Looking for a 7-8wt 10-11ft, 5-6 pc. fly rod blank (travel rod). Any recommendations? Thanks
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If I wanted to build a fly rod similar to the 9’, 5wt Sage z-axis, what blank would you recommend?
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I am building a big casting rod and need help in guides spacing. The blank is an MHX 7'6" 12-25# line rating, 1/2-2oz. lure ...TR9053MHX. It will used with a Shimano Nautilus bait casting reel. I need to know where to put the first casting guide ...how far from the reel. The rear grip will be 10" long with a 3" foregrip. I'm a fly rod/spinning rod builder and haven't built up
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A potential customer wants a Spey rod built on the Sage Z-Axis 7136, 13' 6", 7 wt blank. He is very specific about that and as of now will not accept a substitute. I know Sage no longer makes the Z-Axis series. Do any of you know if and where these blanks might still be available?
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I seem to have plenty of time to position my feathers. If i am doing multiple feather layers, I may have to wait for it to dry between layers. I used CP for years, then one day saw the dreaded shadow on the rod under the rod finish where the CP was. It was hardly perceptible, but bothered me. Maybe it was the CP I was using, U40. But from here on out it is PG for me. I guess each man to h
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I now use Permagloss. I noticed that on a dark blank in just the right light I had a shadow on the blank where I applied CP. In that case I put the feathers directly on a glossy blank. No such such problem with Permagloss. As discussed on this board many times, I keep the Permagloss in a sealed small tin can and extract it from a small hole near the bottom of the can. The hole is sealed with a s
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Decal Connection, Debbie and Chuck are the best!!!
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Old wraps came off easily .. rewind, epoxy and ready to go. Thanks all.
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Wrapped guides with Gudebrod orange thread over forest green blank (Sage), no CP. Applied epoxy (Diamond 2) and got the expected guide wrap color ... a semi-transparent muted orange that I like on that blank. Then did a 2" butt wrap with same thread, applied epoxy, intending to apply feather inlay and inscription decal on the epoxy surface. But somehow I screwed up my epoxy mix and it di
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In his article, Ralph repairs a graphite rod using a fiberglass sleeve, the idea being that the sleeve must be lower modulus than the rod material. To repair a fiberglass rod, would I need a lower modulus sleeve material than the fiberglass rod? What could that be?
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A friend gave me a 6-1/2 ft. hollow fiberglass spinning rod to repair. Six inches of the tip broke off at the first guide.. a nice clean break. The ID of the rod at the break is about 1/16." Should I splice the break with a rigid insert, some kind of sleeve, or put on a new tip-top at the break and end up with a 6' rod with altered action. SInce the break is at the first guide, I'm th
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With the 100% carbon sleeve, the crease isn't a problem, it flattens right out. But with the 50% carbon, 50% fiberglass woven sleeves, the sharp crease is tough to deal with. I've had pretty good success trying to flatten the crease against a small diameter hard edge and stretching the material a little at the cease to spread the compressed fibers. When I talked to Soller Composites a coup
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I broke the tip section of my PacBay 4 pc, 5wt Rainforest series flyrod. I have on-hand a new 4 pc blank of the same brand and model and am hoping to use the tip section of it to replace the broken piece. The ferrules seem to fit well except that the they come snug about 1/4" deeper than on the original blank. How do I know if I am getting a good fit? I don't notice any wobble or rockin
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Ross Send me your e-address and I'll send you a photo of a neat 40th anniv. rod I made for our fly fishing club where I had the reel seat laser engraved. Wayne
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Custom Tackle lists the GLX F904 in their on-line catalog. They are on the sponsor list on the left.
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Sage Z-Axis, 4 pc. Why? Lightweight blank Coupled with the REC Recoil sf guides, it is a wonderful action, excellent casting machine Beautiful dark green blank
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Think I just answered my own question by checking out the Library and the New Guide Concept Primer listing.
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Normally I'm a fly rod builder, but am building spinning rods (one pink the other purple) for my two young grand daughters for Christmas. 5' 6," 2-4 lb, 1/16-1/4 oz lures (Mudhole). Quick question ... what are the guidelines re. placement of the first butt guide? Or which issue(s) of RM discusses this? Thanks Wayne
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I love the green/carbon sleeving for grips I put on my forest green blanks and the American Tackle windowed reel seats with green carbon inserts. To minimize the seam on the finished blank I do what Timberlake describes and even tug and pull on the sleeve fibers some along the seam to pull them apart just a bit where they are compressed by the seam. I have pressed them a bit with a steam iron b
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Thanks a bunch guys. Will trial run some of these suggestions and get to work.
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A female friend wants vivid pink guide wraps on a forest green fly blank. What would be more vivid, nylon or silk thread with CP? Or should I consider using NCP thread in pink? Do I use different CP on silk than on nylon? Thanks for your input. Wayne
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I am using the REC Recoil RSF single foot guides and they do sing.
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When you tuck the tag ends of the metallic thread trim band under the main thread wrap, are they very visible through the finished epoxied wrap if no CP is used? Wayne
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For a metallic thread trim band at the start or end of a wrap, I use the method described by Tom Kirkman which is basically a nail knot. As Tom shows, the "nail" is my forefinger. I usually do 3-turn trim bands. After forming the trim band, I pull it tight and apply a very small amount of superglue using the point of a needle to the knot to keep it from unraveling. I am careful not
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I used the REC Recoil single foot Ti guides on a Sage Z-Axis 4 wt and yes they do sing. But I found the degree of singing really depends on the line .. how clean it is, perhaps even the brand of the line. Personally the singing doesn't bother me too much especially when the rod cast so wonderfully. But if the snakes don't sing as much I'd probably use them next time. I doubt that it disturbs
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I made a carbon sleeve reverse half wells fly rod grip. Installed a nickle silver winding check then put Diamondite over the winding check, filled in the small gap between the winding check and grip and up a bit (1/8-1/4") onto the urethane coated grip. It all formed a nice taper to the blank. Looked great. But after a few hours fishing I noted a slight delamination at the Diamondite an
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Turned an olive wood insert for fly rod reel seat. What finishes are you guys using for wood inserts that will be exposed to the elements? Would like to finish it on the lathe if possible. BTW .. the rod is for my fly fishing club raffle ... 40th anniversary of the club edition. I modified our 40th anniversary logo and had it laser engraved on the insert. Looks great!
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What are the lightest guides next to the REC recoil single foot. Fuji Ti/SiC single foot guides? Light snakes? Wayne
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Glad to hear that several of you have had the same problem. Not sure yet which approach to follow. I'll cleaning the line again and have some ZipCast on hand. Wayne
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I just finished a 4wt 4 pc. Sage Z-Axis fly rod using the REC Recoil RSF titanium single foot guides. Casts wonderfully BUT while shooting the fly line, I hear a distinct fairly high pitched ringing sound as the line passes through the guides. Sometimes I can hear it even with stripping in line. I changed fly lines and the "effect" nearly disappeared, but later returned with the dif
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