A friend recently acquired an All Star blank that I will use to assemble a rod for him. From what I can gather, it is a blank from before the Shakespeare takeover. Does anyone know of a source or database that will help me identify it. It was not labeled. It is a gun metal blue (very dark blue with a grayish tint). Thanks. Tight lines, Hunter
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The simple spiral is very effective! Works great, however, plan on using smaller guides than you originally thought. Or, at least plan on putting the transition guide ring as close as possible to the blank. At some point in the not to distant future I suspect some clever manufacturer is going to offer a "transition specific" guide for spiral wraps that puts the ring almost on the bla
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Jim Gamble Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Peacock feathers lose those colors to a great > extent. Do you mean to say that the colors deteriorate over time, or that the irisdescent quality is lost when finish is placed over them? Thanks. Tight lines, Hunter
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Thanks, everyone. Guess I'm going to go with real feathers. I've used guinea soft hackles in the past, and they produce an interesting effect. And while I like the jungle cock inlays I have seen, I'm not sure those in my flytying collection will suffice. I think they may be too big. At any rate, I am trying to decide if I can come up with a rod decorating application for peacock herl. Lots
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The shop is only twenty or so minutes from me, and these guys are top notch. They are great. However, if you really want to keep the wife occupied, couple the trip to FishSticks4U with a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. It's as easy as Richmond (almost mid way between the two), but lots of stuff to keep her busy and unaware of what you're doing.:) Tight lines, Hunter
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I noticed that there are now decals which resemble jungle cock feathers available. Having decorated rods with both decals and feather inlays, I can say categorically that decals are easier. And I wasn't attempting to align jungle cock feathers, either. Has anyone tried these decals? And, if so, is the effect achieved noticibly different from the real feathers? Just curious as I am now into m
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Tom, I am in complete agreement with you. Nonetheless, I just don't see any of those programs' sponsors allowing a rod builder, other than someone from their own factories, anywhere near the front end of a camera. I think this is true even if said person is not identified as a custom rod builder. To qualify as some sort of expert, his or her bona fides would have to be revealed, and that woul
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Mike, Check your email. And thanks for all the help you've provided me through the years. Tight lines, Hunter
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While I think the idea has more than a little merit, I doubt very seriously if the sponsors of the various fishing shows would be inclined to expose their audience to the fact that there are custom rod builders in this world that routinely offer products far superior to their own. In reality, most of these "fishing shows" are little more than thinly disguised infomercials. I often won
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Ooops, sorry!!! Thanks for the correction, Mike! Hunter
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I don't know if this will have useful information for anyone, but this morning while I was watching the "New Yankee Workshop" on PBS, it was announced that next week's show (May 19th) will be devoted entirely to lathes. This was aired in central Virginia. I have no idea if the program is shown in everyone's area, or if the same programs are aired in all parts of the country. I inferr
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Thanks, Tom. I thought that was the case, but after reading so many other posts about this issue, I was getting a tad paranoid. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to do an electronic sweep to see if there are any listening devices in my house! Tight lines, Hunter
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I did some searches, and found some partial answers, but nothing definitive. In the last eight weeks I have completed my first two spiral wrapped rods. Both are for freshwater (bass) and both rods have fast to extra fast actions. As such, there appears to be only a minimal amount of loading on the first 180 guide. (My first static load test produced no loading until I went with smaller guide
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Was there any evidence of Stockholm Syndrome?:) Tight lines, Hunter
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Just to add a little to the discusssion. There are essentially two types of drags on spincast reels. The most common has the drag on the line spool. Zebco, Shakespeare, and Johnson all employ this method, and it does impart "line twist". The other method puts the drag on the "bail pin" (for lack of a better definition). This makes the drag work as though you were backreel
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Try giving Ray or Robert at FishSticks4U a call. Given their location, anything pertaining to the Chesapeake Bay is probably well within their area of expertise. Tight lines, Hunter
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Okay, I am a little confused by this thread. Does the gentleman want a rod to take to Iraq? Or, does he want a rod to fish for smallmouth bass and stripers in Virginia? If the latter, then a fly rod is still a good choice. While there are precious few (none of which I am aware) smallies in Lake Anna, the surrounding river systems (James, Rivanna, Rappahannock, Rapadan, Shennendoah, Potomac, a
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At what temperature are you storing your CP? I have a bottle of Gudebrod that became very vicous in a cold workroom. I tried thinning it with alcohol, but that seemed to do nothing. I had pretty much given up ever using it again when I decided to put the bottle in a bowl of hot tap water. After a minute or so it became very thin. I applied it with no ill effects. I don't know if the hot wa
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Last year I used a Graphite USA C65MHXFWDHX blank to build a rod for suspending jerkbaits. It serves as an excellent worm rod, also. They are available from Mud Hole (also a board sponsor), and they can be had in a variety of colors. However, for the money, the RainShadow blanks are an incredible bargain and Ray and Robert at FishSticks4U provide great customer service. Tight lines, Hunter
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Just one other thought. Were you using the exact same line on each rod? Not all lines are exactly their stated weight. I have heard that one manufacturer's line is actually a half step higher. A different line would certainly load each rod differently. Tight lines, Hunter
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Air lines can do less damage to a rod that is packed in your duffle bag than they can to one that is not. There is also less chance of it becoming separated during travel and being lost. There is nothing quite like traveling two thousand miles to fish for trout and discovering you have no rod. Tight lines, Hunter
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What shade of green? Years ago I sold Oriental carpets. Without question, the most difficult color for home decorators to properly match/contrast is green. There are just too many shades with varying degrees of either yellow or blue mixed. Having said that, I had a Hunter Green blank for which I used a very deep wine red thread and it matched very well. Tight lines, Hunter
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When I built my first rod, I ordered everything from catalogues, using the manufacturer's specs to buy the tiptop. When it did not fit, I called the company and was informed that I did, in fact, have the right item. Nonetheless, I was transferred to the production floor where the blank manufacturer assembled their rods. The supervisor there checked the specs that they used and informed me tha
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Actually, this is a good forum to vent problems you may have with a vendor. However, mistakes are made by everyone in every walk of life. This first step should have been to give Mud Hole the opportunity to rectify the situation. Customer service is easy when everything goes right. It is the mark of "great" customer service when they address a problem promptly and correct it. I hav
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Thanks, everyone. Looks like I will need to find my Scotch-Brite! Tight lines, Hunter
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What is the maximum amount of time you can allow between coats of Threadmaster, without preparing the surface of the existing application? Tight lines, Hunter
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Putter wrote: QuoteJust gotta love the honesty of the rod building crowd! Dishonesty is all about taking short-cuts. If we wanted to take short-cuts, we wouldn't be building our own rods!:) Tight lines, Hunter
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It is in RodMaker Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 2. Last time I checked, it could be ordered from the back issue section of this site. Additionally, there is a more extensive article on spiral wraps in Volume 6, Issue 5, however, after reading both pieces numerous times, the simple spiral wrap is the way I decided to go. Tight lines, Hunter
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And, no, it is not a question about the bumper guide. Thanks to Bill Colby's article, I think I've got that one right. It concerns the first 180 degree guide. After doing a static line test, this guide isn't really bearing any load. The line is deflected at the 90 degree mark of the guide ring, but no higher. Should this guide be moved forward? This is a 6' medium action RX7 blank with a fa
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When I started doing this I had the same problem. Someone on this forum advised me to apply the epoxy to the rod while it was still. Let the epoxy run down the sides of the blank where it will gather at the bottom. Use a spatula or pallet knife to remove the excess, then turn the rod 180 degrees to let the epoxy redistribute itself. Then start the drying motor. What was once a headache for m
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