Steven I got the sheets from Merrick .
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About 40 years ago I started using Letraset dry letter transferring on blanks and it started a trend with rod builders. Unfortunately they no longer make that but there is another company that makes it . i use 18 point size in script and it looks fantastic as if a calligrapher did the writing. I transfer it with a a burnisher from Charetpak which is made specifically for dry transfering. The c
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Brendan you call yourself a Newbie but according to my good friend Walter B (who talks about you often) you are a very accomplised rodbuilder. Keep up the good work and learn from Walter on how to rebuild rods as he is a master of fixing rods.
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My dear friend Neil the thought of what to do with all my show rods and fishing equipment as well as the tremendous amount of rod building equipment has been on my mind ever since I was diagnosed with a life threatening illness. That with my age being way up there (I only know of one rod builder older then me) I have thought of what to do with all this stuff. Not wanting to burden my friends wi
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Tom is perfectly correct in suggesting the small brown bottle of Weldwood Contact Cement.. I have been using it for more then 30 years and have made hundreds of inlay grips using it and also thousands of cut trim ring designs in eva grips using contact cement. It not only leaves no hard edges when used but it is also impervious to salt water damage. A rod that I made for a fisherman that ha
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It saddens me to hear of Jesse's passing. He was a fun guy and also a great rod builder . I alway enjoyed talking to him about rod building as he was a innovator and appreciated all of us who were into the art aspects of rods. Who can ever forgetr his famous Fly Rod demo where he actually imbedded real flys in his handles. The rod also came in sections and was also a back scratcher and had o
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I don't usally get a chance to respond to postings but I feel compelled to because of the subject. Kevin you mention using PC7 for installing grips and that would be a big mistake I think. PC7 is what I use for installing reel seats and have been doing it for many many years and I would not think of using anything else for reel seats as it the strongest of all epoxys in my opinioun. I have hear
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Rubber cement (Elmers or Best Test) is used for glueing the pattern on to the Inlay strip and that is the only use for it when doing inlay work. Contact cement is what us used to inlay the form into the grip. Make sure that one surface ( prefer the grip) is coated and given about 10 minutes to set up. The form then can be coated with the contact cement and inlayed while it is still wet so it c
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I have been using colored grips for many years and most of my rods are made with color grips and many with a multiple of different colors. It all depends on the source of the grips because I have found that some will fade more then others over a period of time. Also some colors are more likely to fade in time because of exposure to the sun. A good washing after fishing is important and a mild
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Tom please forgive me for not mentioning it in the Inlay article. It was a complete oversight.
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Yes I do use PC11 some times and that is when I have dug out a little more then I intended to and that leaves a very soft base with very little foam. I use PC11 in that case and a very lite coat and give it to 24 hours to dry hard. This will give it a nice hard base so that the the inlay wont be to spongy. PC11 should not be used to harden the base. Remember it should only be used when you fe
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I have been glueing eva pieces for about 30 years and I can tell you from my experience that Contact Cement is the best thing to use because it will not leave a HARD SEAM. It is also impervious to salt water and one of the strongest bonds you can use for foam grips. An example of how strong it is a rod I made for someone dropped it overboard while fishing in sub freezing weather and it laid on
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I have made inlays using burnt cork in regular cork and it has held up very well with no problems at all. The contrast of the burnt cork in the light cork stands out well and is very attractive (in my opinion) It takes a little patience and a good cutting tool to cut the cork (both regular and burnt) and the rest of inserting the inlay is similar to working with the Eva grips.
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Tom has written a great article on how to apply the finish to the wraps and it is just about how I have been doing it for a very long time with no problems. I too let the finish come off the end of the brush without touching the threads as he describes in the article. I use a Red Sable Brushes and they are wide , I use a 2 inch brush for the butt wrap because my butt wraps range from 12 to 14 i
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There isnt a nicer human being then BD Ehler and no one in this wide world knows that better then I do. Some years ago at Rod Builder seminar I had the pleasure and honor of meeting him and he gave me advise that actually changed my life. I am not kidding when I say that it was medical advise that changed my life to the point I could function normally without excruciating pain. If he is at t
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Let me tell you a little story about a rod I built for someone that dropped it in the Ocean in 200' of water when his hands froze in a near zero degree day in the winter. Six months later the rod was retreived by some local fisherman and because of the grip design they knew who it belonged to. To make a long story short the rods guides disolved along with the reel. The butt wrap a closed
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The longest rod I have ever seen was shown at a Rod Crafter seminar some years ago by Chris Ward from England. It was 40 feet long and it was in quite a few sections. Surpriseingly it was not heavy for it's size.. The rod is used for fishing tournaments in Europe and the specie targeted is Carp. No reel is used and the line is only a few inches from the tip with an extremely small hook. The
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I use that reel with a 7' rod and I might use 15 to 20 lb line depending on the specie of fish. but on those rods I use a size 16 stripper guide from the Fugi NSG.series. Hope this is some help
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I hope to get to see Joy again next year. Not many people know this about Joy but he was a drummer in the great and I mean great Stan Kenton band. I still can't get over that. I still remember the Star of David cross wrap you showed me but I honestly forgot how it was done so I hope to see you and you can give me the information again. And Joy you only have a couple of years on me so f
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Matthew what inlays are you referring to? I have been using High Build Flex Coat for years and have never had a problem with it . A fisherman that used one of my rods dropped it overboard on a zero degree day in December in the ocean in 200 feet of salt water and was recovered 5 months later. The guides were disolved the reel was gone but the grip and the butt wrap and guide wraps were in perf
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I think you are talking about a small boat. I am fishing on a 110' party boat that can carry a little more then 100 fisherman but usually during the week when I fish there are between 40 and 80 people so there is no danger in doing a repair on the boat. Smoking is permitted on the outside but not in the cabin so carring matches and a cigarette lighter is permitted.
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I use 5 minute epoxy on all my tip tops however I carry a hot glue stick in my tackle case with matches to help out anyone on the boat that has tip tops come loose. I do this as a courtesy to the fellow fisherman and also for the people who run the boat to help them out when a customer has a problem. It's a handy thing to have and requires no tools and you can always find someone on the boat wi
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Have you ever tried using dry letter transferring? Once you see it or use it I don't think you will ever want to use ink again. I use a 18 point script and I think it can't be beat. To me it looks real classy and professional.
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I have built many Gbt841m rods in the past years. Very good blank.The specs are as follows Butt 0.725 Tip 7.5 Line 40 Weight 5 1/2 Hope this helps .
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I build saltwater rods and mainly for people who fish on Party Boats and when I make a rod for someone they also get a written explanation on the cleaning and care of the rod. I have made a point of not building for anyone that does not take proper care of the rod I built and no money can sway me to make another rod if they dont take care of it. I take 3 rods on each fishing trip and whethe
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I too use dry wall sand screen to remove the glue residue but after it is removed I would suggest a good scrubbing with something like JOY and a Scotch Brite scrub pad to remove the fine grit that could become inbreded from the sanding.
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Tom I couldn't agree with you more about working fast in applying the finish to the guides. I use a brush equal to the size of the guide wrap and with the 18 rpms of the motor I usually get the guide covered in less then 15 seconds with one revelution that covers the wrap. One thing puzzels me and has for some time now when I read the posts on the site and that is that I don;t read anything a
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I forgot to add that the rod came out great because I had a great teacher who specialized on noodle rods. The late great Jim Anderson. I have listened to talks at seminars about noodle rods for many years and then I put to use his vast knowledge on the rod. Seminars do come in handy.
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I have only built one Noodle rod in my rod building years and I can tell you there will never be another one for me. Imagine working on a cooked piece of spaghetti (not al dente) and trying to put guides on that. The rod blank also was 12' and extended from my lathe into my wites bathroom making it unavailale until I finished the rod. Need I say more. I believe the noodle rod has been banned
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I have only built one Noodle rod in my rod building years and I can tell you there will never be another one for me. Imagine working on a cooked piece of spaghetti (not al dente) and trying to put guides on that. The rod blank also was 12' and extended from my lathe into my wites bathroom making it unavailale until I finished the rod. Need I say more. I believe the noodle rod has been banned
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