Drop me an email, I may be able to help you.
Forum: rodboard

You're correct Joe-- like I said, there's very little to be gained by the 'average joe' if a major manufacturer switches to ceramics. Most guys fishing for trout cast 20-50', like you said...I personally will argue that ceramics are smoother even at that distance, but for the vast majority of folks, snakes do fine. On the other hand, I will be spending most of the upcoming summer chasing summer
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The RA5 from Batson is the same seat but has a round recessed hood. Might want to grab one of those if you haven't bought your seat yet.
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Thanks for the email...sounds like the solution was only a few clicks away!
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Will the grit or other abrasive stay put with those? The reason I switched to rattails in the first place was that I hated ruining an expensive blank when a piece of sand got stuck up in the cork...and then I slid the grip down, leaving a nice long scratch... I also like the ability to chuck up rattails in the drill and be done in 2 minutes :)
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"If the friction caused by the line created as much drag as people are making out because of the performance solely of snake guides wouldn't manufacturers be changing?" No, they wouldn't. A single foot ceramic guide like the Fuji Titanium SIC might be $5.00 wholesale....for a single guide! Even a step down with a Forecast Zirconia, you'll be looking at $1.00 per guide. Wire snake
Forum: rodboard

So, I have a bunch of preformed Spey rod grips that are between 14-16" long and have an inside diameter of .250" or so. I've been able to ream them using rattail files...first chucking them in a drill, and then doing what I can by hand. It works, but takes forever. I wonder-- a.) Is there a better way to do this than with rattails? b.) If not, does anyone know of a source
Forum: rodboard

Has anyone tried this before? I'm thinking about doing a 5" lower grip, reelseat, 1" cork taper above the seat, 5-7" space (no grip), and a 5" upper grip. Good, bad, indifferent? I've got a 11'6" Forecast here that I'd like to experiment with. Thinking it might make a fun dry-line summer steelhead rod in that setup.
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I'd love to, but I will be in China that week. Vacation trumps business :)
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I'm in Eugene now.
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The location (while somewhat TBD) would be within a block of an established fly shop (and within 3 blocks of another) in a town of 150,000 in Oregon.
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So, how many custom builders out there have their own retail shops/storefronts? I ask because I'm contemplating opening a retail store combined with a work/production space but am curious whether other folks have found it to be a profitable endeavour. I'd be paying between $500 and $800/month for the space and I'd be able to be in the shop 4 days a week. For what it's worth, I have a di
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Thanks for the input Bob! The 'pattern' I applied to it is definitely not even in color or distribution like you were going for, but it does look nice. I also had the chance to meet Steve the other day on his river and he was a very gracious host. He was fishing with one of the rods you had built him, too. Looked beautiful. When (if?) it stops raining, I'll be out there again chasing the
Forum: rodboard

Has anyone out there tried scorching cork and using it as a rod handle? How'd it hold up? I ask because late last night I had a mishap with the torch and a handle on a little 2wt. I figured 'hey, what the heck?' and torched a bunch of the rest of it-- making a light marbled pattern over the handle. It looks really good but I wonder as to the long-term durability. For what it's worth, I more
Forum: rodboard

True, but then drilling it out is going to be a pretty nasty pain.
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I don't understand the need for the three jaw chuck. I stick the mandrels in a drill chuck, and do all the other work with a 4-jaw. Not sure what gives here? I use a PSI Turncrafter Pro and it's quite nice. Sometimes wish it had an on the fly speed adjustment but hey, can't have everything.
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Dan made a few posts late last week re: SigV and FTL blanks. You might want to check those out to get specifics on what's out there and the ETA for new blanks.
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Well, a dedicated 9' is a better single handed tool than a switch rod. A dedicated 14' Spey rod is a better double-hand tool than a switch rod. I fish a 10'3" 9/10wt which is set up as a switcher and it really shines at dredging deep runs on the coast rivers out here...matched up with 300-400gr lines, it doesn't tire you out like a single hander might, but it's small enough that I don't
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If you're using a lathe with tool rest, you can do it with a skew gouge. It can take some chunks out so be careful only to turn it down to the point where you can start working it with a rasp and sandpaper. Seems to work for me.
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I've had good luck with about 50% of the sponsors I've contacted from this board. For what that's worth. Best in my mind have been Andy Dear and Decal Connection. Dan Craft's pretty good too. There are a few that are no longer sponsors that I wouldn't recommend even to an arch enemy. But that's probably why they aren't sponsors anymore.
Forum: rodboard

Rx8+ is a bit lighter and also slightly slower action than the FT, although it is still a fast action rod. Probably a bit 'crisper' in hand than a FT. The FT throws a great long line but I found that I had trouble getting mine to load up quickly for the real long shots...eg took two or three false casts and shoots as opposed to one or two with a slower action rod. The FT has the backbone to
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Sorry I couldn't help, but good luck finding one! (they'll have to pry my 844-3 from my cold, dead hands)
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For what it's worth, my 908-4FT can throw a Airflo 40+ about 110-120'. My 1010-4FT can throw a 300gr head 110-120' with a two hand overhead cast (no haul). However, I've been fishing a 1007-3 V a lot lately and find that I can throw a longbelly Airflo Polyfuse XT as far as the two above, plus I don't get burned out by the constant stripping in that a line like the Outbound or the 40+ requi
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No question for me...the first cast with a new rod that you've worked several (dozens?) of hours on. Even if it's for a customer, those first 'live' wiggles always bring a smile to my face. The first fish is a distant second, and that's more hoping that some strange structural defect doesn't manifest itself with a 33" winter steelie on the end. As far as the building process, I enjoy
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I had an order in with them a while ago...sent via email but didn't hear anything for a couple weeks. Sent another, got a response, and the decals showed up in my mailbox that day. Odd, but hey, it worked out.
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The 7'0" 2pc 1wt is much more powerful than the 6'10" 3pc 1wt. They both will cast a WF1F but the 7'0" will cast a 2 and 3 also.
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I'd say try a very fast fly rod blank and use the tip section (or sections if it was a 4pc). You'll end up with a moderate action rod that'll still cast pretty well. Don't try it with a blank that was moderate or mod-slow to begin with...you'll just get a floppy noodle (I say this from unfortunate experience).
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A sanding block does a great job on this. Start with 60, get it close to shape, then finish with 150, 220, 320, and 400. Might be a few pits and fissures in the cork but REC's cork is generally pretty good stuff.
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A cap and ring seat will also work on a rod like that.
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DC FT 906-4...plenty of rod for char...I fished one for steelhead for a while and those run up to 16lbs in this neck of the woods.
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