My first Alaskan King Salmon. Not a big one, but a fish I have dreamed of catching for many years. The rod used was built on a Loomis IMX 9' 9 wt. blank which I assembled in a rod building class.
Forum: rodboard

Spent $2.95 at Wally World and painted over a crap license plate FOB and put the Int. Symbol for Custom Rod Building on it. Think it looks good on the black background. Only trouble is that it outshines my ratty old truck!
Forum: rodboard

Well, I'm the boss and I say it's time for a new work truck. That means the old one will become my new official fishing truck! First thing I did even before unloading it was to display the new rod builders symbol on it! Rod building and Ford, two of my favorite things!
Forum: rodboard

Pacbay makes some rubber end plugs that fit either a 16 or 18 seat if that might help.
Forum: rodboard

Worried about it on my first few rods and mostly about one I took on an Alaska trip for kings. But it held up fine and after that I had enough confidence not to question if you can actually build as good or better a rod than you can buy. You can.
Forum: rodboard

I believe there were two or three competitions at the ICRBE back in Feb. As far as I know none of the entrants were involved in the judging of the rods. There may have been a casting competition too. Not sure. Maybe these will take place again next year. RJH
Forum: rodboard

I don't think disagreeing with something makes one irrational. The RDA is really just the CCS with a different or variable support point so I don't even consider it a system unto itself. I would agree that it is a knock off and even uses the same deflection equation and terms like "AA." Doing that probably only adds to the confusion among new builders. So having said that now I guess I
Forum: rodboard

I have a large picture window along my bench so during the day I prefer natural light. For after dark hours I have a flourescent unit that I can slide along behind the wrapper bed.
Forum: rodboard

Glenn McMurrian Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How does the placement of the reel seat being > placed higher or lower on the Rod affect the power > and action of the Rod. You can look at the listed specs for the blank and figure that if you put the seat up really high then the power you have available will be a little less and the action will be a
Forum: rodboard

I would bet they are custom made. Maybe ask a jeweler if they can do something for you? RJH
Forum: rodboard

I try to start by asking them what rod they are using for this purpose now and what they do and don't like about it. From there we have a place to start with improvements or changes. It is so much easier to give them what they want if you have something concrete to start with. RJH
Forum: rodboard

I usually order the closest size undersize and then ream to fit. On blank exposed seats it seems easier to ream a little than to shim up. RJH
Forum: rodboard

I have wondered how well these would hold up. Once upon a time we got away from hard chrome guides and went to ceramic due to wear problems. I have seen many posts saying the Minimas will not groove but posts like yours make me wonder. RJH
Forum: rodboard

I never care when its mailed, only when I receive it. Have been told that the due date is plus or minus a week around the 28th so I'm guessing mine will be here sometime next week.
Forum: rodboard

The only trouble with that is that tapers are not always straight. Many rod butts have very little taper and then a third of the way up or whatever, the taper really kicks in. I quit using hard metal checks and use rubber or vinyl ones. They stretch enough that it doesn't matter much. Cheaper too. If you are hard set on using the metal ones then have your dealer size and fit it before shippin
Forum: rodboard

I finished an eva grip once upon a time for another reason. It looked okay but did not hold up for long. The underlying eva could not support it and it cracked after a few uses. I would not recommend coating eva with epoxy! RJH
Forum: rodboard

It seems funny that people want high figure and contrast in their wood grips but zero figure and contrast in their cork grips. If you just want a vanilla cork grip with none of the things that identify it as cork why not just use balsa or some light white pine? If you still want the ring look, just a hole saw to bore standard size rings from either.
Forum: rodboard

I know it's not the popular way here, but I use masking tape arbors on most all my freshwater and light saltwater rods and never had a problem. I do get epoxy all around the edges of the tape arbor and try to size the seat so that the arbors are never really large in diameter. Now I need to build up some arbors for a heavy duty boat rod that is going to use an AFTCO #2 seat. I planned to use full
Forum: rodboard

Flex Coat HW1. Hard to go wrong.
Forum: rodboard

I sat in on it and took some notes, but no longer have any idea where they are. Joe was a @#$%& of a craftsman. I think he started alot of the wood inlay and elliptical stuff others are doing now. I sure envy his talents.
Forum: rodboard

Tom, there is a very unhealthy and even potentially dangerous obsession going on here. This woman’s business website is mostly about you. Her forum is mostly about you. Her blog is all about you. At least one out of every three posts she makes anywhere is either about you or references you within long epistles. As a person with a professional background in the mental health field, I would stron
Forum: rodboard

The CP will seal the thread and prevent epoxy from penetrating. This is what you want. But you should put epoxy into the guide tunnels by means of a drop or two applied to the tunnel opening with a toothpick or steel needle. The epoxy will then wick up into the tunnels. This is the last step I do when applying epoxy. Coat all the wraps and then go back and put a drop at each tunnel opening.
Forum: rodboard

Looking for a source of carbon fiber seat inserts to fit a fuji style size 18 reel seat. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Forum: rodboard

Right, I think this is the fourth time they've been back.
Forum: rodboard

ST Croix Mojo Bass. Good bang for the buck. RJH
Forum: rodboard

If he's going to be fighting large fish and needs lifting power I would go with a shorter rod like an eight footer. If he needs greater casting distance I would go for a nine footer. Either way for those species you mention I would go with a twelve weight rod. RJH
Forum: rodboard

I would shape and size the foam core just about a milimeter undersize and then skin it. But could be tough to get the shape right. You could always buy one of the preformed cork grips Fuji offers to mate with that seat and just sand it down a little and skin that. I cannot believe there would be that much difference in the foam and cork.
Forum: rodboard

I never use more than two guide sizes on a casting rod anymore. A little larger butt guide and then step right down to the smallest guides I can get by with. Works great!
Forum: rodboard

I think you mean that 6ccs of each will INCREASE the margin for error. The more you mix the less any small error in measuring will matter. The important thing is to mix equal portions of both, measuring carefully. Then it doesn't matter if you mix 2ccx of each or 20ccs of each. One thing about larger batches though, the more epoxy you contain in a small area the more heat will be generated an
Forum: rodboard

Weight is the enemy of sensitivity. So pouring epoxy inbetween tape spacers has to add a lot of weight and therefore reduce sensitivity. To each his own but no tape will ever be used on one of my custom rods. I believe there are better methods that are easier, quicker, and longer lasting than tape so that's what I use.
Forum: rodboard