Hi, I've recently moved (this winter) to Northwest Wisconsin where it gets quite cold, particularly in my basement. I am wanting to build a drying box to eliminate dust and to heat my finish after it is on the rod to a decent level to get a good finish. I would like to build the box myself. Any suggestions or know where I can get a set of plans for a do-it-yourself kit? Thanks in advance for y
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Jay, FWIW, I'm not sure where you're located geographically, but the Great Lakes area also has some great Salmon and Steelhead fishing. There not quite the same big bruisers that are ocean run, but they will certainly give your line a tug that you won't soon forget. Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York have renowned Salmon/Steelhead fisheries. Maybe they are a litle closer to home f
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I haven't been building for very long, but I can relate to your fixation/compulsion! I would have to say it has depended on the rod and who or what purpose I am building it for, especially if the build is for a friend or family member. That being said I guess I probably plot and plan for a couple of weeks before getting started, and modify my work as I go along when I see what things are look
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Bill, What's the process for doing a nail knot trim? I haven't heard of that before.
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There is one put out in the "hooked on fly fishing" series with Bill Martz. It is pretty basic though. I'm not sure of anything else specific to fly rod though. Hope this helps.
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Another issue could be that more finish was applied in one area than another. A good practice is to allow the rod to rest guides up until the finish starts to sag. This usually happens in about 10-15 minutes. Wick off the excess finish with a brush or folded coffee filter then rotate the rod another 180 degrees with the guides down and repeat the waiting and wicking process. Most of the time that
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Josh, One thing that helped me in getting started was getting as many catalogues from sponsors and vendors as I could. It is a bit overwhelming at first, but it gives you a good sense of what's available. Tom's book and this site are great helps as others have mentioned. I would also suggest getting a subscription to Rodmaker magazine. The cost of subscribing is well worth all the information
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You also can't go too wrong with college or professional sports teams colors for some folks. I personally like doing shades of blue and gray with either black, silver, or gold metallic on charcoal blanks. On brown blanks I like either green or burgundy type colors with either gold or silver accents depending on reel seat color, guide color, etc. You will also want to experiment with how colors se
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Hi Mike, I am purely a hobbist at this stage. I am considering stepping up to a part time business after I have some more experience and feel OK with charging for my work. Bottom line? I just flat out love it and anything to do with fishing. My wife got me a lesson with a rod builder here in town for my birthday last fall, and I have been going ever since. I can't thank everyone here enough fo
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Hi Tyson, If you're looking for general information on marbelizing techniques, Mike Barkley has an article in the library section of this board. It should give you what you need to do this. Also Randy Parpart has a DVD through one of the sponsors on the left that gives a great demonstration on how to do marble finishes. Hope this helps.
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Hi Michael, As a new hobbiest/addict myself, I can say this site is a great way to feed/control the addiction. Everyone here has been generous with answers and advice to newbies such as us. I can say that my learning curve eased up considerably by reading as much as I can. If you haven't gotten it yet I would recommend two things to you. The first is getting a subscription to RodMaker magazine
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Mike, Right now I am using preformed as I don't have a lathe set up to turn my own grips.
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Hi, First I want to thank all those of you who have helped me learn a great deal about this wonderful addiction by sharing your knowledge and posting suggestions. I just can't seem to stop! I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions about reaming out cork handles and arbors so that they stay true and not have the hole go off center? It seems like it's hit and miss for me as I only am set
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I am still working on my technique when it comes to applying finish over long but wraps and feather in-lays. I am wondering what are some of the techniques you all use to finish off your rods? I have my guide finish technique down pretty good, but sometimes those butt wraps either don't level just right or get little imperfections in the finish that sometimes has me sanding and putting more finis
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Thanks for the help guys. Somehow my ad-blocker got activated or up-graded in the last day or two and blocked the list I was origianally able to see.
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Has anyone else experienced the loss of their sponsor links in the last day or two? Mine are not showing up on this page when I log on.
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Chuck, The glue stick you are referring to, is that the guide foot adhesive, or the tip top adhesive? I am probably going to try a couple of methods including the adhesive route and the tubing route to see which one works best for me. Thanks for the advice.
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Sorry if this seems like a newbie question but my level of frustration is growing. I am trying to wrap single foot guides near the tip top and am having trouble keeping them in place with just tape. My fingers get in the way especially as I try to do a band in-lay just before the guide foot. I am not having trouble with the larger guides or stripper guides, but those little buggers near the top j
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Does anyone know of anything like this being planned in the Southeast Minnesota area? I would be in for sure if there was.
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Thanks for the advice. My next supply order will include RodBond. Any suggestions though on how to remove those little epoxy gremlins that show up after the epoxy has already set up, especially near or on the reel seat?
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I'm still trying to get the hang of how much epoxy to apply to reel seats and grips. Any suggestions about how to clean up excess epoxy that either leaks out from joined parts or finding little dribbles after it has already set either on the blank or components. Thanks for all the great advice so far and for helping me get better at my new found addiction!
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Thanks guys for the advise. This is my second fly rod and my third overall rod. My first rod the handle/reel seat ended up to be about 11.5 so that is why I had the question. Thanks again for the input.
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Hi all, I am building a 9' 5wt fly rod that has fast action. I am wondering how concerned do I need to be about the overall length of the reel seat and handle combined. I purchased some components in the mail and the lenght seemed short to me (about 10.5 inches). Is there any guidelines or rules of thumb that I could get my hands on? Thanks for all the great advice I've been reading about thus
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Now that I have a little more experience with this rod building fixation, I am looking at my first rod which I am mostly happy with except for a few footballs on a couple of the guides. My question is if there is a way to smooth out these bumps without having to re-do the entire guide? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi, I'm new to this wonderful wacky world of rod building. I have built a fly rod already and I am now in the process of trying to build an ultra light spinning rod for my son. I hope you don't mind some novice questions. I have purchased a kit with instructions, but the instructions aren't very clear when it comes to fitting the arbors to the reel seat or even what the order is of gluing
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