From never attending the show before, I wondered why it had to be done in conjunction with the fly fishing show. I kept hearing that the other folks were taking less and less space and most of the people were coming to the rod side. I think the rod show carried the fly side to a much greater extent than has previously been known. I think too that there was a basic difference in the approach and g
Forum: rodboard

Andy, Best of luck as a 'wholesaler'. See you in Feb. Dave
Forum: rodboard

Rich, get the lathe. It is so much fun to make your own handles. A lot of guys are now experimenting with different types of cork, cork and acryllic, cork and wood and just wood. I am sure there are lots of other materials you can use. A lathe will open you up for lots of combinations. They also are not that expensive for something you use a lot. I think the range is under $100 up to about $300 f
Forum: rodboard

Steve, Here is some advice my dad gave me 40 years ago and I was too young to understand it until I lived it several times. IT NEVER TAKES TOO LONG TO DO IT RIGHT. I was famous for trying short cuts that ended up taking longer than if I had done something the conventional way. Dad must have told me 50 times and it never sunk in until later. Just my nickel's worth.
Forum: rodboard

I was working in Panama and took my 7ft rods every time. I used a PVC tube (sch 40 with end caps). I checked with the airline in advance and was assured there was no problem. Well, there was not a problem but they tried everything to break the tube. You should have seen it after my 7 trips down there. But I never had a problem on either end. Best advice is to check with the airlines first if you
Forum: rodboard

Everyone agrees that it is getting harder and harder to get good cork. I make my own grips because I like doing it and I think it adds a personnal touch to my rods. If I had 50 of one style to do for someone, I might consider buying preformed. I really like Andy's cork and it works very nicely. I particularly like the fact that it is of consistent quality and I dont have to junk half the order to
Forum: rodboard

But there is a good reason to do the tests and know what the numbers are. You can conclusively say to a customer that the guides on my rods will not pull out no matter what size fish you catch because they are put on so well that the rod will break before they ever get loaded to a point of pulling out. That's how well your rods are made! Tell them they can rip them off, pull them off with priers
Forum: rodboard

What it sounds like to me is you are getting 'bleed through'. The dark color of the blank is coming through the thread and causing the streaks. This happens all the time with light colored threads. I now paint my blanks white underneath the wrap or guides if I am using white, yellow, light green or any other very light color. I have some magnificently ugly bleed throughs from NOT painting because
Forum: rodboard

I believe the Daddy has to be Emory. Just like a large portion of the male population, when confronted with the exitence of a new little creature, the first thing they exclaim is "How did that happen?" However, I believe that if you read the explanations carefully, it actually may be a subconscience effort to exhibit the graphical definition of Amplitude. Emory must have grandkids beca
Forum: rodboard

Without going into details, I think that Shimano lost a lot of customers (mainly bass fishermen) with the way they handled the dropping of the old Curado 200B and 200SF in favor of the new design. My buyer friend with a large outdoor company had no advance knowledge until they could not restock and were told here is the new repalcement. I think they could have done the change a lot better and mo
Forum: rodboard

I have averaged over 30 per year for the last few years. But that can be deceptive. I have replaced every rod I own at least once and some twice. I have built rods for friends presents, birthdays, etc. I also see a wrap I really like and have to do one like it or I have an idea as to how I would do it. I also build mostly bass rods but decided I needed to learn to do flyrods since I love to flyfi
Forum: rodboard

I have averaged over 30 per year for the last few years. But that can be deceptive. I have replaced every rod I own at least once and some twice. I have built rods for friends presents, birthdays, etc. I also see a wrap I really like and have to do one like it or I have an idea as to how I would do it. I also build mostly bass rods but decided I needed to learn to do flyrods since I love to flyfi
Forum: rodboard

I use spray KILZ and it works great. I do lightly sand the blank where I am going to paint to get good adherence. Never had any problems as long as you let it dry well. This is only for undercoating but if you wanted white it might work also under finish. Dave
Forum: rodboard

Outstanding. Maybe other folks can do something like that in their schools. I have been thinking about volunteering or doing something in the schools here when I retire. Great Stuff Neal. Dave
Forum: rodboard

I never took apart one of the track II type blades. Are they large enough to get ahold of with masking tape and some kind of holder? Dave
Forum: rodboard

OK, so the other day, I was fooling with a rod I was about finished with and I accidentally found the Lock Up point and proceeded to then find the Break Point which was only slightly different in load! I am like Bill, I dont get it. If I take a very limber rod (boy there is an old term), and I add more and more load to it, it seems to me that it bends until it cant bend anymore and then it rupt
Forum: rodboard

Whoops--I meant to say 1" x 12" not 2" x 12"----@J($%*&^ keyboard and my brain dont work together sometimes!
Forum: rodboard

I have a Grizzly hobby lathe. I have never ruined a grip because like most of the responses you got above, I also went slow. It has been a while since I did any wood turning so I needed to get back to feeling confident when I first started turning handles a few years ago. The most important tool I have is a set of calipers. Stop often and check what you are doing against either a sketch or an exa
Forum: rodboard

I have not gotten mine yet but you guys are lucky. Someone was stealing mine out of the mail and I did not receive any for 3 or 4 months. I now have it sent to my daughter who then delivers it to me. How's that for slow delivery!
Forum: rodboard

I really hate to hear of Geralds passing. I certainly enjoyed talking to him at the gatherings and in emails to him directly. I wish we had been able to fish together also but ..... He will be sorely missed. He always had the right ideas on how to do something or had tried this/that and could advise you on what had worked and what would not. I know he is fishing in his favorite spot now taking
Forum: rodboard

Bill, You have an older model of the mixer which does not require electric power or batteries.
Forum: rodboard

Did you try inserts by Les? (see left) Seems like I saw some in his stuff once when I was looking for some similar things. Dave
Forum: rodboard

I use a small drill press to drill out the hole on the rings to the size mandrel I am going to use. The mandrel will be smaller than the blank so I can do the final taper reaming later. Most of the rods I build are around 3/8" to 1/2" at the butt. I think wax is really the way to go to keep the rings from sticking to the mandrel. I start turning the handle by using 60-80 grit sandpape
Forum: rodboard

I do something completely different, even for one thread at the end of the wrap. On the underside of the blank (opposite of the guide) I put two small pieces of tape at either end of the guide. The tape holds a pull loop of thread and a length of the trim thread. Both of these will stretch from one end of the guide to the other so that when the wrap is started, it will go over them and lock them
Forum: rodboard

I have recently decided that there is no one that I need to talk to bad enough to fill out the "admission form" to their world. I get very frustrated at people who do this but I also remember when I was getting between 100 and 150 emails a day from "unwanted sources". Mike has a good point that we only need to be smart about how we handle the situation. I now monitor my cooki
Forum: rodboard

Capt Rick, I build virtually all my bass rods using the blank thru reel seats. I use 30 minute two part epoxy and smear the rod heavily in the area where the seat will go. I approximate mentally where the rod blank will be exposed and do not put any glue there. Next I take the reel seat and slide it on while turning the seat. I do this over newspaper or other paper to catch any drips. I
Forum: rodboard

email David Schaub at dschaub@technip.com I want to ask about your thread winding width chart.
Forum: rodboard

Unless I am wrong, the mardi gras colors are yellow and purple (LSU colors) and green and white (Tulane colors). All four represent mardi gras, at least in the cakes and stuff we have here each year. I am no expert like Bill or Lance. I thought Bill stated his colors in a long ago posting. You might try to do a search. Good luck Dave
Forum: rodboard

I try to use the same size as the last guide before the tip-top. I think it looks better and performs just as well as anything else.
Forum: rodboard

I guess that I am just different,but I glue up cork with Titebond III and have had no problem with it. Lately,I have been putting the handles on the blanks with Gorilla Glue. That stuff expands to fill any voids and is stronger than it needs to be. I cut a handle off a blank that had been glued with Gorilla and I sure would not want to do that again. But then again, I guess it's just me. I do nee
Forum: rodboard