Hello I was wondering if someone could give me some guidance as far as how the concept guide system works when there is no intersection point (http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/newguide.html) when you mount the reel you expect to be using. I have a 6'6" 12-20lb blank. I put the reel I intend on using on it but apparently the reel's midpoint never really intersects withthe rod because t
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The OD of the rod is slightly less than 1" where the grip should sit. I have a grip now that's I want to say about .6" ID and the walls of the grip are a good .5" themselves. Tearing is less my fear in the case compared to the stretching of the large walls. Thanks Sam
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Hello I'm sorry to repeat this topic but I have a question about the lubricants people use and possible tearing in the grip. I noticed in this post that people are using U-40 Rod Bond in particular for fitting on small ID EVA/Hypalon grip on a large OD rod. Is this adhesive particularly good for this purpose or better than say using regular epoxy as a lubricant? My second question relates
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Hi Tom Just to clarify when I say 14-16" I mean including the front and rear grip as well as the reel seat. If you still think this is too long can you please recommend a length that you think is "just right"? In particular I'm interested in how long my rear grip (plus butt cap) should be. I think the front grip probably doesn't matter as much but do correct me if I'm wrong.
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Hello I was wondering if anyone could advice me on what's an average (I know it varies based on preference) grip size for a 6'6" spinning rod. It's intended for saltwalter use in about the 10-20 lb test range. I ordered a bunch of EVA grips in hopes that one would be perfect but none of them are quite right. The closest thing I have measures out at 18" which seems to long. I was
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Thanks so much for your reply... I'm going to give it a shot although I might take you up on the offer to answer other questions. Thanks again Sam
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Hello all I have some pretty basic questions. I'm working on my first fly rod. Although I've built spinning/casting rods this one seems a bit more challenging. I purchased cork and a skeleton for an uplooading reel seat with a wood insert. First challenge was reaming out the cork which seemed like a much more precise process than the EVA I was used to. That got done with the help of some
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Thanks for all the replies! One thing I should mention is that it's my first standup rod so it's likely to be a not so great job. That's one reason I'm looking at the seekers they seem to be 2/3 the price. -Sam
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Hi I'm looking to build a 50-80# stand up tuna rod and I was wondering whether to go with a Calstar blank or a Seeker blank. Any other recommendations would be great as well. Thanks Sam
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Thanks James/Daniel... I'll look into the Baston rear grip (and I'll see if it has a matching front grip) and the 16dps fuji seat. -Sam
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Jann's did the trick... they actually have quite a few nice things. Thanks a ton... Sam
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Thanks Mick... I checked Mudhole and I can't seem to find any spinning cork handles with an ID of anything less than .350. I also looked through Merrick Tackle's brochure just to see if they might have something and nada as well. I'll check some of the other guys too. -Sam
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Hello I want to make a cork handle for my next rod. It will be my second rod so I don't have much experience and this is my first cork handle. The blank is a Cascade IS661F-G from Mudhole's liquidation. But, what I didn't realize when I bought the rod is that finding a cork handle with an inner diameter that's even close to it's Butt OD of .275 is quite a challenge. I don't have enough equ
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Thanks for everyone's reply. I hope to have better results next time. Everything is dry now and it seems that I have some pockets where the epoxy lumped up. Right now my theory is it was caused by the warping in the rod because I didn't see these lumps yesterday but I guess at this point there isn't much I can do. Thanks again Sam
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Hello I have what may sound like a strange question however let me first explain why I'm asking. Basically I'm now finished building my first rod (as of about 20 mins ago). I bought some high build epoxy for my finish. Problem is I found that it was really goopy and didn't really spread well. The brush seemed to push the finish too much. It could have been the pressue I was using and if t
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Thanks everyone!!!
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Hello I'm almost done with my first butt wrap and things turned out pretty nice but not quite as I expected. It seems I can't really visualize the end result and I credit that to my lack of experience and more importantly general knowledge of butt wrapping techniques. I'd like to get a hold of some books/articles/videos that go into depth on butt wraps. As far as written material goes I thi
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Thanks for all the suggestions!!! I'll keep them in mind while putting my other guides on. -Sam
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Hello So I got my first guide on today and I'm quite excited. I think the bug has already bitten me. I'm beginning to plan my next rods and I haven't even finished this one. But really I was posting not to talk about that but rather to get some advice on one problem I did seem to have. I have some "flags" in my wraps from cutting the tag ends off after finishing my wraps. While
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Well basically I'm just starting out with rod building which may be obvious from the question. I mainly fly fish for trout in local NJ/NY streams. I tend to stay on conservational streams because they are less crowded, have fish because of much needed catch and release laws the densely populated areas they run through, and because that's what's close by. While fly fishing is my staple now, I u
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Ah... ok then when you are using the guide concept system on fly/casting rods you actually don't worry about the intersect but concentrate on making sure the guides are just properly placed so the line doesn't touch the rod, casts well etc. If that's not correct please someone step in... Thanks for everyone's input. Sam
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Thanks for the insight Mick. I'm still used to off the shelf rods and I may have leaned towards making my rods look like them since like you said all these guides seem a bit odd at first glance. Fortunately I'm new to rod building so I don't have as many bad habits already ingrained so I'll happily take the advice of the experts on this forum.
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But how would one find the intersection point with a baitcasting rod, or a fly rod for that matter? It seems to me there isn't as much of a hard line to draw from these types of reels to the intersect. The line simply comes off the top so what defines the axis? Whereas with a spinning reel we know the the spindle for the spool points in the direction of our imaginary line. Thanks Sam
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Hello All What is the best way to determine handle length? Is there a formula most people use? For example if I have a 7 1/2 foot fly rod how long should the handle plus reel seat be? What about for casting and spinning rods? Is there a rough estimate I can go by? Thanks Sam
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Hello I was wondering if someone can help me out. I'm looking for information about the Fuji Guide Concept System and how it works with baitcasting rods (or if it works with baitcasting rods). I ran into from our dear friend and mentor Mr Kirkman however it only covers spinning rods. Can someone help me out with how this works with casting rods? Thanks Sam
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You should... do you do lessons?
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Folks; If I pick-up some cheap blanks to experiment with at a fishing flea market or some such convention and it is just labeled with line weight how could I determine the lure weight range? Is there some magic formula or only really the manufacturer would know (who's name is nowhere on the blank). Thanks, Sam.
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I think that I washed my hands well and I think the thread is clean because I blew a layer or two of thread attempting to get my first wrap right ;) Is there some better option for the color preserver than water-based? I am a newby so any suggestions are appreciated. I did saturate the threads with a brush and wipe off the excess. The CP was a milky color at first. I let it dry for 6 hours
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I'm not purchasing this story... this can't be a first wrap. This is nicer than custom rods I've seen being sold.... sorry not believing it. -Sam
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