Having been a woodworker I like jigs, so I made a wood jig I use to drill a larger center hole using a brad point bit turning in reverse. That makes a better centered and smoother cut than other methods I dabbled with. I measure the blank diameter where the front of the handle will be and subtract 1/16 (then round down to the nearest 1/16th if needed) to get my drill size. After drilling the r
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Jay, I uploaded photos of my second build which is a 6 axis 3D chevron on a St Croix 60MLF. My first experiment on a scrap blank was a 4 axis and the 3D effect just wasn't there. Then I did a 6 axis which looks much better but still not as cool as an 8 axis would have looked. But 8 axis would be too much on this ML blank. I painted the blank white and did a white (regular nylon) underwrap
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I have had the same issues so I hoped there was a magic answer here. The first Speedball india ink I used smeared when I applied CP even though it dried overnight. I then got some Dr Martins Bombay india ink which is waterproof and does not smear. However I also have the issue of nibs stop working so I continue to experiment. Seems like silver Testors is the only thing that has worked well so
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Flex Coat CP is a little thicker than I prefer, and usually had to wipe off excess after letting it soak in a minute. For sealing threads I switched to Chromaseal which is thinner and I find that to be more user friendly for me. I always let CP dry overnight before applying epoxy. However, Chromaseal doesn't have the same adhesive properties as FlexCoat. Chromaseal runs off decals so I still
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I used to have to ridges like you stated. Then I followed the finishing process in the Library and the video Tom K. put on youtube. That solved all my issues. I think I got ridges from putting in on the dryer right away, like it kept the epoxy from leveling out nice. Turning by hand periodically for the first half hour to an hour and wicking excess off the bottom works for me.
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Michael, to rough size the cork on my power wrapper, I like to use a Microplane. It smooths reasonably quickly without tearing up the cork or grabbing like a more aggressive rasp might. Just google microplane 8" coarse flat I also prefer drywall sanding screen instead of sandpaper.
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Not sure of other guide brands, but the Fuji KLAG have arrowhead shaped protrusions on the sides of the guide foot. On small size guides I haven't figured out how to file the foot between the protrusions and vertical legs without removing the protrusion. What works good in that small space?
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I haven't been doing this hobby very long, but I quickly learned what others have said. Heat is not needed, and can cause more bubbles to percolate out of the threads. Just follow the library doc on Improving Your Epoxy Finish and use a small stir straw to lightly blow on the bubbles and they will pop easily. Works wonderful, at least with the Threadmaster Lite I use now. When I started, I tr
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Bill, thanks for the reminder about Fixatif spray and I do happen to have some. I first used Fixatif spray over some hand-writing I did using Testors paint. But that was a disaster as it caused the paint to run and smear so I banished it to the back of my cabinet and forgot about it.
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Bill, the Chromaseal ran off, Flexcoat did not. I haven't tried U-40 but was thinking about it til I saw Tom's post. Btw, I did apply while turning. I considered thinning FlexCoat CP, but my philosophy was like that of epoxy - instead of thinning and messing with the formula I find another brand that's thinner by design and doesn't require thinning.
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Hi all. Since I started building a couple years ago I've used FlexCoat color preserver, but sometimes it's too thick or full-bodied for my liking. So I started using Chromaseal and that seems more user friendly for me. Anyway, on my current rod I applied a Decal Connection decal and brushed on Chromaseal. But the CP ran off the decal like water off a duck's back. I let that dry a couple hour
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I had a guy that wanted me to use a 6'8" blank, but make a 7' rod out of it. I'm just a hobbyist and haven't extended a rod before, so I took the easy way out. I called a fella in MN (not a sponsor, but I believe shows at ICRBE) who makes wood handles. He makes an 8" wood handle that he drills out 4". So I install the reel seat 4" from the butt end and install the wood ha
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Is 4S63MXF an acceptable option? As a side question, since this is labelled a spinning blank is there a reason one should avoid building as a casting rod?
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I've only done open wraps so far and I just CP over the whole thing. Once you put epoxy on, the CP disappears, assuming you didn't glob it on too thick and you allow it to dry overnight.
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I've taken the tour a couple times. What impresses me most is the quality control. Lasers are used check that diameters, tapers, straightness, guide spacing, etc. are within really tight specs. It's no wonder their actions are so consistent from batch to batch. I've used seconds rod & blanks and typically I can't find any blemishes but the inspectors found some reason to reject them. The
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Joseph, I still consider myself a novice at this hobby but if you're wanting to start turning your own cork I suggest you start with a power wrapper. I like the Pac Bay RW-3XL and it works great for so many things. To rough size the cork I found a Microplane rasp works best of all the tools I've tried. Just google for 'Microplane rasp 8" flat coarse' and you'll find it. I got mine at th
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Such simple solutions. Thanks guys. I would think applying CP then removing the two sacrificial threads would leave a white line of dried CP where the threads used to be. Must work well though, if you gents do it.
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Hi folks. Since starting this hobby a couple years ago I've done quite a few chevron style wraps and seem to have the same problem all the time. I wrap one thread at a time because I like the intersections to form a nice line, as opposed to the jagged look of bands of threads. As I go up and down, the last thread locks down the previous threads and I keep them packed tight as I go. The problem
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I fish crappie the same way, only in 15-20' water. The reason I got into rod building is, like you, I want a specific setup that you can't find on the store rack. My preference is to feel for the bite. Soft tips don't work for open water because with boat movement you have a hard time seeing what the real bite is. I start with a St Croix 2s60lf and trim 3" off the tip to stiffen it up s
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If you want a thinner epoxy, try different brands/formulations to find one with the attributes you're looking for. That's what I did to find which worked best in my cold basement shop.
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Jim, Thanks for the time and energy spent creating a tool that helps keep things simple. This tool and the 27X process are both wonderful. Of course if some people don't agree with the concepts, they are free to do what they feel works best for them.
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From a woodworker's point of view, the experts of dust collection are
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Marc & Eric, I've used Pac Bay 20M stripper with Shimano 1000 spinning reel and the 27x system and that worked out well. Realizing I could go smaller, I tried 16M and the height made it push out quite far from the reel seat. So how do you resolve that??
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John P You are correct in that I use indexing marks at either wrap end to line up the reflection. Then I mark my cross points on the reflection. I don't attempt to use reflections for alignment while actually wrapping.
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If the silver trim is at the end of the wrap you could try the nail knot method. I usually use CP to glue the trim down before I trim the tags off, so that might not work for your case where you don't want CP on your gray thread. But metallic is kinda stretchy so maybe it'll hold without CP - I just found using CP easy.
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Tom Kirkman is too modest to say he covers those in his awesome book. It's a must-read if you don't have it. I made one and it worked ok, but I now do as others suggested and use the light reflection to line things up. I have a brightly lit (woodworking) shop so I get a bright, perfectly straight line of light down the axis of the rod.
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Hello Michael, welcome to the group. I'm still a novice, but I had that length situation arise with a friend so I used a wooden handle kit from a wonderful fellow in MN. The spinning handle is 8" and it's drilled out 4" deep. When I put that on a 6'6" blank I have a 6'10" rod. Trimming is trivial, but in this case I avoided it. I won't say the handle maker's name since he
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I'm still a novice so take my input for what it's worth. My work so far has been on small diameter light panfish rods so the popsicle thing is clumsy. I cut an epoxy stir stick and tape two pieces of stick together and lay them on the blank. The I wrap a layer of blue (for delicate surfaces) painters tape over that. Then the double-stick tape. When I'm done with the wrap I slice down between
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Hi all, I like Tom's 27x method of getting initial guide placement for my spinning rods. But for my rods that use 4-6 lb. line, or maybe even ones for braid, I'd like to go one size smaller with the stripper guide. But doing so places the stripper guide too far out. On my current crappie jigging rod I'm planning for a Shimano 1000 reel which would call for a size 20 (Minima) guide but I'm thi
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Hi folks. From my previous post, you probably know I'm doing a 6 axis 3D chevron (first time) on my latest spinning rod. It's a green and yellow Packers theme. On my practice blank, I'm adding a G fingernail tattoo also. I'm not sure that's going to look good so I'm contemplating trying my first weave to make the G logo. I have an Easy Weave jig I got cheap from a guy, and I've used a graphi
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