I certainly didn’t mean to create such a discussion on the attributes of volume versus weight. As a career bench chemist, weight is much simpler and more accurate than volumes, that being said, the margin of error with these products is large enough that a syringe system is totally acceptable. Sitting down at a cheap scale with catalyst and resin in Yorker, cap, bottles, and weighing into a
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Kendal, Those are great points that not often discussed. If I might add one point to helping the final outcome of the rod. Never rush, never be in a hurry, the clean the bench, layout of the materials, putting the rod on the lathe, square the wraps, use the sticky side of blue tape to catch any fuzzies, make sure your mixing cup is clean, your spatula is clean. Turn on some relaxing mus
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Bruce, Great points, I’m a basement builder and winter temps mid to low 60’s. I use low build products for the best results, part of this response maybe viscosity related to temperature. As to speed, I build mostly fly rods (small diameter 9 mm butt 2mm tip section. Even with the small diameter I use 5rpm drying motors. The caveat, is that using Gen 4 low build with minimal epoxy per coa
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I primarily build fly rods, but do add a decorative butt wrap. When I started, many butt wraps had to be sanded as the results looked like ocean waves. I would heat, let stand and take off the drips… an ugly mess. Bill Falconer YouTube videos for me on track, but not until I went to minimum amounts and long horizontal strokes did results change over night. When I started mixing in a shot
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I find, for myself that I do everything by weight, I have the Amazon $15 scale that does grams to 3 places. I called companies to get the weight ratio for products. I put the catalyst in first using corker caps and usually very precise in drop weight. When I get a weight for the catalyst I multiple by the product factor, tare the scale and add resin. I do all my mixing in glass, shot glasse
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Building the F 590-4F It’s on the turner as we speak. I’ll let you know in a couple days. I’ll be building 2 of the carbon air in F 950-4M, in the next couple weeks, so should have a better idea. Mike
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I would probably acid / revolver wrap this beautiful blank. Mike
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Ben, I have received the 9’0” 5 wt fast action after paint and waiting for the one without paint. I will post both weights of each section as soon as I get the unpainted version. Mike
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Thanks I’ll give that a try. Mike
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Michael, I applied for the first time this evening and it does not brush like a water soluble product. I was brushing it on and working into the thread and that looked like a mistake, I guess I’ll see after the first coat dries. I was putting on 50wt silk variegated thread, so I’m interested if it does not dull like the flexcoat. Mike
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Single foot vs. double foot Let’s say for argument that a double foot is equal to 2 double foot guides that are close together. The question is why we use guides and how they influence casting distance and accuracy. 1). The more feet we have epoxy and thread reduce rod reflex time. 2). The more weigh negativity impacts vibration of the rod during casting 3). Guide friction of the fly
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Lance, Thank you very much for the response and information. I like double foot guides for there resistance to snagging while walking along a stream or sliding in a boat storage tube. Many suggest double foot guides weigh 2x that of single foot, but in using REC titanium guides size 3, light wire single foot (0.06 gm), light wire double foot (0.07 gm) or heavy wire single foot(0.08 gm). Th
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For Titanium fly rod reel seats look at the CTS and Seaguide. I have used many of the CTS in the 16mm and 18mm sizes and they can be anodized. Regards, Mike
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I need some help here on single foot fly rod guides. Since the inter diameter of the guide is the critical component and where the friction takes place. Is there a formula, for the line diameter to the guide inter diameter? I have REC FSX, Minama F, Seaguide TiXMG, Snake Brand single foot and Titan Titanium fly rod guides. There is no uniform size to ID of the guides. So can someone help
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Abe, I did get the inter diameter by emailing REC support. If you have any trouble let me know and I’ll send them. I just finish getting all the weights and ID on the Titan Titanium, and it’s nice as the Seaguide catalog and website gives the information. I could post the information if people would like.
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All great suggestions, it’s just finding what works best for you. I’ll add my trick, which is 1/16” pin stripe tape. It’s plastic with a great adhesive. The other point is guide prep as I assume you’re using 100wt silk. I use a hand held rotory tool with a 1” diamond wheel to prep the nose and side of the guides. Mike
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They can be tricky to wrap as the second foot will rise above the bank slightly after wrapping the first guide. I use a 1/16 “, pinstripe tape to hold the guide flat while wrapping. Also they do need some grinding at the side and nose of the guides especially if using silk thread.
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I have not yet
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Ben They will be painted, but happy to weigh them with paint Mike
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I just finished a build using the Snake Brand single foot guides. Yes, they re heavier than the REC single foot titanium guides, but they are round and elevated, compared to the REC titanium guides. The question is the round guide with increased elevation worth the extra weight. I make high end flyrods, and I will use the Snake Brand single foot guides on my rods. Another point came up o
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*I also have the epitome blanks on order. I also understand production systematics. I’ll wait for quality. If you want immediate delivery order from China. Mike Harmony Flyrods
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I think I saw he was at North Fork Composites Mike
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I had made several cottonwood ring grips that were completely done and beautiful. They had been turned on a 1/4” mandrel, so 6 1/2” long and I wanted to place an 16-18mm urethane arbor inside the solid cottonwood rings. Pulled out the flexcoat reverse pilot bit for 5/8” and once I opened my 1/4” hole to 7.5mm it bored through the cottonwood grip and left a perfectly centered hole. I turned down
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After a week of working with the cottonwood rings, they have a tendency to break with lateral stress. I can’t see that this would be an issue once glued on a blank. Exploring coring the rings with 18mm forshner bit requires drilling from both side to reduces the chance of chipping. I cored and glued into 3-5 ring grip segments for drilling on my lathe. Drilled from both end, the slide a snugg
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Researching various products to test and found this. The original purpose of spar finish was to protect the wooden poles or spars of a sailing ship from the elements. As a result, spar urethane is an excellent choice for protecting exterior projects. It can resist rain, snow, and significant temperature swings. It remains flexible, which allows it to expand and contract along with wood move
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I contacted a forestry prof I know and asked him about finishing the cottonwood rings. He made a great point that most finishes are made for surface grain of wood and not end grain, as the rings would be. He suggested a end grain product with water proofing, UV protection and reduces checking. He suggested that as a base then a tung, linseed and wax top coat.(Maloof formula). He brought up
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The web is full of information for Maloof oil/wax and oil/poly formulas. This is my first attempt with the cottonwood rings and could not be happier. When I took the picture still in my lathe, but had to take the picture. Need to do 4 Flyrod grips this week, all will be cottonwood and will try both Maloof oil/poly and oil/wax. Interesting the mix of tung oil and boiled linseed as the base
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Ron and Billy, What is the best prepping and finishing for a grip? I was trying teak oil then carnuba wax. Should it be spar varnish? Thanks Mike
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Thanks Norm, I appreciate you correcting this. I was really feeling dumb for coring all these cork blocks. Mike
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