All of this is determined by how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. If you just wanna turn cork and EVA, then the FlexCoat or Grizzly drill type lathes will do just fine. However, if you wanna get into acrylic, stabilized hardwoods, etc...then getting a benchtop lathe with at least a 1/2 horse motor is a great place to start. I suggest keeping your eyeballs peeled at used listings. Many peo
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I don’t know if you have one near you...but IKEA sells very inexpensive laminate countertops without the backsplash, as well as having just a quarter round on the front edge, rather that the old school bullnose. This is what I have on my bench in my garage. I bought an 8’ and a 6’, cut the 6’ down to 4’, and hinged it to the the end of my bench, bar style. I did this so I could pull my car into
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Wondering...is it a one piece blank? BTW- you’re in good hands with this group of gents whom are offering up info. They’ve been absolutely critical to one of my projects in particular, but also in the lost world of vintage FG rods from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.
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I don't know... I say this just for practice.
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It’s been covered many times about epoxy shelf life. However, I’m wondering if a bottle of ambered hardener can be hastened to be even darker. My vintage build was originally done with marine varnish. I can always buy a bottle of Rod Dancer varnish...but now I’m staring at an old bottle of ambered Pro Köte and wondering if I can just darken the hardener up in the sun...thereby giving thinned epo
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Water slide decal paper for your printer. Done!
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Thanks guys! I think I’ve found my answer. I have lower cabinets under my countertop, hung with no toe kick. Foot options seem to be an issue...so I’m gonna make a treadle bar that’s either forearm activated or under my bench top, belly activated. Similar in concept to Barry’s, but not foot activated. Roger, that’s a very ingenious way to do it. I’d be super tempted to make that happen if it wa
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Thanks guys! I think I’ve found my answer. I have lower cabinets under my countertop, hung with no toe kick. Foot options seem to be an issue...so I’m gonna make a treadle bar that’s either forearm activated or under my bench top, belly activated. Similar in concept to Barry’s, but not foot activated. Roger, that’s a very ingenious way to do it. I’d be super tempted to make that happen if it wa
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Thanks, Roger! I think that’s what’ll eventually happen. I’ll flip the setup to the other side...and get a two-way motor. Problem solved!
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I’m one of these guys with a high work bench. When I use my wrapper...I feel like Lilly Tomlin in a big chair. My butt is half on my rolling chair, and my foot is reaching for the pedal. I was thinking about making a long box to raise my pedal up. Not hard to figure out. I was a cabinetmaker my whole adult life. However, I was thinking about how annoying it is to slide my foot pedal. It gets knoc
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I’m with you on that. My Diawa Spinmatics have tips that’ are harder to find than Bigfoot. They’re a 4.6mm OD ring size.
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Has anyone considered or actually reconfigured their PacBay/Alps/American Tackle power wrapper to a ‘right to left’ orientation? I’ve been using it left to right for 7 years...but it’s always felt a bit awkward. Almost as if I’ve learned to play the guitar left handed.
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I’m a big believer in when preparation meets opportunity...good things happen. I’m hoping that with the butt and tip specs...maybe someone with old catalogs might be able to help me definitively identify the blank. Right now, I know some older gentleman whom has been holding onto a a hundred vintage blanks, has one of these...just waiting for me. Someone whom doesn’t see their value because he do
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I’m not gonna lie, Roger...it’s one of those things people do when they lose a loved one. However, it was also a challenge laid down by my ol’ man years before his death. If I can find the correct size Sizematic ferrules for that SP-841...then I’ll probably call it good. However, Mathew gave me some hidden knowledge via email. It might not be a Fenwick at all. It might be a tournament blank from
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Hi Spencer, I realize that from an outside perspective...some of these little hiccups may seem minor, but there’s a long backstory to getting it right. I’ll share it with you via email. I really appreciate what you’re saying, as there may come a point to this 20 year project when enough is enough. If I can find the correct ferrules for the SP-841 blank I recently acquired, then I may go ahead
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I’m convinced these kits from the 70’s were put together as almost grab bag type sale items. Almost as if they were efforts to rid themselves of overstock or old stock, maybe even put together haphazardly. A guy in a warehouse grabs an unmarked OEM Fenwick casting blank, throws in the Sizematic ferrules, OEM Varmac reel seat, a spool of thread, and some guides...and then calls it a pack rod kit.
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I’ve made much progress in my efforts to recreate my father’s 1975 Cabela’s/Fenwick kit rod. However, after purchasing a one piece Fenwick SP-841 honey yellow blank...I’ve come to the realization that I’m still eluded by knowledge I don’t have of these old Cabela’s kits and Fenwick blanks. The blank I purchased has the action, length, and color...but the taper is wrong from butt to tip. I’m at an
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Thanks, Bob. Interestingly enough, it was on an episode of How It’s Made on Discovery. The end result was a wrap that looked like there was no wrap at all. As for the articles you referenced, I’m not a subscriber to that mag...yet. Are those past volumes available in PDF format...or only in paper format? Thanks, -Raymond
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Hi folks, I’m getting the ball rolling on a 3 piece 3/4 weight, translucent melon colored fly rod. The tip piece is a bit cockeyed by not so great work when it was manufactured. It’s an inexpensive blank purchased on that big name @#$%& site. I was planning an inexpensive build to get my start on doing some fly rods. Can the spigot be heated to straighten it out? Is it just junk that I should’ve
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I added an oscillating space heater to the garage...which made the interior temp of the tent reach 75. As with many of the things in CRB line of products, the mood ring thermometer is a repurposed fish tank thermometer. Ingenious repurposeing...which I admire. This only occurred to me after looking at it 20 times. I bought the package that came with the tent, heater, and thermometer...so the ther
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I’m using it in the garage. Not the warmest place in the world. If you’re bench is inside your home, then the ambient temperature would probably raise the temp of the tent to something closer to 75 or 80. With my garage hovering around 60...it’s fighting it.
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Holding at 70 degrees. Nice!
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Tryout it out right now. We’ll see...
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Hi Brian, I’ve tried most methods. These days...I’m all about Titebond. However, there are differences between Titebond II & III. Both are wood glue...but III was really meant for butcher blocks and food grade applications. Probably a bit more waterproof and has a more neutral color. Titebond II is what I used as a cabinetmaker for most of my career. It can be a bit gummy if whatever you’
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Yeah, I figured as much. It only made me wonder because every guide is fractionally off (by my digital mic). Makes me go- “Wait...is that a 7 or and 8?” I should probably get a better mic than this digital one from Harbor Freight, eh?
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Back at it with my project to recreate my father’s trout rod. Today’s subject is Mildrum Carboloy guides. I have all the guides except for one...a #20, 13/16 ID, 1 inch OD. Any resources or connections you might have would be appreciated. Also, I’m trying to understand how to measure the tip top on my father’s rod. I’m gonna have to hunt that down too. It’s also a Mildrum Carboloy. Nothing about
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Is that a fly rod tip on Mudhole’s wire tensioner? Either way, I’m gonna give this a try. I might even attempt to drill as many as three or four holes for the wire. It seems logical that being able to move the wire to change its own action...would be of benefit. After all, there’s other factors to the tension of thread. Thread size, blank thickness & flexibility, and style of wrap, etc... Ju
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Yeah, Steve...I wanna do that too! Please share! I’ll throw one of those on my old carriage if you can share your specs and method of installation. I keep looking at the CRB hand wrapper...and thinking...I know I can put one of those on my carriage if I just knew what kind of sorcery would make it happen. Thanks, -Raymond
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All solid experiences...and the education I needed on the thread tensioner. Looks like I’ll be trying the bobbin on my next build. What’s the worst that can happen...I’d screw up? The great thing about all this is anything I mess up can be fixed before I apply finish, so I’ll pull my big boy pants up and try something new. Danke! -Raymond
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Hi folks, I’ve seen it done, but I was wondering what some your experiences are with using a fly tying bobbin in conjunction with a power wrapper. I have a PacBay wrapper. I didn’t like the carriage that came with it, so I got the four spool carriage with thread tensioner. I can’t say that I’ve ever accurately fingered out how to make this dial tensioner work well, as well as figure out how t
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