Flipping sticks (Florida versions as I know them) are 2 piece rods where the butt end is relatively short and extremely stiff and lines used are in the range of 30 to 60 lb. The joint is at the stiffer part of the blank which does not flex and offers no sensitivity value to the rod. Bonding the two sections together will present no problem. To put the added weight of the epoxy in perspective,
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Thomas I enjoyed your post, I never laughed so hard. I didn't realize that a split grip was the difference between catching fish and not catching fish. I always thought it was an understanding of the habits of the species, water conditions, habitat structure, currents, temperature, barometric pressure, lure selection, lure presentation, a natural instinct, an accumulation of years of experienc
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I plan to use the Fuji bushing that I machined which came with the grip. The bushing has a winding check molded on to one end and when I dry fit and assembled all the components the rod looks great and for this reason I am sticking with the Fuji bushing. I appreciate all the suggestions and certainly now have bank of information to draw from. Thanks John
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Thank all of you for the great advise. I was able to get access to a precision metal lathe. I machined one of the Fuji supplied bushings to fit the blank. It turned out to be the thinnest bushing I have ever worked with. All that is needed now is to prep the surface and apply an epoxy adhesive (NOT J B Weld) and I am good to go. There has to be a limit on how thin a bushing can be machi
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Got a request for a casting rod with a Fuji pistol grip. The diameter if the blank is .450 inches and the hole in the grip is .510 inches, a clearance of .03 inches between the blank and the hole in the grip. Machining a bushing that thin would be impractical not to mention difficult. So I plan to fill the space with epoxy. . I will wrap a 1/8 inch wide band of nylon thread at the base of th
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THANK YOU, PHIL! I tried to make that point 6 posts ago. John
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The object is to saturate the threads, once the threads are thoroughly saturated any CP that is soaking on the thread and the blank is useless and must be removed. After I am sure the threads are saturated with CP I wipe off the excess from the threads and the blank with a moist lint less gauze pad. This process removes any excess CP and eliminates any build up or lumps. This works for me and
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My number one choice I use them exclusively.
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Martin Here is a wild idea. Get a length of stainless steel music wire about 0.5 mm. Starting at the fore end, wrap the wire over itself a few times to provide and anchor spiral wrap about a 1/4 to 1/2 spacing to the butt end and secure the end with thread. Install the reel seat as you would normally do. When the time comes to remove the seat. Expose the end of the reel seat and pick away a
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How can I get a sample. Thanks John
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Joe Don't worry about the performance of the rod, If the ferrule is placed in a location where the blank has little or no bend or flex you will see no noticeable change in the performance of the rod. When converting to a two piece rod all the comments Norman Miller made have to be addressed. I have converted several rods to 2 pc rods without incurring any problems. Good luck Jo
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I had a light weight fly rod that I never used and had no interest in using it, so I stripped it down and made it into a spinning rod for pan fish. It turned out to be as good or better than most ultra lights. Instead of spending most of its time whipping the air, it now spends most of its time being flexed by pan fish. A little humor no offense.
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Ricardo For a 120 volt ac motor with only two wires polarity is not an issue, but for convention sake the black would be considered the "high" or "hot" side. good luck John
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Frank I am not too concerned with the spine per say. When I prepare to align the guides I sight down the blank and find the "straightest" axis, In most cases that axis is the spine. I decide what kind of rod I am building and I place the guides along the axis I located on the preferred side of the blank. The only time I (ME) would use a spinning rod with a bait caster reel is if I
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Frank I think there is more issue than the spine question. Excluding any rare exceptions, using a bait casting reel on a spinning rod would be cumbersome, without a trigger grip, casting and retrieving would in my opinion be difficult and not very efficient. The only reason I can think of calling it a hybrid is the long handle which would allow one to cast the rod with both hands. May be pro
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You will get many helpful hints and advise from your question. Use the method that gives you the most confidence. I use 2 part epoxy mix any brand will do. When I am in a hurry I use the 5 minute mix. John
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The head stock shaft is 3/4-10 threads per inch. Check this out for the manual. John
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Anything one does to the tip of a blank changes its characteristics. Start with a blank (characteristic A ) add a tip ( characteristic A+B) add a trim band and finish it becomes (characteristic A+B+C) and on and on. The entire process of building a rod which may include decorative thread work ends up with characteristics that is different than the original blank, and this is expected. The user u
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Very interesting Roger, that is a good wake up call. In addition to good ventilation, gloves should be worn to avoid absorption through the skin. I am sure your mention of Haz mat equipment included gloves as well as breathing equip. Thank for the heads up. John
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If you are looking for another type of guide, look at the Pac-Bay Minima 4 guides. They are my go to guides. John
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I align the guides by eye, however I take the rod outside in the sun light and I sight down the rod at different targets or backgrounds such as, cars, trees, walls sky anything that is around. After some trial and error I find a background which illuminates the rod and presents a spectacular sight picture and from there I make my final adjustments. Also it gets me out of the house. It is
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Thomas With all the work you put into the rod getting it the way you want, I doubt very much if the butt cap will ruin all your efforts. I suggest you select the butt cap that visually enhances the finished product and be proud. Good fishing john
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Travis I'll add to the pot, I like the Minima 4 guides by Pac bay. They take an unbelievable amount of abuse, accept any type of line, light weight and functional. John
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Michael I should have put a disclaimer on my post stating that that I was being facetious making an example of talking about "nits" I agree with your assessment. John
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Michael When you said " I took the finish off" Then Theoretically during the process of removing the finish you reduced the weight of the rod and possibly changed the characteristics of the rod therefore the reduction of weight during preparation is somewhat off set by the addition of the permagloss so the net increase in weight would be less than the .008 ounce increase you calcula
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Jason I clean my rods with 409 or Fantastic (very soft brush and rag) , and I follow it with Johnsons paste wax or equivalent. John
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Steve I am sorry I may have misinterpreted the statement "I would suggest never using size D thread on bass rods." After reading yours and other posts I can see where size D thread would not be the best choice. Regards John
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Sam Its ok to use flame to smooth out the finish or release bubbles, Like anything else once you master the technique it works fine. Steve I am curious to know why size D thread should not be used on bass rods. Thanks John
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I don't have any experience with 20 ft rods but if stiffness for the 3/4 of the length is required I would suggest You get a telescoping aluminum handle that one uses for sweeping pools and adapt the blank to the end of it using sleeves between the blank and aluminum handle. 13 feet would be stiff aluminum and the remainder would be a standard blank.
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I believe any metal will corrode(oxidize) if abused or neglected. Barry and Michael are on target. For fresh water rods a MINIMUM EFFORT would be to make sure the rod is wiped dry in between uses and for salt water rods wipe down with a wet (water) cloth and dried in between uses. If long term storage is called for then any rod should be thoroughly cleaned with cleanser and completely dried a
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