Thanks Tom - I did a bit more research and found that it does tend to be more brittle than the epoxy, so we'll throw that one out the window :-)
Forum: rodboard

Tom/Andy, Have either of you played with polyester resins for the wet layup of the composite grips? I've found that US Composites makes a clear polyester resin that has UV inhibitors and is designed for surfboard construction. Just curious as to possible benefits of epoxy vs. polyester or vice/versa. Thanks!
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Russ - actually, if you take a look at high speed photographs of a golf shaft during a swing, you'd be amazed at what a golf shaft goes through. A golf shaft has different forces applied in different manners than a fishing rod. My swing speed with a 45" driver is around 95mph - the head of the club is traveling at that speed at moment of impact. It accelerates to that from 0mph in the arc
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I like blue, black, red, hey, whatever! Just not pink or purple - although I bet there would be a market for that as well :-)
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Yep - any burl. In particular, boxelder burl, buckeye burl, maple, black ash, etc. Also spalted maple, etc. would be sweet. If you can produce it, we will buy it :-) Boxelder burl in particular can be very beautifull. What about dyed, stabilized fiddleback maple? :-)
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I would use anything but a Gorilla typa PVA glue. A recent test in a popular woodworking magazine showed that the PVA glues are actually not as strong as a good two part epoxy or wood glue. Titebond III is awesome stuff.
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Ok. Seriously. I now believe that there is in fact a conspiracy at work, trying to DRIVE ME INSANE!!! There should be an immediate moratorium placed on all mention of the new issue of RB until all subscribers have their copy!!! LOL!!!! COME ON USPS!!!!
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David Gilberg beat me to the punch. I consider any purposefull "undergunning" of tackle for a target species to be unsportsmanlike and not in the best interests of the fisheries that we all should cherish and hold dear. It may be more fun for you, but it's paramount to a death wish for the fish. I'm sorry Tom and all - I know this forum is not the place to state this, but I can't not
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Will do Marc -my email is up to date as well. I get through Phillips every now and then - I'll have to drop in and see your shop sometime! Yes - tourists, where would we be without them? ;-) Yep, uninformed guides/shop owners, etc, pretty typical everywhere. I have no idea how many people I've had to explain about IM rating and how it's only a piece of the puzzle. I always ask them if
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Marc - I live right down the road from you (well, sort of - I'm in Woodruff :-) I don't build for a living - but my customers (friends/family/and referrals) get the biggest charge out of custom name inscriptions, custom handle work, purty colored guides, and butt end inlays. I love feather inlays and do them on most rods - people like them, but they don't go as nuts over them as we builders d
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Some good advice here - I have the Jet Mini - it's a great little lathe, kind of the gold standard in mini lathes. That being said, I think the TC Pro is actually just as good as the Jet - and it has a bit more bed length, which would be nice to have. The Rikon had some quality issues when it first came out that have apparently been resolved - by all accounts it's alot of lathe for the money -
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1500 grit - I'm assuming it is one of the gray/black automotive sanding papers? They are notorious for leaving particles behind - my guess is you got some of the grit on there and that's what's showing up.
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Powerpro is great stuff, and for mono, I still have yet to find a line better than good old Trilene XL. In fluoro, Seaguar Carbon Pro is outstanding line.
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What a great tutorial that is! Nice - and thanks! Only problem I can see with it vs. the way I do it (nail-knot technique), is with this technique, if you don't use CP on the wrap, you will be able to see the pull throughs after epoxy - but it's a great technique, I'm going to have to try it.
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Ken - there is no way any fluoro or co-polymer line will damage any guide - you could put the cheapest of the cheap guides on there, and fluoro won't touch it. I would encourage you to get more info from whomever you have building this rod for you - do they have any examples?
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I should mention that the BLO is not a necessity either, you can just do a straight CA glue finish. It's personal preference - that link that Mark provided is a great tutorial on how to apply CA glue with BLO. Applying without BLO is virtually identical, just eliminate the BLO steps. It's not as easy as Russ F. makes it look, but it's not that hard either. Practice it on some scrap before y
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Paul, I'll accept that - I certainly agree that it is open to personal interpretation. Our interpretations differ, and that's just fine with me. My definition of custom infers that a rod is built for a specific person or a specific reason. That reason can be performance, aesthetics, or even sentimental value. I'm an engineer - I work in black and white - LOL!! A rod that is sporting p
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Billy - I've seen some Customgrip pop up on @#$%& from time to time lately - keep your eyes peeled there... Kork-a-lon or whatever it's called - I think Jann's might carry it??
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I agree with Mark - a superglue (also known as CA glue) finish is about the hardest, clearest finish you can put on wood. It's used alot by the pen turning guys - I've used it on reelseats and it works great!
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Personal preference, but I like it downlocking as well...
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I've seen so called "custom" rods on @#$%& and have never actually seen a bid on one! However - I get irritated when people infer that only a rod sold for a profit can be worthy of admiration and a "custom" moniker. I build for myself, friends, family. For myself, every rod I build, I sell to myself at cost :-), for family it's for cost of materials, for friends, it's b
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You might end up with 20/16/8 or 25/16/10 too - I'd suggest ordering the entire range of guides: 25,20,16,12,10,8 then down to size 6 SF guides for the running guides. It will cost a little more, but you will end up with the right configuration instead of making it work with a not quite right guide configuration. For guides - Fuji Alconite are very nice due to their high frames, I also just got
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I built a laker rod for myself last winter for a trip to the Apostle Islands out on Lake Superior (Chequamegon Bay). I found a 1/2 blank - top section at the St. Croix factory - not sure what the line rating on it is, but it's a rating or two below "pool cue" LOL! I think it's an SC2 blank, 42" long. Spiral wrapped, for jigging 1 1/2 - 4oz baits in 200 FOW on 80lb PowerPro. It
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The thing I would caution about is using too light of a rod for musky results in longer fights with the fish, which GREATLY increases fish mortality rates. This has been shown to be a huge factor in successfull CPR musky fishing. I would strongly encourage conservation minded musky fisherman to make sure they use enough rod for the job. If you are fishing small river musky that might be enoug
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Do you have a pic/description of the hats - this is serious stuff here ! LOL!! If it's a trucker hat, I'm not buying :-)
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Karen, can you refresh my memory on how long the promotion will last?
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I've done it like Mike does and just with gluing up on the mandrel with TBIII. If/when the mandrel gets gunked up, I put it on the lathe bare and hit it with a 3m scotchbrite pad - cleans it right up.....
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I picked up 3 of the St. Croix 3C63MXF - amazing blank. They are going to make awesome walleye jigging rods, as well as for various bass fishing applications as well. It's called a dropshot blank, and the x-fast tip is the ticket for jigging...
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Cool -thanks Karen. Anxious to see the new burl pattern too!
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Andy - a quick question - will the special promotion include items like mandrels and the Woodturning in Rodbuilding DVD?
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