Forum: rodboard

Forum: rodboard

Forum: rodboard

Forum: rodboard

Forum: rodboard

Forum: rodboard

I have built two spinning rods using the SB781-3 6-12lb as listed above. I have found it to be an excellent quality and excellent value blank. I live in Australia and am not familiar with smallmouth, however I can say that this blank is heavier than what I would use for freshwater trout. It is a fast action and fast tapered blank, with a powerful butt section, but has quite a light tip and can ca
Forum: rodboard

I have fitted a split grip recently for the first time. For reaming the butt grip I started using a tapered reamer, then continued with a circular file. I didn't use a rotating motion, but rather a vertical motion, gradually working around the sides of the hole to enlarge it. The blank is tapered, but the taper is so small over 2-3" that it is negligible, so a straight hole is fine. I ended
Forum: rodboard

Todd R Vivian - brown and rainbow trout in, promarily in lakes, up to 3-4lb. Thankyou everyone for the replies. I think I will buy the P842 and one of the spin blanks. I'm sure they will both be useful but it will be great to se the difference.
Forum: rodboard

I am looking to purchase a couple of blanks to use for freshwater trout. They will be used for casting out of the boat with 3" soft plastics (Power Minnows and T-tails, using 1/8 and 1/16th oz jig heads) and hardbody lures up to 1/4 oz. The blanks must be 6'6" - 7'0" and 2 piece. I had pretty much decided to buy the following two blanks: S782-2-MHX 6'6" 2 4-8 1/1
Forum: rodboard

Ray - I went on a trip to Hinchinbrook Island, Nth QLD a couple of years ago with my father. I built a couple of cheap Batson RX6 3pc 6'6 6-12lb spinning rods to take along. We used 30lb braid and 40lb leader. I built those rods with size 7 running guides and size 7 tip top and didn't have any problem passing the knots, but I feel that 7 is really the smallest I would comfortably go. All single
Forum: rodboard

Ross - the site is not working properly for me. Eg. I looked up MHX spinning blanks. When you go into the drop down menu to see each blank model and the individual cost, instead of listing each blank model, it just lists the word "model" with the cost of each along side it. Is this happening for you or anyone else?
Forum: rodboard

Thanks for the replies everyone, although I am still wondering....what kind of fishing does Tom Kirkman do?
Forum: rodboard

Hi All, Most people here talk about rod building (!), but I am just interested to ask what kind of fishing you mainly do, the fish species, tackle, lures, baits etc. It would be interesting because most members are probably spread around North America and the remainder around the world. (I am happy for this to be removed if it is innapropriate) I fish for brown and rainbow trout in freshwa
Forum: rodboard

The Batson Website is basically un-usable at the moment. I have not used it for a while, but I am quite disappointed. If you want to browse a category such as blanks, guides, grips etc, you need to open a PDF file which can take 5-10 minutes. It is hopeless. The previous website was 100% user-friendly, this current one is quite the opposite. Seems to be a case of two steps forward, three steps ba
Forum: rodboard

I have been very happy with the Batson Handle Kits. They include reasonable quality cork grips, the reel seat, shim, butt cap and winding checks. They are very good value - they are about half the price of buying each of the components individually.
Forum: rodboard

This is very sad news. Please pass on my condolences to his wife and family. I did not meet Col in person, but I had several conversations with him through this forum and he was a genuinely nice guy and passionate about helping others in the craft of rod building. Best wishes, Dale Holmes Hobart, TAS Australia
Forum: rodboard

I usually glue the winding check to the cork grip, using a tooth pick to place a couple of tiny drops of epoxy glue (rod bond) in place.
Forum: rodboard

The three mentioned above are Rubbing Alcohol, Isopropyl Alcohol and Denatured Alcohol. Could anyone please tell me which of these is the same as what is sold as Methylated Spirits in Australia? Thanks Dale Hobart, TAS Australia
Forum: rodboard

You need to keep in mind that the epoxy is one of the cheapest parts of the whole rod. The total cost of the blank + guides + reel seat + grips may be $80 - 300+ and you will only use $1-2 worth of epoxy finish. You are far better to save money by buying low / mid range blanks and components, than to try and save money on the epoxy.
Forum: rodboard

In the case of a spinning rod for example, I think of the 'effective' length or' fishable' length, as the length of the rod in front of the reel seat. Most often for a standard spinning rod, that length is varied by changing the length of the rear grip. Dale Hobart, TAS Australia
Forum: rodboard

What is the FLW?
Forum: rodboard

Its interesting, because I too tried to build a rod using the New Concept system (6'6" 4-8lb spin rod) and using a standard size 20 (Fuji alconite) as the first guide. It obviously didn't work because the guide would have been two thirds of the way to the tip. Realising that I would need a much bigger size guide or one with a much higher frame, I abandoned the system and when back to the 'ol
Forum: rodboard

I just use disposable brushes. I like the 1/8" ones with the purple handle the best. In the beginning I was using acetone to clean my brushes, because I only had a couple, but I realised I was using 40 cents worth of acetone to clean a 20 cent brush! For the small amount of rod building I do (like 1-2 rods per year), I think its far easier to just use disposables, and it gives me the peac
Forum: rodboard

The online video clips are really the best way to get started. They will answer virtually all of your questions. Have a look on the websites for Mudhole and Flexcoat, or go onto youtube and search for "Mudhole Rodbuilding" Personally I really like using the full length foam arbors which are matched to the diameter of the reel seat.
Forum: rodboard

Hi all, I am part of the way through building a 6wt 4pc fly rod. I would like to add a trim wrap using metallic thread about 4 turns wide, closest to the end of the ferrule and then to continue on with the normal size A thread. Is it generally okay to have the metallic thread closest to the end of the ferrule like this? I have seen on a numer of factory rods (Sage etc) that the metallic thr
Forum: rodboard

I've made a couple of these. I used a 60-grit belt for a belt sander and cut it into 8mm wide strips. I glued it on using contact glue and its worked really well. I found it easier to get my father to help me, by holding the rod and slowly turning it, while I firmly laid the strip into place, ensuring a nice evenly spaced spiral. Its one of those times when you can really use an extra set of h
Forum: rodboard

Hi Col, The subject of catering reminds me of a fly tying course I went to years ago. The course was held at the home of the tutor and each week his wife always made a large amount of sausage rolls and a nice cake as well as tea and coffee. One young fellow in the course, who was renting a flat by himself, made the comment: "Do we really have to stuff about tying these Bl**dy flies, I
Forum: rodboard

Hi Col, I think you will be able to see my email address now. Feel free to send me those details. You may like to mention to the fellow in St Helens who I am, and that I may send him an email some time, at least just to say Hi. If he's been building for 50 years he must be a bit older than me. I'm only 33!
Forum: rodboard

Hi Oli, Generally I start by looking at a guide spacing chart online, as a starting point. Here is one from Schneiders Rod Shop - one of the forum sponsors. You will see that for spinning rods they give a spacing suggestion for both light and medium 6'6" rods. One is for 6 guides plus the tip top, the other is for 7 guides plus the tip top. The best thing to do is choose a spacin
Forum: rodboard