Hey Guys A customer of mine recently found a new old stock Fenwick flyrod really long for a flyrod I have been tasked with building the rod as close to original as possible but cannot find any info on what it should look like. Also the reel seat diameter is large at 18mm(just under 3/4 inch) and I cannot find a flyrod vintage looking reel seat of that size. Can anyone help as this kind of gear
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Hey guys I have had great success using a size D transparent thread I purchased from my local sewing shop.It looks and feels like fishing line only with slightly more stretch. It disappears completely on finish application. The only problem I have had is a slight yellowing after 2 years of customer use. Hope this helps Rob
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Hey guys Just passed 800 custom builds.Not bad for 4 years and the orders keep coming. Also found couple of tricks that helps with those pesky ncp issues Took apart an old laser printer bought at an @#$%& for a couple of bucks. Found a rod magnet inside a tube and it's associated steel bar these two stick together well. So I mounted them horizontally on two timber batons with slots routered in.
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Hey Matt Most of the rods I build are in this range of 12 /15 ft for surf casting.Level-winds for us are definitively a no go as they restrict casting distance.Also this opens a discussion on what I think of as the MoM dimensions. Measure of the Man.I measure each one of my customers as to the correct reel position for them and most end up in the low position ie between 220mm and 300mm from the
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Marc these are labelled Made in china 10 for a usd real cheapy`s no manufacturer`s name
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Had an interesting fisheye problem yesterday. On two new wraps epoxy developed fisheyes.Never been a problem before.I realised that the only thing I had changed was to use 2 new syringes.I had purchased a whole bunch of new syringes and on checking the plunger inside the tube I found a coating of some sort of lubricant that was the problem.So Beware and wash out new syringes.
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Thanks guys Randy each rod is different but as an average about 11hrs per rod including butt wraps excluding hi build(most of these orders are for 12 to 14ft Rock and surf) Steve Wish I was that fast Get Bit Thanks will do Rob
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Happy happy to all the builders out there.My year started well with 23 orders for custom builds and 4 orders for a custom boat gaff I designed.Hope everybody is doing as well Rob
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Hi Randy Here is a little trick that works well Respool half of your metallic thread onto an empty spool Then use the original for the wraps going in one direction and the respooled for the other direction The reason for this is that the metallics we are using are a metal filament wrapped around a nylon core so wrapping in one direction this spiral will get tighter but loosen on the return wr
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Hi Bob I agree that the rod will look terrible Particularly on a decent Loomis blank. I have the same rod on my lathe at the moment. I used the following process to strip and recoat the blank 1)Used a stanley blade(craft knive) to remove the damaged paint Make sure to keep the blade at 90 deg to the blank and then use a scrapping motion to get rid of the old coating.Scrape only small amounts a
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Yes Will I have been using this concept for a while now and found from client reports and my own rods that the concept works very well. It does seem that more guides are needed and guide sizing is critical.I have used this concept on rods from 6ft to16ft all surprisingly work well.(I have one client that owns 20 or so rods that I built and he want`s them all to be KR concept now) Have fun Rob
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Had a request from a client to use custom color guides (metallic blue in this case) on a spinning rod I am doing for him.So I played around with some recovered guides and paint.Best result so far is suspending an old torzite in a mild solution of acid rinsing with fresh water and coating with single pack spray paint.I then cleaned the insert with thinners (not easy) and it looks ok. However I do
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Thx Shawn a great idea will do(any wagers it will still end up pink) Rob
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Hey Guy`s Here`s a story that may be inspiring for our future as rod builders A few years ago I met a little girl of 7 that had just had a major accident involving a fall down a cliff and a major hip breakage, she was bedridden and receiving little or no medical attention. The result after a few years is a little girl that now is mobile in a way that is hard to describe but involves crawling, l
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Hi David Some data on the epoxies we are all using.These epoxies have very low heat distortion temperatures in the cured state(thats why we can remove old guides from rods by gently heating the old wrap)During the curing cycle low heat will not harm the epoxy as long as you do not reach the heat distortion temp,In that case the exotherm accelerates and the epoxy burns. Also as regards the fishe
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Have a client looking for fenwick blanks notably the steelhead stuff circa 1960`s ie sh 1081 any idea where I can get 3 of? No matter if they are tired I can revamp. Rob
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Ok after some research it appears the blank maker used phenolic resin as the glue (as used for bakelite) These rods were manufactured pre ww2 in England. I put the rod together and fished it myself as a test.Its awesome and immediately caught fish,(what we call shad I think called blue fish in the usa). Having used bakelite on the early days of my electrical career I remember the smell when sand
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Found a bakelite blank in a second hand shop. 10ft blank with a beautiful action fast medium but top heavy.Anybody know about bakelite blanks?Its the first I have ever seen. Rob
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Hi Ben The epoxies we are using do need to work within certain conditions ie temp humidity and above all the enviroment changes thru the curing cycle.The bubbles are curable during the cycle using 2 methods that I know off Heat and Carbon dioxide.(try this, breath out over the wrap and the bubbles will pop).The epoxies we use have a very low heat distortion temperature and slow curing times so r
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Hi Cory Done this before and the answer is no.Don`t use a color lock. Its metallic so the color lock does nothing but cost you, epoxy will only enhance. Regards Rob
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Hi Tom This feels like a problem we had to solve out here in Africa. we have a lot of guys here fishing offshore in the Indian ocean from paddle ski`s and have the same problem as regards rod length.At present the guys are using very short rods with short butts. Rod about 4.5 ft to 5,5ft but unusual blanks with major tapers ie from 24mm to 2.2mm tips.These paddle ski fisherman regularly catchi
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Hi Ron I live out here in the sticks of South Africa and have a problem getting gear for my customers. Although there are a few local suppliers, they tend towards bringing in only the fairly generic Fuji PB and alps guides.As I only need enough for 1 or 2 rods at a time could you suggest where to get small amounts of guides for single customers?Of course the time of delivery is important becaus
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Thanks Ken That seems to be the way to go.Any ideas on how to get the ferrule unjammed?
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I recently purchased an old split cane rod at @#$%& for about $10 It is marked Priory rods Bournemouth England.Its in remarkably good condition with some issues with the binding.The guides are all here(Bell type).Thought I will have a go at revamping this old girl but know little as regards original finish Type of thread(the existing thread appears to be red silk) Thread varnish etc.Could I use M
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Hi John Regarding the rod lathe I developed a problem running a sewing machine setup similar to the one described as regards power(some of the rods I am building are 16ft sglass and hmg for our local fisherman out here in south Africa) Solved this problem by using a washing machine motor @ about 100rpm and then used a belt driven reducer ratio 1:5 retained the foot controller and dimmer switch.No
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