Thank you again for everyone who has been helping me get into this wonderful hobby.

I ordered blanks from NFC. From what I have read on various posts, the wait time is typically long before I will receive my blanks. However, I think that many of the people who comment online may have had bad experiences and the comments may not be accurate for most rod builders. I want to have realistic expectations (and also know when I should start to worry).

Thus, my question is: for those of you who have ordered from NFC, how long did you wait before you got the blanks?

Anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months depending on the size of the order and whether or not the blank is in stock.

My last order was placed on September 30th and it arrived today

I've waited longer to get an XO Skeleton grip from them, than I have for any blank I've ordered from them. My normal wait time has been 2 1/2, to 3 weeks. But I've had some blanks show up in as quickly as 1 week.

Like Patrick said, it depends if he blank (s) you order are in stock. The most blanks I've ordered from them at one time, is 3. But I'd imagine also like Patrick said, if you're placing a large order, wait time may increase.

I guess waiting time may be quite long now, given the very recent promotion, though who knows ...

I ordered 2 blanks on Tuesday and they have already shipped. However in that box is also a blank I ordered July 18th

The two biggest factors are if the blanks are in stock when you ordered and if you ordered during a promotion. The average time I wait is around 3 weeks. The fastest has been a week. The longest has been close to 6 weeks.

They always state this during promotions and on the checkout page, just plan for the full lead time when you order and if it gets there sooner awesome!

Why is this only a question for NFC? Over the years I have had to wait for blanks from everyone, not just recently, over the last 40+ years. components also, this is not a new phenomenon. If you are going to build rods, don't be surprised by wait times and just go with the flow and keep a stock like all of us old timers learned to do, doesn't have to be a lot just a couple rods worth and a good collection of tip top sizes, same with winding checks, blank through reel seat you can always buy small and resize to your needs, the new reel seats with the carbon tube negates that need if you like them. Just remember to write down your consumables when used and reorder.

My apologies. I did not wish to single out NFC. If anybody wants to comment on any other blank maker, feel free.

It took 2 and a half weeks for me to receive my order from Rod Geeks. Thanks Rod Geeks!

My NFC order is a large one (yes, it was hard to resist the sale prices) and I do not expect it to be fullfilled as fast, but I simply wished to have realistic expectations. I could have bothered the people at NFC, but I would rather that they spend the time fulfilling my order than responding to emails from a newbie who does not know the system. The kind folks at NFC were already generous enough to give me blank suggestions.

From a consumer standpoint, I simply want realistic expectations. And if people see this and realize that orders still get done and are kept track of even if it is not in that 3 week time frame, then they won't pester NFC as much. For example, based on what has been said so far, I am not going to worry about my order until December and hopefully will be building on NFC blanks by Christmas. If I get them earlier Yippee! But if it takes longer because NFC does the rods in batches to do them right instead of trying to rush my order, I would rather wait for the better quality. When looking at it from the other side, the customer is not always right. Sometimes customers have unrealistic expectations. Realistic expectations let both customers and business have much better experiences overall.

When reading things online, much of what you see is criticisms from the disgruntled and not realistic.

If anything, my question is so that I and others will have realistic expectations.

I ordered from NFC because I hear great things about their product. I am really excited to build a rod on their blanks. I dislike when people trash a company or person online because they have unrealistic expectations. I wanted realistic expectations. Without the comments above I would have started to worry about my order after a month, and then started to bug customer service which would have resulted in a cascade of unnecessary emails, phone calls, etc. Which in turn would have done nothing more than take away from NFC's time responding to other, more important customer service questions. Companies have to spend money on people in customer service which brings up costs or they take workers who have other duties and task them with customer service tasks. Those people want to go home and have dinner with their families just like the rest of us.

The essence of my question was so that we would all have realistic expectations and not unnecessarily pester them with concerns or complaints.

Longest I’ve had an order take is ~5 weeks or so. It was a big order though and I knew it would take awhile. NFC has been very good to me with all my orders. All my blanks are NFC minus the one Immortal blank I ordered for a frog rod.

If a person is building for themselves or close friends and family, the available planning window should virtually always be more than ample. I keep a list of future builds prioritized and plan big fishing trips that call for new builds well-out. There is always some fluidity to this build list with learning about new techniques and opportunities, but not enough to pinch delivery windows. I don’t even look at blank promotions if they don’t involve the top of the build list. A free blank is far from a free build to be “just another rod”.

The wait for something like a fairly obscure United Composites blank can be a couple of months or more. Why not order eight months or so out from the “need” and have stress free time to be creative and get the components? Christmas and Springtime windows seem to be rougher for availability, so hitting the promotions during more slack times can help. Planning and prioritizing ahead better assures that builds really hit an intentional purpose. I’d rather have one adequately researched rod that does something really well than six that don’t fit how I fish. Buying the right blank at full retail beats impulse shopping the promotions.

Just saw on Facebook the TiForge Air SF guides won't drop till Feb '25, things like this happen all the time.

If you buy on the very large sales, such as the July 4 and the recent $60 per any blank sale to frequent buyers, it may take 4-8 weeks. They have been posting lately that it will take x amount of weeks during these sales. One can argue via your own opinion, but I am fine with a 4-8 week time frame if i am getting a fantastic deal on a blank such as 50% or more off.

At more normal ordering times I have been getting my blanks within 10-12 working days, and of course paying more for a blank that is likely in stock rather than being produced based on large-scale aggregate orders.

I have found their email response to questions I have about my orders to be pretty quick and informative.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
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> Why is this only a question for NFC?

I mentioned planning windows above, but it’s probably more than that. I think it’s because NFC has a model where people fundamentally become wholesale customers at near retail pricing when volumes are small. When I worked at fly fishing shops the retail markup on blanks and rods (and most items) was 40%. To get that wholesale price of 40% off you had to bundle orders because there were minimums or the shipping costs were so high. You also accepted indefinite delivery times. At least we had a distributor to intercede if things weren’t going so well with a transaction or service. That was actually important a couple of times with the original iteration of Sage ownership.

I’ve carted during many NFC promotions and found functionally the same terms, without the distributor between shop and factory. A $75 blank that is really an $85 blank with FET added still seems okay until the $75 shipping charge. Now, it’s right in the middle of what you can get two or three of it’s closest competitors for from a retailer who will ship in a day or two and be around to readily help. They maybe already weeded out obvious QC issues from the factory. This shipping price pressures people into adding one or two more $85 blanks to justify the charge. Now, their indefinite delivery time has a likelihood of being even longer. They probably aren’t used to wholesale delivery timeframes and get even more impatient as they likely spent more than they originally intended to.

There is nothing dishonest here. My only concern is for newbies who find themselves pressured to add blanks when they maybe don’t even fully understand blank terminology. If I were a competitor, I’d probably not like that potential customers are buying in bundles without as thoroughly cross shopping future purchases as they otherwise would. It’s an interesting model that’s seems better for more experienced or higher volume customers. Retail and wholesale are different animals.

Since it costs me $28 to ship the last blank I sold cross country, I supplied the materials from my pvc collection from other blank deliveries over the years and delivered it to the post office in another town because we no longer have one, I can't see where $35 dollars is out of the question. Back in the day, Angler's Workshop said it was pretty much the same cost to ship one blank as ten.

I prefer to wait no more than 2 days to receive a shipment.

However, I have been known to wait for 3 days or 7 months - whichever comes first.

Simply put, if the blank is in stock, the blank will come more quickly than if it is not in stock and won't be built until the next build scheduled that may be several months away. If in doubt, call the vendor to get an expected ship date on the product.

The blanks came in yesterday. Less than a month for a good-sized order during a sale. Thanks NFC!. Can't wait to start building.