I trim the tag ends of the pull-through by laying a scalpel flat on the wrap and touch the tag to the blade. It's ridiculous how sharp those are. There could still be a little nib, but don't worry about that. You might have some other fuzzies in the thread and don't worry about that either. I do a thin first coat of Threadmaster lite finish and don't be bothered by nibs sticking up or dry spo
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If it's a metal winding check, round up. Nobody will see that tiny gap. Or wind a little thread on the location if you're anal about having to have it centered.
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Online you can find a box of 100 #11 scalpel blades with metal handle for less than $10 with free shipping. WAY sharper than any razor blade or hobby knife! The only downside is you gotta be really careful handling it so you don't accidentally nick any wrap threads. ;)
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I can't figure out how to see the pictures
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Yes Norman, I saw these at half-price and thought I'd get a couple to try. These grips would be so great if the butt cap were a separate piece. Btw, they came with the hole in the butt already there. I'm first looking for long drill bits to increase the bore slightly. I also ordered some various size plastic plugs from AnglersWorkshop to see if they'd fit if I just reamed the whole thing and
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I have an 8.5" winn grip for a bass casting rod shown in this pic When I bought it I assumed the butt cap would come off so I could ream the handle and glue the cap on. But that's not the case. If I just ream the whole thing to fit the .510" butt diameter then I'll be left with a big hole to cover. I looked at some plastic caps, but they seem to be larger diameter than the .720&
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I use a spreadsheet. I give it the spool diameter, height of the spool shaft from the blank, height of my choker (usually KB5or Minima4). It uses 27X to tell me where to put the choker. Then I list all the guides and their heights (provided by manufacturers). It's a simple formula to calculate, for each guide, the distance from the spool shaft where the top of the guide lands on a line from s
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Lynn Behler Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I'd like to see some reasonably, priced, well > engineered, open ended hook keepers. Almost every > guide manufacturer seems to be behind in this > area. I agree about the winding checks! Lynn have you gone to Hydra (sponsor) and looked at the Kigan XLA hook keepers? The work very well.
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Flex Coat CP over a decal (or Madiera) prevents finish problems. Simple as that. Chromaseal doesn't work well for that since it doesn't seem to have to adhesive properties that FC does. I do, however, prefer Chromaseal on threads because it soaks in better, thus less prone to blotching.
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I use a lot of unweighted Senkos as well as craw style plastics (Chigger Craw, Hula Grub) with 1/8 oz. weight. Before I started building, I had several St Croix rods for various situations so first I tried a AVS70MF for a while because it casts the lighter weights so well. But It was hard pulling bass out of heavy cover quickly enough. So then I tried my AVS70MHF for a while which worked great
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Ah, thanks for the direction guys. I haven't used AmTack guides and didn't know how Light and Medium were different. I thought maybe light was for panfish/trout/fly type of rods. It would have been helpful if the description on the MW guide page (at mudhole) specified the recommended tiptop. I appreciate those who took time to answer such a trivial question.
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I'd like to try the chrome Microwave guides on my next pair of walleye/bass rods. The guides have size 5 rings but I can't find a tiptop with the same size. I could do a size 6 ring but that looks big compared to the guides so I don't like that. Tube size is 4.0 for a St Croix 3S70MF2. What do you all typically use?
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Ernie, I did that same thing when I started building 3 years ago. I went to garage sales and @#$%& to get cheap rods and stripped them. I also use them to wrap samples of thread so I can see the real color with & without CP, with epoxy coating. A couple I painted white and do thread samples without CP, with epoxy to test colors for plaid (tartan) wraps that I'm experimenting with now.
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Brennan, when I started building, I just bought several sizes to experiment with 27X, NGC, KR methods. 27X is pretty simple so I did some with that using Minima guides. I recently did a couple with KR guides, using KR GPS on anglers resource page. Both work equally well for me. I didn't like lining guides up with a string or along the table edge and swapping sizes, so being and engineer an
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Nicely done Tom. Howevever, I always have a problem pulling the trim piece out no matter how careful I try to be. Perhaps holding the hidden end with the thumb will be my cure. What I've been doing is lay down the trim before I start the main wrap so it's anchored down from the start. The tag sticking out the left side is usually used to make the trim on the left end of the wrap (assuming I r
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Billy, Perhaps reconsider having everything one color. How about green and gold or green and silver? On the green reel seat, what color are the rings? I personally prefer to have all the metal trim (reel seat rings, winding check, guide frames) match, which might be black, TiGrey, or chrome. Wraps primarily of green thread (that matches the reel seat) with metallic trim that matches the met
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Can you unhide your email?
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Are you concerned specifically about yellowing where the decal is on the blank? Would you consider making an underwrap (with a layer of finish) and apply the decal to that?
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Phil Erickson Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Prokote is slow to cure, and seems more sensitive > to temperature then some of the other epoxies. I > find Threadmaster (both regular and Lite) work > best for me. That duplicates my experiences.
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My rod locker defines the max length for most rods. ;) Musky rods are longer but I don't store them in a locker.
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Ok, Thanks for the info Jim. The KR GPS layout indicated 4 runners to cover a distance of 29" which seemed extreme so I'm adding another. Btw, it would be nice if we could use mm in the KR GPS tool.
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Larry, I also work in a chilly basement and when I started I struggled with thick epoxy and bubbles. Your solution might be to do as I did and try various formulations of epoxy to see which is easiest for you to use in your environment. I did that and settled on Threadmaster Lite. While I warm the two parts slightly before mixing, I never need heat to make it behave nicely or to release bubble
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Jim, I'm curious what does it assume for spacing between runners when calculating how many runners? Wouldn't "blank_length - (handle_length + reduction_length)" be the same as "spool_axle_to_tip_length - reduction_length" ?? I think I'm misunderstanding something about why it needs the handle length info. In my case, the blank is 6'8" and I will add an 8"
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I'd be in favor of shade packs as well as thicker diameter thread more like competetor's size A.
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Hi Larry. I did the equivalent thing on my Mac, but was looking for a print button like the older GPS tool has. The results indicate I need to use 4 runners to cover 29 3/8" between choker and tip. I will have to do a static load test but I expect I'll need on more runner especially with the light tip on this 3S68MXF. Another question for Jim: Why does it need total rod length and dista
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Jim Ising, When I use the KR GPS page how can I print the guide selection and spacing info to the printer? I tried a simple File->Print in my browser but it doesn't show all the interesting stuff on the page. Or would that be unique to my Firefox browser? If I enter mm instead of inches does it still give me the proper results?
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Ya Tom, I understand that. I guess for the dark colors in the base diamond wrap I don't know if want them to bleed somewhat or not. I suppose the best thing is to do some test wraps both ways and see the effects for myself. But I figured guys have already done this and found what looks right.
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I'm planning out my next 2 rods and plan to try tartan wraps. I understand the basics of wrapping diamonds with darkers colors, then filing in with regular white thread and do not apply any CP. I also understand I should paint the blank white before wrapping. For the diamonds with dark threads, does it matter whether those are NCP thread or nylon thread?
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My basement (woodworking) shop is between 65 and 68 degrees. As a novice my first experience with epoxy was frustrating, but I tried several brands and found one that works really well in my environment. Plenty thin enough to go on easily, plenty of pot life since I work slow, and bubbles release easily by blowing on them. While I will warm part A & B before mixing, I never apply heat afte
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The show starts with a nice story about a long time rod builder.
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