Ernie ..... were it fly fishing, I would definitely agree. But fishing with casting gear or spinning gear, it's pretty much a must do kind of thing. I just don't see the point of some instances that I've read, of the leader being so long the knot makes it to the reel spool. That's definitely too dang long in my book.
Forum: rodboard

Because of the way NFC flex tests their blanks to see if a blank fit the model number they give them, there can be a pretty wide range in power. I questioned Alex in a couple of e mails about the posted dimensions of blanks I ordered, versus the actual dimensions I received. In those e mails I mentioned how changing the diameter of a tube affects that tube's strength, which would affect the CCS n
Forum: rodboard

What Spencer says about using a V block along with a drill press to insure that all of your bores are centered in the ring, is a great idea. I'm certainly not going to say other wise. With that said ..... when I first started building cork grips, and I've only built 8 of them thus far, I made a cork ring boring jig like the one I saw Tom Kirkman using in a video on Youtube, and it worked very wel
Forum: rodboard

Why not just some kind of super glue? Or perhaps even better, while watching some knot tying videos on Youtube, I saw a product called Loon's UV Knot Sense. It's a UV cure that cures in direct sunlight. The video I watched the guy was sitting outside, but it wasn't what I would consider real bright sunny conditions, and it cured pretty fast. If I were to estimate, maybe 5 - 10 seconds. The guy in
Forum: rodboard

Rick, I've looked at that Alien reel seat. It looks nice, and probably very comfy to fish with. I have a spinning rod I built using an XO skeleton reel seat / grip, that looks like it was modeled after the Aero reel seat, but with a less pronounced hump. It's very comfortable to fish with as well. A little warm to the touch when it's been laying in direct mid day sun, but not much more than th
Forum: rodboard

Roger, we have participated in this type of thread many times in the past, and the outcome is always the same. You find fault in how I add the weight, which is inside the butt of the blank of the rod. I use a polyurethane foam arbor that I bore out to accept the weight. then sand down the OD of the arbor to fit the blank, and then epoxy the foam arbor inside the blank. I can understand findin
Forum: rodboard

As someone that builds their cork grips using their power wrapper, and has no tail stock I could chuck a bit up in, you could always bore the center of the cork rings that will actually be covering the locking nut out to the I.D. needed to fit the nut. Then bore out the piece that the blank passes through, out to a specific ID to fit your mandrel, and build, shape and sand the grip to its' final
Forum: rodboard

I was hesitant to post to this thread because prior to recently, all of the factory spinning rods I've ever used had pipe style reel seats on them. When I started building, I just used what I was used to, so I had been using a Forecast skeleton reel seat for all of the spinning rods I've built. The only difference between the spinning rods I've built, and the factory rods I used to use, is that I
Forum: rodboard

Norman, thank you for sharing that. Looking at the pictures of the finish on the Point Blanks, it didn't look like it was a rough as the NFC finish, but pictures can be deceiving. At the time I was considering a Point Blank I was still pretty new to building, so I had concerns about how well the thread would pack with the kind of thread tension I use. Now that I've wrapped a couple of C6O2 bl
Forum: rodboard

I would have preferred a smooth finish on the IS 694 X ray blank I recently built on. No such option in the inshore X ray line up. If you can point me to a blank of that caliber with a smooth finish, and that blank costs $75, let me know. As far as the Delta series being spoke about here............. most of, if not all of the blanks offered in the Delta series, are offered in other line ups
Forum: rodboard

I most definitely agree with Kendall when he says that a really great jerkbait rod is an animal all its' own. What he likes in a jerkbait rod mirrors exactly what I like. And again as he says, I don't think any factory rod that I've actually flexed, or checked out on various tackle web sites, seem to have what I look for in a jerkbait rod. Like him, I like a fairly stiff tip on my jerkbait ro
Forum: rodboard

Matt, I can only share what I did when I sanded one of the Delta blanks. I sanded it until all of the shininess was gone. I was getting a little grey as I sanded. I'm curious? In the picture you linked it appears that you'd still be able to feel the ridges in the blank? I sanded until I couldn't feel any ridges. I don't believe I damaged or affect the blank in any way. The blank I sanded was
Forum: rodboard

Rob, I know exactly where you're coming from when people talk about how light your rods feel. The rod I referenced earlier that I added 2 3/8 oz to the butt. I've had people pick it up and mention it feels heavy. I then tell them to hold it as if they were fishing it. They immediately say that it feels way lighter. I picked up some of that tungsten putty you mentioned. When I need to use it I
Forum: rodboard

Funny .......... I've added 2 3/8 oz to the butt of a rod to get the rod and reel combination to balance the way I liked, and while it's a rod that sees use as a flipping and pitching rod 90% of the time, I do use that same rod to fish hollow bodied frogs over heavily matted vegetation, and I've never even come close to losing it overboard because it torqued out of my hand. Now I have went to ma
Forum: rodboard

Donald, I am going to be sounding like a broken record to many members of this site when I say, for certain types of rods, rods that will be use to feel sometimes very subtle bites. These are rods that are fished with the rod tip up, and with the line in a semi slack state, I will most certainly add weight to the butt of a rod in order to get the degree of balance I am looking for, from a rod and
Forum: rodboard

Who would I contact at North Fork Composites to find out what kind of trim pieces n such, will work on a Sea Guide Alien reel seat, hidden lock nut? While it's certainly good advice to ask a supplier to fit certain components to your rod blank, not every supplier carries every manufacturers rod blanks, or components. Mud Hole can't fit an Alps MVT reel seat to a blank I buy from them. And Get
Forum: rodboard

I'm wondering what you mean when you say "the end for the cap may be worn out and not be enough to hold the end cap" ? My interpretation of what you're describing is that the problem you have is only related to the tenon, and not the rest of the grip, or the butt cap itself? If the problem is with the butt cap, just buy a new butt cap. If the problem is with the tenon, then the s
Forum: rodboard

Brandon, you're not out of line at all asking what you did. True, as long as the reel seats etc.... are of the same listed size, there is a lot of interchangeability between different manufacturers, it is not the case with all of them. I've got plenty of parts sitting in a box on a shelf, with parts in it that I hoped would fit other manufacturers components, but don't. It's much smarter to a
Forum: rodboard

This one time ..... at band camp .....
Forum: rodboard

Having Googled Generation 4 rod wrapping thread and coming up with only results for the thread finish, I assume that's what you're asking about. I've used the high build on 4 of the last 5 rods I've built, and I love it !!! Great clarity, although the other finishes I've used have had great clarity as well..... It's a bit thinner than other high builds I've used, such as Flex Coat Ultra UV,
Forum: rodboard

I noticed the same thing on my very first build. I put 2 pieces of tape opposite of each other to fix it, and I've been doing the same thing ever since. As far as a potential problem with excess epoxy? That's easily avoided by simply applying the epoxy to the inside of the butt cap, instead of applying it to the tenon. Any excess epoxy is pushed up inside the butt cap.
Forum: rodboard

From looking at the dimensions for the Bravo reel seat, and the grips recommended for it, it appears you'll need to open up the inlet on the grip a bit as well as sand down the OD of the grip a bit, to get it to work with the Bravo. Not that big of a deal really. Probably easier to do if you go with cork versus EVA, but can certainly be done with either option. Just have to tweak it a bit.
Forum: rodboard

Not sure I'm understanding what you mean by the bottom of the guide foot is not flat? If you mean that it's not straight in what would be the horizontal plane when looking at it from the side? Then it's supposed to be straight, and I would simply bend it so that it was straight. Like Spencer said, the metal is not brittle. I'd just make sure you're not using the legs of the guide frame as a hold
Forum: rodboard

I have weights for Minima TF3XG-04W. I weighed 7 at the same time and came up with an average weight of .1108 grams I weighed a single TF3XG - 5. It weighed .107 grams. The W has a wider foot and a bit of an arrow head look to the end of the foot. The 5 has a more slender foot, without the arrow head thing at the end of the foot.
Forum: rodboard

Michael, the OP also said they used the long leader because the leader gets short from having to retie all the time due to the lure connection knot. Yes, clearly shortening the leader to keep it off the spool would solve the problem. As would switching to 10# test, which the OP said they didn't have the same problem with. I fish 8 and 10# Tatsu as the main line on my spinning gear. And like J
Forum: rodboard

Michael? When was the last time you fished 12# test fluorocarbon line, on spinning gear? Etienne, I totally get you not wanting to switch from Tatsu, to a different line. Like you say ..... Tatsu is that good. I'm curious what kind of conditions you're fishing where 12# test is preferred? I just ask because I use 10# Tatsu as the main line on one and sometimes, two of my spinning rods. As
Forum: rodboard

I was going to say it could be blush caused by high humidity.
Forum: rodboard

I don't do inshore fishing, but I had (just sold it to a friend at work) a spinning rod built on a DS 6107 IM blank. If you're looking for a blank with a very parabolic bend under a load, you might be happy with it. Like you said, it's a drop shot blank, so tip power is pretty much non existent. At least IMO. The reason I sold the rod is because I built a replacement for it on the IS694 X ray
Forum: rodboard

If you're looking for a rod with an IP in the high 900s, the MB 709 can do a lot of things well. Great jig, and swim jig rod. And while I personally prefer a little less powerful rod for chatterbaits, it's a good chatterbait rod as well. I also occasionally use one of the rods I have built on the blank, for throwing Carolina rigs. And it works great. Will it handle a frog .... because of its' po
Forum: rodboard

Jeremy, thank you for the kind words. And if I really know my stuff, it's because of the help I've gotten from the members of this site. I'm sure you've seen for yourself just how much information can be gleaned from the pages of this forum. It's without a doubt the best rod building forum I've found on the internet. As far as which guide train you choose to use ..... the type of grip being u
Forum: rodboard