I'm guessing Tom is referring to their HLG model, which comes with their silicon nitride ring. You can find it on the rodbuilderswarehouse.com website. I have seen SeaGuide's SiN rings. They are quite nice. Not quite as thin as Fuji's Torzite, but pretty close. SiN's density is much lower than stainless steel, so I'm not surprised the weight of these guides is on the low side. It would be interes
Forum: rodboard

I love carbon fiber grips, and much prefer them to cork or foam. The texture makes it so they are not slippery, even when wet or when a good day's fishing leaves a bit of slime on them from your hands.
Forum: rodboard

Interesting regarding the minima style guides with ceramic inserts. Do you know off hand what the models are for those?
Forum: rodboard

I am familiar with their line, and having bought and used them I would say they were higher quality than the PacBay versions. I am not lamenting PacBay's discontinuation of their Minima line insomuch as I'm expressing surprise that they stopped production. As you and others have pointed out, there are plenty of other options out there.
Forum: rodboard

I read on another threat the suggestion that Pac Bay's Minima line of guides are being discontinued. I checked Mudhole, and sure 'nuff they have all their Minimas on clearance. This is news to me. Anyone have any sense why this line was axed? It seems like people talk about the guides all the time, so I assume they are being bought and used...
Forum: rodboard

I know that US suppliers have offered fixed-line blanks in the past, though as far as I know none are currently offered. I have been nudging Ruben at Wasatch Tenkara to start selling blanks. I don't think he thought I was serious. If I strip down a couple of his finished rods and show off custom versions, he might start stocking raw blanks in addition to his finished rods. I love fixed-line ro
Forum: rodboard

There are close to a dozen companies that sell Tenkara rods here in the US. Most big manufacturers make them, they just don't market them in the US yet.
Forum: rodboard

Definitely not putting on a thick coat of paint. My plan is to buy a rod that is more brightly colored than I would prefer (Wasatch Tenkara's Sharpshooter, which is factory painted bright blue), sand and/or scrape off the paint to reveal the bare carbon, and wipe on a thin coat of Permagloss. This shouldn't impact the telescoping ability of the rod.
Forum: rodboard

A couple years ago I bought my first fixed-line rod. It was marketed as a tenkara rod, was made of graphite, and telescoped out to 12 feet in length. The last section of the tip is usually solid graphite, rather than tubular, so fixed-line rods are able to protect delicate tippets better than normal fishing rods. These rods do not have reel seats to accept reels, nor do they have guides. They hav
Forum: rodboard

To be clear, I quite like the KR Concept reduction train. My standard reduction guides are a 16H, 8M, and 5.5L. That reduction train seems to work pretty well for the light and ultralight rods I build. I am just questioning the running guides Fuji markets in their KR system.
Forum: rodboard

Thanks Michael for the technical details. I am going to hold off on playing with Permagloss for now, mainly because I build rods on my kitchen counter in my apartment and it sounds like the fumes would send me for a loop.
Forum: rodboard

By the way, anyone want 7 size 4 Alconite KTs in corrosion-control grey finish? I will not be using them, and my return window has passed.
Forum: rodboard

I recently ordered both size 4 Fuji KT running guides and size 4 Fuji L running guides in preparation for a build I am currently working on. The model KT is the official KR Concept running guide, while the model L is the running guide designed for the original Fuji Concept system. Looking at the two size 4 guides side by side, a few things stood out. The KTs look bulkier and heavier, with thicker
Forum: rodboard

I live in the US and have used the metric system as my primary measurement system for years. It is easier, mainly, as you say, because fractions of units are generally expressed in decimal form (a base of 10) rather than fractions based on denominators other than 10. I am sure that adherence to the Imperial system of measure plays a role in the US falling behind in the manufacturing realm, and re
Forum: rodboard

Thanks Michael, I will look into PermaGloss. I have never used that product.
Forum: rodboard

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I have some 6/0 and 8/0 Hitena on order, and look forward to working with it. Roger, I want to experiment with thin thread because I am trying to minimize the weight of my micro guide wraps. The thread itself has marginal weight, but when I apply finish I try to do it in a way that soaks the thread but does not leave any buildup over the wraps. I figure tha
Forum: rodboard

I am curious what the thinnest rod wrapping threads that are commercially available are? I currently use 3/0 silk threads made by a couple different brands (VooDoo Rods and FishHawk). I wonder if there is something thinner that I might experiment with?
Forum: rodboard

Hi John, I think Michael Danek summarized my response pretty well. People choose to optimize various things in their build, and might prioritize some goals above others. For this particular build, and indeed for most of my builds, I prioritize reducing guide weight so as to preserve as much of a blank's action as possible. Because I prioritize this, guide weight matters to me a lot. In the pas
Forum: rodboard

Where all of the guides PacBay guides, so the frames were identical?
Forum: rodboard

I have not used all of the finishes mentioned, only Flexcoat and ProKote. I used Flexcoat during my first rod building period, from 1995 through 2002 or so. It worked just fine, and I never had any complaints. When I got back into rod building in 2020 after a nearly two decade hiatus, I decided to try ProKote mainly because that was what Mudhole sold and it was from them that I bought the blank a
Forum: rodboard

As I selected components for my most recent build (9 ft medium power rod build on a steelhead blank), I learned that a guide with a stainless steel ring is not necessarily lighter than a guide of similar size with a ceramic ring. I had originally planned on using Fuji KR concept guides for the reduction train and tip top (16H, 8M, 5.5L, 4.5KG, 4LG) with SeaGuide MKGs in size 4 with stainless ring
Forum: rodboard

Your guide choice sounds good to me. Anglers Workshop website has plenty of resources for determining spacing. I would start with their program, and perhaps make minor adjustments from there if you feel those are needed. Are you planning on using Alconite inserts? I am gearing up to build a 9 ft steelhead rod with Fuji's KR system, but will use SeaGuide MKGs with steel rings (size 4) with their A
Forum: rodboard

Like others above, I do not have a brand name preference in so much as material and size preferences. I wrap exclusively with silk threads these days, and prefer size 3/0 over larger diameters. A few companies make good silk thread for rod building. Fish Hawk is one, and VooDoo is another. The VooDoo 3/0 silk looks a bit thinner to me than the 3/0 Fish Hawk thread, but I could be misperceiving.
Forum: rodboard

I remember that. Vickers hardness is not the be-all-end-all of guide ring qualities, but 1100 seems to be good enough to get the job done. I have sold all of the rods I made with those guides, and currently do not have any left. The rod I used worked very well, though I never put braid on it, like I had originally planned. I would still love to hear if those guides hold up to braid. They put many
Forum: rodboard

I second Norm's recommendation of the SeaGuide HLGs with Adaman coating. I bought and built with a few sets a while back, and would pick them over PacBay's Minimas any day of the week. I couple them with MKGs as runners. Buy a ceramic tip top, just to be safe. The HLGs and MKGs are great guides, and SeaGuide's quality control is so much better than PacBay's. I find the gunsmoke Adaman coating
Forum: rodboard

Earlier this year I discovered fixed-line fishing, which entails using a telescoping rod with line fixed to its tip. This can take the form of tenkara for fly fishing, or keiryu for those who use bait. I love it. So simple! And so much more efficient for close-range fishing for small to modest-sized fish! I have not gotten rid of all of my rod building equipment yet, but might give up on that
Forum: rodboard

Thanks Roger. That reminded me of another possibility: the wire flags that are used to mark underground telephone, gas, and electric lines. I suspect I can find a few of those for a very reasonable price.
Forum: rodboard

That is actually a good idea, much better than my original one! If the weather holds I will walk to the hardware store later today to see what they have.
Forum: rodboard

I want to do some experiments to help me discern the weight of guides versus thread versus epoxy finish when I wrap various guides on various diameters of rod blank. I have a jewelers balance, which will allow me to get very accurate weights for all of this, but I do not have any sections of rod blanks I am willing to sacrifice. Where might one get sections of blank? Especially tip sections, and
Forum: rodboard

Yes Norm, I am deliberately not doing a KR build. I prefer the ring diameters to reduce faster than Fuji's KR recommendations. I spent hours testing with the HLGs I got (which are great guides), and had no trouble reducing from 16 or 12 down to 6 or even 5 before transitioning to size 4 runners. For the high frame spinning guides I am only choosing the size 6 ring over size 5 for the couple extra
Forum: rodboard