Please help me know what to buy, list what items (or a couple per category) you use.

I have no idea what, out of the hundreds of each part, is a "good" or "Quality" product when I'm looking to buy everything I need to for a rod. Practically nothing online has any reviews on any website I look at. I'm sure there is some subjectivity to it all, like any product, but with ZERO experience its a total crap shoot on either quality or performance or application in some instances (as I was holding a spinning grip upside and thought the tenon went into the reel seat) because I just don't know what I don't know.

I know Fuji is a "good name" but so is Camry and they have produced clunkers. I don't know what a KL KW Y KLN etc guide is, I don't know why that grip is "better" (in whatever way) than another. I just don't want to waste time and money on components that you already learned not to waste your time and money on. Outside of the major brandnames often used on commercial bass rods (Which is basically just Fuji and American Tackle) I have no idea if Batson or Pacific Bay are any good, why not grab guides off Amazon? I'm looking to those that came before me to help set me on the right path and avoid as much waste as possible and get a good feel for building by avoiding more of what I'm already experiencing with buying components.


**********EDIT PER HERB'S REQUEST **************** I WILL BE BUILDING SPINNING AND BAITCASTING RODS.***********


What do you specifically trust/like/use for:

Guides:

Grips:

Reel seats:

Thread:

Epoxy:

Finish:

All of your advice and input is appreciated



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2022 04:25PM by El Bolinger.

El,
I feel your pain.
First - what type of rod do you intend to build?
Fly?
Spinning?
Conventional?
Herb

I fish mainly saltwater so I use guides with titanium alloy frames. Ring material really doesn't matter but guide height and ring size do. The brands I use for my builds are FUJI and Seaguide. You want guides that the rings don't pop out very easily and when bent can be bent back in place. These have had the least issues in the last 30 years of rod building.

The grips I use are mostly natural cork that I put the rings together and shape on a small lathe. These are mostly for casting rods but for spinning rods I use a lot of EVA that I shape or buy for the FUJI VSS reel seat. I also use Carbon fiber grips, they are all pretty much the same other than how they are finished (smooth or rough).

The reel seats I use for casting are FUJI SK2, ACS and ECSM. The spinning ones I like are Fuji VSS, TVS and Alps RPD-IS. For conventional offshore or surf rods I like Alps Aluminum seats. I will use foam, graphite or fiberglass drywall tape for arbors.

Thread is PacBay, Fuji, Prowrap or Fishhawk. These have worked best for me but really just about any rod wrapping thread will work if you need a certain color. I have had some issues with PacBay lighter color threads. Some other brand threads, you may need to add some pieces of thread to the epoxy when mixing on other brands.

I use Flex Coat High build and also Gen4 for wraps and Paste epoxy for mounting reel seats and grips. Most all paste epoxies are the same. Right now, am using Flex Coat. Flex Coat tip top hot melt glue to mount tip tops and their color preserver also for wraps.

I also build fly rods and use components by Fuji, REC, ALPS and North Fork Composites.

El,
Don’t feel rained-on, you are correct; it is a “crap-shoot” deciding between brands and models until you have actually experienced the difference to develop your own personal preference. Especially when starting-out, stick with the major brands and branch-out / experiment later. Most of the major brands are all very good and will serve you well. I would certainly avoid ordering no-name components online; if the price seems too good to be true, IT PROBABLY IS!!!
As for you questions:
GUIDES: Freshwater (spin) = Fuji, (fly) = Alps; Saltwater (ring) = Fuji, SeaGuide, (roller) = All American Roller Guides.
GRIPS: Freshwater = cork Tennessee handle (TH); Saltwater = X-flock shrink over cork tape, Batson BattleOn over cork tape.
REEL SEATS: Freshwater = TH, Fuji; Saltwater = Fuji, Alps.
THREAD: Pro Wrap, Hitena, Fuji.
EPOXY: Gel = U40 RodBond; thread wraps = FlexCoat lite, Thread Master lite, U40 PG.
FINISH (assuming for the blank): = U40 PG, SprayMax.
Note that one name / brand appears more than any other = FUJI. Any Fuji product is of the highest quality.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

The sponsors on the left offer quality products.

El, I did try and answer some of these questions in your post down below.

First off, do understand it is a matter of taste. Next it has to do with where you fish, for what, and how. Finally, budget always plays a part. Some want the best bang for the buck. Some want the best period. But is the best Rolls Royce or Mclaren? Different horses for different courses.

Lets start with blanks. No components can make up for the difference between a great blank and a poor one. My advice is to pick a manufacturer that covers a range that suits your fishing waters and style. Ideally they should offer a range of price points and have a staff that is honest and accessible. Without knowing where you are fishing, and how, I'll suggest Batson. If you have deeper pockets and want closer to the best, Point Blank (but they don't cover a wide range of waters/styles). If you are deep sea fishing Calstar/Seeker/Phenix/United Composites. St. Croix and Lamiglas look to be getting out of the raw blank business which is a darn shame as they both offered top notch stuff. NFC offers great value with their constant sales but their website and descriptions aren't newbie friendly. I'd be asking advice here on which blank to buy from them if I was you. That said it is the one I buy the most of these days. MHX and Liberty offer some decent stuff at an attractive price. So do American Tackle and Pac Bay. But I consider all of those second tier players.

Okay guides. Over the years nobody has spent as much time and money on research as Fuji. The only reason to consider anyone else is price. That said the Pac Bay Minimas can be a solid choice when weight is a premium part of the equation. Seaguide and Alps are quality choices too. The American Tackle Virtus line lets me get a 316 stainless guide at a nice price which I like. However the overall fit and finish isn't Fuji quality. Alps is close. I don't have experience with Seaguide, but they are second only to Fuji in worldwide sales (but they didn't sell here to consumers until recently so aren't a known name to many).

Reel seats. Hard to go wrong with Fuji. Lately American Tackle has been bringing some nice innovative stuff to market. For salt water (aluminum) seats there are some older established names but I don't think that matters for your needs.

Grips. Used to be everyone used cork short of a deep sea rod. Then good cork became prohibitively expensive (for some). EVA has always been a popular choice for inshore/light duty off shore work (Hypalon too). EVA isn't a bad choice for fresh water if you don't mind the looks. It is durable, cheap, and easy to install. Lately carbon fiber over a foam core is the rage. That seems to be an either you love it or don't type of thing. Certainly a little harder to work with as you can't sand/machine to desired shape after the grip has been made (but you can if you put the carbon fiber on yourself).

Gudebrod was the "the" thread to buy. But they are no more. You are on your own here. Henita and Fuji would be on my list to try. I'd stay with nylon and look for something that had the right amount of stretch for the way I wrapped. Honestly you won't know what the feels like until you try a bunch of brands and gain more experience. If I ran up on an old stash of Gudebrod/Rice/National thread at a yard sale I'd be all over it:)

Gel Epoxy. As long as you buy one marketed for rod building I think you will be happy. The hardware store brands like Devcon and J&B weld tend to be too runny. Kardol is perhaps one exception and is cheaper. Still you won't be using a lot and what is an extra buck per rod to know you will have a trouble free experience. The brand I used is no more so I can't be more specific.

Thread finish. Pick one, do a bunch of test wraps, find out it's idiosyncrasies, and stick with it. Gen 4 seems particularly well received. Flexcoat is probably the most widely used by commercial rod companies. What I used and liked has gone away and Gen 4 is apparently the replacement. I haven't tried it yet. Their are pros and cons to the different ones. And then there is Permaglos but I wouldn't be going there at this point in your journey.

Did I forget anything? This is a great forum to ask questions but it works much better when you are very specific about your conditions/needs/wants/budget/experience/etc. Stuff that you wouldn't think to mention, like your local weather conditions, could have a lot to do with which thread finish would be a better choice.

One of the hardest and best lessons to learn is how to judge if a blank will be right for your needs without having it in hand. Stick with a certain brand and take lots of notes and measurements. Try rods marketed to other types of fish that have similar tip and butt diameters, along with blank weights, to your favorites. Learn how to do the CCS/AA measurements. You are going to have to spend some money and buy some things that don't work out. However down the rod you will be able to listen to a friend who wants a crappie rod, and tell him with confidence that X brand zero power salt water speckled trout popping rod is best for his needs. And you will be correct, and he will.......well never mind:)

Best of luck with your new addiction. Be forewarned we are a bunch of enablers. You might want to run for the hills while you still can.

P.S. Don't go spend a bunch of money on fancy equipment. Most of us only build for ourselves and/or family/friends and after a few years we have more rods than we know what to do with. Wait till you know this will be a side business until you invest in costly equipment. A lot of us did just fine with a coffee cup to hold the spool of thread, a phone book to provide tension, and a 1" by 4" with a V notch lined with velvet. Single edge razor blades, a knitting needle, an artist brush, a shot glass, a saucer, aluminum foil, etc. are likely to already be at hand and will serve you well.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

All the sponsors to the left sell quality components, all these components we see are used on factory rods with good success over decades.

I really appreciate all the input yall.

@RUSSELL Thanks a ton for the in depth detailed reply, I wish I bumped into before I started this journey - I already bought one of those beginners kits for like 150 bucks and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff I thought I needed by reading and watching videos. A coffee cup and some cardboard woulda been much easier on the wallet haha.

But I did figure, knowing myself and my passion for fishing that rod building would likely become a quick passion as well, I love the idea of creating something and using it and being able to pick the parts I want - mostly because I figure much of a manufactured rod's price is their staff and advertising etc and I could buy a better blank and good enough components without going past that point of diminishing returns - I don't know if I'll ever actually be able to tell the difference between the $50-$80 or more guide set vs a $15-$30 guide set. Maybe if I start tournament fishing in a kayak league or something I'd end up trying to step up the components to see, but the biggest thing was spending more on the blank vs components relatively speaking.

Just to add I will be freshwater fishing for bass, but happy to catch whatever will bite, my budget ... is blown already on all this haha - but like I said trying to spend more where it counts and so far as I know that appears to be the blank (I had no idea before all this that when a company markets a rod with top quality like Fuji they might actually mean a $6 reel seat and $5 grip, I always thought it was actually more expensive than that with Fuji (and rod building in general), I thought they were only expensive components. Kinda like hearing Toyota and thinking best bang for your buck production until you learn they also make Lexus.

As subjective as much of this is there is still often a commonality in end user experience - Am I right to think the $2 EVA is similar enough to the $9 EVA and the $5 graphite reel seat is similar enough to the $18 graphite reel seat (Aside from design and ergonomics which make it more subjective, just literally material and performance)

I guess the question is "is there a discernible difference, when blindfolded, between the more expensive components vs the more moderately priced or cheaper components? Can you feel titanium guides vs SS given the same exact design and the only difference is the material?

No doubt there is a lot of junk on the market. But if you stick with name brands, such as that sold by the sponsors listed in the left hand column of this forum, you can rest assured you'll be getting very good products.

.............

As Tom stated there are a lot out there , buy quality an it will last you a long time , if one was the best one out there every one would buy them , as you can see most of the guides have been around for a lot of years ,
buy name brands an there quality guides it will last a life time , as I see it ENJOY ,

William Sidney
AK

The way I started was by taking my favorite rod and duplicating it with what I thought at the time, would be some improvements. Build on what you know and make it better. Find out what works and what doesn't.

The way I started was similar to Lance.....I tried to duplicate rods that I liked......Alot of the time, Rod Manufacturers will list what rod components or what brand of components they may use on particular rods.....this was a good starting point, getting an idea of my own what I wanted. Any sponsor on the left has quality components, and are very open to questions. You can not go wrong ordering from anyone who is associated with this forum.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2022 01:35PM by Rick Shaffer.

If you want lighter, another option is to go smaller, the smallest that still lets you fish like you want. This option cost no more and many times less than what you are used to seeing on a rod. Also, smaller means the difference in weights of S/S to Ti gets smaller, a 3 mm guide of either material is undiscernible to you, you have to have maybe 20 of each and a very fine scale to measure the difference in a repeatable fashion. At a dollar and change a piece for S/S guides that is a viable option for many.

As per usual with this forum. A lot of great advice. I don't have the years of experience like these guys do, but I will try and help give you some tips that as a rookie builder. I have run into that more experience guys may not think about any longer.

First - Get a set of calipers. This is an important and frankly under suggested tool. You will need it when ordering Wind Checks and rod tips. It also extremely useful as you get better at the craft. Which brings me to item 2.

Second - Order your blank(s) first and wait for them to arrive before ordering anything else. I'm sure some may disagree with this premise, but you save yourself ordering the wrong components by having the blank in your hands. Many parts you order are a few bucks. While not overly expensive. You do have to consider the cost of shipping and time. It can be frustrating to think you have everything to complete your first build only to find something doesn't fit the way you thought it would or you ordered the wrong size.

Third - Real Seats. Preference and appearance is more the game here. Most of the vendors/sponsors listed on the left aren't going to carry a product they wouldn't use themselves. Right now with fishing season kind of on hold till very late winter and early spring is a great time to get your hands on different types of reel seats and see what you like. Winter at least in my region is the season for Tackle Shows. Take you favorite reel with you to these shows or even retails stores and try your reel on different reel seats and see what you like. You'd be surprised at the different types of reel seats you can get actual exposure to without having to buy them. Then take your Smartphone and get good pictures of the reel seat and start hunting for it from one of the vendors on the left. If your buying it from a custom rod builder. Ask them what reel seat they are using and even why they are using it. This also a good way to get your hands on different types of grips and handles.Are you going to hit every available reel seat and handle setup available? No, but you can use it as away to eliminate what you don't like or at least a base line of what you want to find.

Forth - Got to Bass Pro Shops and perhaps even Cabela's now that there own by Bass Pro Shops. I believe it's in the end of February or beginning of March. They run a promotion of turning in old or broken rods and give you in store coupons. Those rods often go in a box that ends up in the back of the store never to be seen or heard of again. Eventually they throw them away. Ask the store if you can have some of those rods. I've got some on several occasions. Now you have a supply of blanks to practice to your hearts content. Practice tearing down rods, doing wraps, replacing guides, and tips. One of the biggest parts of building rods it getting comfortable with the use of thread for guides and hook keepers.

Fifth - Thread - Start off with Size B or larger thread. Size A and D are the easiest to find, but a larger thread is a little more forgiving. When using metallic threads, be mindful of your tension. You will find it very easy to break it and it can leave your frustrated. Another reason I suggest size B or larger. Larger thread is also easier to see. I found myself buying a lighted magnifier stand to wrap my threads to make it easier to see what I was doing.

Last - Rod building is a marathon, not a sprint. Now I'm not saying you need to spend a year making a fishing rod, but you don't have to build one in less than a week. Speed and proficiency will come with time. Focus on the aspects that are important to you. For some it's all about performance, while others it's about art. I have seen rods on here that are fit for an art museum. I've also seen rods that are very plain, but you can bet will out perform even the most expense store bought rod. It's all about what you want to achieve.

Thanks yall

@TONY I really appreciate your thoughtful and insightful write up, I did already grab a caliper and like 11 spools of thread - 6 size A and 5 metallic, guess I'm learning wrapping the hard way haha. The rest of the stuff will certainly be implemented, I never would've thought to ask about the turned in rods for practice - certainly worth a shot.

Around here there aren't any expos or anything that I can find MA for building, there's one fishing expo that I've never been to and might try next year, and that has a couple of custom rod booths - But I don't think it would be like the ICRBE in the sense of me getting a feel for blanks and components and networking etc.

Guides, Fuji on all but two of the rods I've built, which is only about 16 total. On one of my rods I used American Tackle. Very nice guides, and on one I have used Pac Bay, very nice guides as well. I just go with Fuji because they make great guides, and there is name brand recognition.

Grips, no real brand loyalty there. It just depends on what kind of grip I want on the rod I'm building. Sometimes I make my own, other times I use whose ever grip fits what I am looking for. I don't think I have ever seen a poor quality grip.

Reel seats, I've only used 2 Fuji reel seats and 2 Pac Bay reel seats. All the other reels seats I have used come from either Alps, or Forecast. It's not because Fuji and Pac Bay aren't nice reel seats, I just like the Alps and Forecast seats better. They all make quality reel seats.

Thread. For regular nylon thread, Pro Wrap, Fish Hawk, and Fuji. I really like the Fuji but they have limited colors so mostly Pro Wrap. For metallic thread, mostly Pro Wrap, but Hitena makes awesome metallic threads in some very cool colors. I've also used Alps metallic thread. Alps IMO is the strongest and pulls through better than the others, they just don't offer a lot of color choices.

Epoxy, I only use the gel type. U 40 Rod Bond. Either 10 minute or regular which is about 30 - 40 minute working time.

Thread finish. I have pretty much settled on using Flex Coat high build with Ultra V. Prior to that I used U40 LS Supreme. Either high build or regular formula. I switched to Flex Coat because the resin doesn't yellow in the bottle as quickly as the LS Supreme did. I only build as many as 4 rods a year, usually only a couple, so having thread finish that doesn't go yellow as quickly is a plus. That and it's some really nice finish as well. I like the way it uses.