the gimbal and you can by a long piece, cut it and use the the tapered end for a foregrip.

Now you just need a reel seat and I'd pick one just a bit smaller than the EVA so DPSM 20 or 22.

[mudhole.com]

Cut EVA handle and fore grip to length ahead of time. They may need to be reamed but they can stretch a lot. Also make arbors with poly foam to fit where handle will go. Wrap blank above fore grip with blue painters tape also the grips, seat, and gimbal.. Have a lot of rags and alcohol. Work outside over some cardboard.

Now to install things on the build your own approach. First make a masking tape arbor on the butt end of the blank. You may need more than one. Leave about a 1/4" between end of blank, between arbors, and between last arbor and handle. Coat with gel epoxy and glue it on. Coat the entire area from about 2-3 inches forward of gimbal to about the length of your rear grip in front of end of fore grip. Read up on using a "push board" to insure you get the grip into place. Once you start you "have to" get it in place. The glue in front of the fore grip is the lubricant so make sure you get it inside the entire grip. Next goes the reel seat arbors and reel seat. Line up the reel seat with the gimbal and slide on the fore grip. Double cheek alignment. Then start cleaning up the epoxy. Use a LOT of alcohol and rags. Get it all off before removing the tape. Once you remove tape wipe down again. You might even want to use an alcohol soaked toothbrush between seat and grips/gimbal. I think glue lines that show are tacky.

It is all about having an order to the process and getting everything fitted just right before you break out the glue EVA is much easier because it stretches and you don't have to ream. Now I know what I just linked to is salt water spinning rod stuff for the most part. Still it is the same. You just buy a different butt cap, or maybe add a trim ring, or perhaps an epoxy ramp instead of a fore grip.

Dream reamer and a couple of Flexcoat pilot bits (and reverse pilot bits) are a wise investment (and are required if you buy a "kit" seat". I also find a good brush is worthwhile but many do fine with disposable ones. I'd also recommend Flexcoat Guide Foot Adhesive.

For guides go with the Fuji KR system. Pac Bay Minimas if you have to save money. Use black regular nylon thread and metallic thread for trim bands. For now stay away from split grips, skeleton seats, color preserver. Look for deals on closeout/overstock blanks. Try to get stuff that originally sold around $75+. I personally wouldn't waste my time/labor on a $20-30 retail price blank. Why should I when I go someplace like the link below, and for another $10-20, get a blank that retailed for a lot more. RX7 is a darn nice blank and RX8 is a very good/great blank. In short, buy quality name brand stuff. The job will go so much easier and the results will be so much better.

[www.schneidersrods.com]


P.S. Consider editing your signature to include town you live in. You might meet up with someone that will help. I did, and though they read my posts and contacted me, they never made posts here.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

@DAVID Yes and no to me thinking rod building was "easy" - I had the idea to build rods a few years back but then thought it would be too cost/time prohibitive and would require a crazy amount of learning and specialized skill. It is and isn't all those things, but certainly isn't to the degree that I had imagined before doing a deep dive on it recently.

I've seen a number of videos of first builds that come out perfectly functional and maybe not as pretty as will come with more experience, and priced out (especially during a sale) can beat the cost of a manufactured rod. I may have overestimated the amount of time I would have to get this done in time, but I don't put it beyond myself to have been able to get this done given I was set in the right direction from the starting line. But I may just see how many I can get done and not sweat if all 4 aren't finished for Christmas.

@RUSSELL - Thanks for the links and the info, I decided to make a checklist on my phone for each step to make sure I don't skip any (like taping seat threads). And again, the reason I got the wrong stuff was I was instructed to by mud hole - I was confused by the tenon because the pieces were not even close to fitting so I just assumed the tenon must go the other way as I've seen with casting grips/seats.

But I'm certainly going to take all of your (all of you who posted) feedback and reign myself in a bit - I have a tendency to go from 0-100 on new endeavors and interests but it usually isn't for something that results in some sort of created finished product. I noticed many of the builders I see on youtube are already experienced in building something given the workshops they have, and seemingly, from some of the posts I've seen here, that some people form here as well are. They have wood working shops and tools etc and mostly the experience with just making something that clearly lends itself to having a head start building rods. I'm grateful I have a place like this to help me learn the ropes.


@NORMAN - I could venmo you the cost for you to ship them to me which would wash whatever the cost + shipping would've been from a dealer if you really don't mind passing them on to me, I really appreciate the offer. I'll email you to connect.

El alli is not lost, If you look at the rear grip you posted under it is the is the suggested butt caps to use. In building your rods if your just starting your a long way from needing that but cap..Order the caps NOW and they will be at your house way before Christmas . Just build the rods without the cap, it won't make any difference in the process. When they arrive simply glue them on and your good to go.

If needed when you put the rods on your dryer and the caps haven't arrived just build up the tennon with masking tape to get a snug fit.

Tom



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2022 07:23PM by Tom Wewerka.

El - Email me, just click on my name to get my email address. As I mentioned previously, they are salvaged so they are not new but they are in pretty good shape.
Norm

El that's a wonderful offer from Norm. I would take him up on it for a couple of reasons. You will get them in time but they will be the right size which is most Important.
Tom