It seems that my problem is solved, a fellow Finnish board member spotted my need here - and he has some to spare. Cheers, Sakari
Forum: rodboard

I only need 1.6" x 1.6" x 1.6" or (2 pieces of 0.8" thick instead of one side being 1.6") - I have three rods to build (#9 9, #12 8'8" and #16 8'2") and I've got the eva for only one of them left from the batch I got from my local supplier a year ago. That supplier will eventually have some and thus I will too have more, but when that happens is not early enough
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I'm trying to find a black eva block (or large diameter solid eva rings) to make the most bottom part of my fly rod butts. The eva should be quite firm stuff. I'm located in Finland, Europe. So credit card should accepted as payment method and USPS as shipping method (UPS and FedEx too pricey to here). Any suggestions where to look? Mudhole has blocks but no black. Cheers, Sakari
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"For the most part your order will take between 20 to 30 working days (dependant on order size) to complete and dispatch." That's the CTS factory policy (or at least was) - then there's shipping and re-shipping (I take you bought from Andy). Cheers, Sakari
Forum: rodboard

Scott Reed wrote: "These are the lightest guides on the market-bar none." If these are truly steel (iron based material), then how on earth can they be very light? And yep, there are stainless steel shape memory alloys. But they are not lighter than NiTi (unless the Nickel percentage is very high). Here's one link ont the shape memory SS -subject: Cheers, Sakari
Forum: rodboard

I put the bigger version, Batson RA8L2 seats on my #10 9' (truly 8'10") Sig V and #12 9' FT (image of those rods: ) and can't tell anything else than that those are great (I've had and still have a couple not so great seats too). The full aluminium version is also very inexpensive. I like the recessed hood since the large diameter aluminium part of the seat is undet the cork and my hand th
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Hi Daniel, I've got that blank and I used light wire single foot recoils (although Amtac Titan NIA #12 and #16 for stripping guides) since I wanted the exploit the blank's properties to the max (low guide weight and only a short wrap for each guide). The recoils aren't as slick as SiC for example but it is a lot more about fly line slickness than guide slickness when it comes to how much you
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I've got one CTS (Affinity Plus Double Handed 12'6" 4-pc #9/10). Stephen is a remarkable blank manufacturer - the service is second to none. And the blank is, well, in my opinion better than anything I've tried (several Loomis, Loop, GuideLine and good knows what else, I don't remember them all). I haven't fished anything with so wide "sweet spot" - it can cast from "way too l
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Just wondering if single foot Recoils would work since breaking the ice by bending the guide a bit should be possible. Anyone tried this? Cheers, Sakari
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Well, NiTi isn't very hard. It is metal unlike that ceramic ring. Do you think that filing gives a represtative result compared to regular use? I still like the weight saving with Recoils on any lighter fly rods whatever the filing results are or will be. All materials have their ups and downs. Try a bending test next. ;-) Cheers, Sakari
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I think you'll get better results with static guide placement. Sage seems to use same spacing for SLT and XP for instance - and I think they are not the same action and thus would not be best with the same spacing. 590-4SLT: 5904-XP: Cheers, Sakari
Forum: rodboard

Randy, I've got a titanium ring (wasn't cheap, because of hand crafting and not because of the material). I've had two rings in my life before this and broke both of them and that's why I wanted something else than gold or silver alloys and lighter than SS. It seems that jewellers use metallurgically pure titanium, which is still pretty soft (compared to tool steels etc.). Titanium is workharden
Forum: rodboard

Chris, is the problem with forward cast and not with back cast? In case the forward cast is the problem, you've just noticed that fly rod guides are low -> when the rod bends so that the guides are on the outside bend, the line will touch the blank even if your guides are correctly placed (unless you've using many reasonbly high guides ie. ceramics, but heavy bend will do it anyway). If yo
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I've got Sig V 905-3 and FT 906-4. Both of them have great feel but they are totally different. FT is very stiff, except for the very light tip. It can handle small lenghts of #5 line with great finesse. It may not be the best roll casting rod but for spey and overhead work it is great. With short line it requires very crisp and short casting motion. If that's something you don't want to do the
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Tom, actually there is a standard. Formerly there used to be two standards - one for regular and one for spey reel feet. Here's the current: Cheers, Sakar
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Thanks everybody! Sakari
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A friend of mine (non-english speaker) would like to know if and what treatments bone needs in order to survive and look good in rod grips or reel handles. All answers (I'll translate them to him) will be highly appreciated. Cheers, Sakari
Forum: rodboard

Gordon, what kind of fishing/casting are you going to do with it? What type of lines? Shooting heads? Short belly? Mid-belly? Long belly? Overhead or spey or both? How about casting style? Dominant bottom hand, dominant top hand or both about equally? If you know the answers to these questions, it is a lot easier to find appropriate blank. If not, I suggest you go out and try rods and lin
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Thanks Mike.
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I know the tip sizes (in mm and in /64"). I got them directly from the blank manufacturer so I guess they are valid. I'm ordering the guides and tip tops etc before I get my hands on the blanks. I guess that I should get a tip top with 5.5/64" tube dia for 5/64" tip and 6.0/64" for 5.5/64". Am I right? That's 0.5/64" larger, unlike I (wrongly) said in the first pos
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I've used a lot my light combination of Scott G 8' #2 2-pc and SA Ultra3 DT2F - even with #2 3xl marabou muddlers. You won't be casting very far these but with low line classes that is usually not even desired to be done. 45' is no problem - for me at least. It ain't pretty, but if you're carrying only one combination, the fish aren't huge and you may have to use very delicate presentation wit
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Hi TWS. I've build that blank. I used Amtac Ti-framed strippers, SF-recoils and recoil tip top. The list is below: 1 * AMTAC NIC #12 1 * RSF #4 1 * RSF #3 3 * RSF #2 4 * RSF #1 1 * RTTUL - L I think it could well go with one guide less too. Every blank is a bit different - use static guide placement to determine the appropriate spacing for your blank. I really like the SF-recoils
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Hi. What is the best tip top tube size? Is it 1/64" bigger than the tip diameter? I've never thought of this before - I've filled the gap if there's been much of it. Cheers, Sakari
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Hi David. The only bad thing about ceramics is that you need reasonably large ones and they do weight quite much - even the titanium framed ones. With my next blank I've decided to get titanium framed SiC stripper guides and the rest will be single foot recoils. The tip will most likely be recoil too but I haven't decided on that yet; the other option is titanium framed SiC. Since you're bu
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I've got everything else decided but I'm still wondering which tip top should I get for a 12'6" #9/10 double hander. Fuji TFST (size 7 or 8) or Recoil RTTUL-XL Is there any reason to get the titanium framed Fuji SiC? There will be no hauling and most of the other guides are Recoils... and that Recoil top is a tad lighter than the Fuji. Cheers, Sakari
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Hi Bill. I've been telling this on another board too but I'll write it here so rodbuilding dudes can read it too. The problem with ERN I have is that normal casters too easily will see that ERN = ELN. Of course the stiffness is the most important aspect in suitable line weight but so is rod length, action, material (I've asked CCS info and personal preferred line weights on a Finnish forum fr
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Hi. I've got Sig V 905-3 and FT 905-4. The Sig V is medium/medium fast and a bit on the stiff side. Nowhere near a broomstick. The recovery is fast. This is my primary rod. Casts perfectly from 0 to 100ft. Quite an easy rod with great feel. If this was a car it could be a Porche 911. The FT is superfast and overall stiff very (except for the limber tip that makes this superfast action).
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Update and a follow-up question: # I found out that CD rods (NZ based like CTS) use carbon helical too. Other fishing rod makers I haven't yet stumbled upon. # Which is better in theory - carbon helix core or unidirectional carbon fibre scrim? I mean hoop strength vs. weight. Mike: No he won't - I'm in Finland. Cheers, Sakari
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Hi Tom. Thanks for your answer. I know the idea and theory behind the carbon helix core and did read the Multi Modulus Blanks - thread. Don't know how other tubular graphite makers than rod makers do the hoop strengthening but I was only interested if CTS was the only rod maker using this technology. That's why brought up Ugly stick, which had some spiral too and HeliPly, whose name suggest so
Forum: rodboard

CTS uses carbon helix core instead of scrim (wether that is glass or graphite). Is there others? I remember that Shakespeare's Ugly stick had some spiral too but was it different in some aspect? How about Scott rods, why is HeliPly named like it is? A friend of mine said that carbon helix core isn't anything special and that the technique is widely spread. I don't think so but I'd like to kno
Forum: rodboard