Use sulky metalic threads, and it won't show thru
Forum: rodboard

Inexpensive and Fast action are definitely subjective terms but I would agree with the others that the Forecast and even the Tiger Eye are inexepensive but they are not "fast action" in my opinion. They are both definitely heavier than the RX 7 line. The Cabela's IM 7 rods are similar to the RX7 in my opinion. I have to agree with the others that the Dan Craft sig V would be the tic
Forum: rodboard

Yea, Steve I can feel your pain. Not long ago I loaned a friend of mine my Loomis GL3 9' 5wt. He loved it and wanted the same series rod but in the 8' 6" length, same rod just 6" shorter, right? Wrong. Shorter rod but much more powerful and doesn't feel or work anything like the 9'. Go figure. I can't tell you how many times this happens since there is no standardization among man
Forum: rodboard

There is no real direct correlation between number of pieces of a rod and it's action. The design of the overall rod will determine its action.
Forum: rodboard

I'm afraid I haven't built on many of the spinning/casting blanks from either but I have built a lot of fly rods from these two manufacturers so I don't know if the same relationships apply. Loomis GL3 series fly rods compare very nicely with the Rainshadow RX7 series other than what was said before in that the GL3 might have been a touch faster (and I do mean only a touch) and dampened a touch
Forum: rodboard

Trey, make sure when you are done grinding the topsides that a small burr is not left on the underside edge of the guide foot because that is will what eventually work its way into and damage the blank upon flexure. A few quick passes of a fine diamond file is all that is generally needed.
Forum: rodboard

One thing for sure, they used to be a big player in the fly rod market and now they are almost non-existant.
Forum: rodboard

For those of you who tend to place your guides on the blank irrespective of the spine but on the natural curve or bend in a non-straight blank, do you put them on the concave side which might seem to exacerbate the bend when held in a horizontal plane or do you put them on the convex side which might seem to straighten the blank if that is possible? Or is the mass of the guides so minimal it won
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Funny, years ago, arrow builders and archers would talk of their arrow's spline (which related to the stiffness of the shaft over its entire length and not a specific axis of effect) but today is also more commonly refered to as spine. Back to the subject at hand, my dad and I always placed our guides on our fly rods on the spine because he just knew it made for a more accurate rod, WINK WINK
Forum: rodboard

I'm not sure who made this statement a long time ago on the board, but I couldn't agree more, "Is there any blank that garnet does not look good on?"
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Andy, you're so right. When I first got out of school over twenty years ago, I went into practice with this old eye doctor. One day I examined a patient, and after considering all the data at hand I made a change in his eyeglass Rx that I felt would improve his vision and make his reading more comfortable. To my horror, he came back the next day and practically threw the glasses at me and told
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I know what I would do, I would attempt to make it perfect and then I would really botch things up and wish I would have left well enough alone. It seems Mr. Murphey always gets the last laugh in those situations when I try to correct something. ha
Forum: rodboard

Walter, I meant no disrespect, but there is no factual evidence as to which type of guide is better for casting longer distance. If you have ever seen a European fly rod distance casting event (most std. is a 5 wt rod), you will find every type of guide used and these guys are serious when it comes to trying to eak out that extra meter or two of distance. Also most fly rod manufacturers still u
Forum: rodboard

First, let me state a different opinion, traditional snake guides are NOT more accurate nor do they allow for longer casts than single foot guides. Please don't hesitate using single foot wire guides on such a rod, if you doubt me than look at any high end St. Croix fly rod and you will find single foot wire guides. Now for the ceramic vs. wire guides debate, well that subject has been hashed a
Forum: rodboard

The "plants" on posting boards are of course nothing new. One manufacturer of fly rods went so far as to endorse it as "low cost legit advertising". But, if a negative plant does occur, only to be countered by several reputable long time users of the board, it will generally out itself. Most people are bright enough to take any single post with a grain of salt but if 90% of
Forum: rodboard

Who are some of the distributors that carry them on the left? Thanks
Forum: rodboard

I'm about to build on a Dan Craft Sig V 8'4" 3/4 wt and wonder what size guide for runners most might use. In the past with Fuji's I have tended to use size 6's as runners fly rods in the 4,5, and 6 wts but what do you think of the Titans, 5's or 6's. BTW, undoubtedly it will be used with a 4 wt line. Thanks for your input.
Forum: rodboard

Kim, I have made and fished both the St. Croix IV and the RX7 and both rods were nice but the St. Croix IV was a slightly faster blank than the RX7 although I like the olive green gloss finish of the RX7 vs the matt evrgreen finish of the SC IV (just personal choice here). The SC IV 9 ft 5 wt was a very powerful 5 wt and more so than the RX7. I'm not sure if the CC data is posted for these tw
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I agree with what has been said before, don't hesitate to use a 4 weight line as the presentation difference is not much at all vs. a 3 wt. Now if you can't live with that mis-matched line and rod, ha, then go out and buy a Rio Grand line or an SA GPX rated 3 wt line as both of these lines are "designed for today's higher modulous graphite rods" and have a little more weight in the fro
Forum: rodboard

Yea, what happened to those four moderate action rods that were to be overlined. Ha, like Lay's potato chips, I knew you couldn't just stop at one.
Forum: rodboard

If we're talking fly rod blanks then I just built two 8'6" 4 wt fly rods in December, one was the RX7 in olive green and the other was the St. Croix SCIII. Both fine rods but the RX7 is a little faster action which I really like. I also found the same characteristics when I built both in an 8'6" or 9' 5 wt. (can't remember) but maybe not as much a noticable difference.
Forum: rodboard

Thank you all for your kind responses. I've got a lot more to go on now, and a lot of flies to be tied.
Forum: rodboard

Today there are some very nice thinner full wells pre-formed grips out there so if they are more comfortable, use them no matter what the rod weight. That is why these are custom rods. Like Tom said, think outside the box. Fishing and flyfishing in particular is often stuck on tradition and for no logical reason other than that's the way it's always been done.
Forum: rodboard

I am told by a friend that has considerable experience with these two series, ( I personally have built on several RX7 but no corresponding RX8) that to expect very little difference in weight between the two similar rods but that the RX8 are a touch faster but again not by a lot, (I realize that "not by a lot" is subjective)
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Will, for what little it's worth, I've built several of the St. Croix SC IV 7 and 8 wts and what I tend to use is a 16 and then 12 stripper guides and then #7's right to the tip. Excellent blanks.
Forum: rodboard

Just curious if anyone has built on the new Hook & Hackle IM 7 fly blanks at this point and what they think of them. Priced very reasonable, supposedly 47,000,000 modulus and fast action. Thank you for your input.
Forum: rodboard

Are we only talking only about the fly blanks or are we talking of doing away with the spinning/etc. blanks as well? If so what a shame to see the SCII spinning blanks go bye-bye, one of the better values out there in my opinion.
Forum: rodboard