Thanks for the replies. I'm going to have a go at casting my own, with polyester casting resin. I cast my own soft lures, so hopefully the learning curve wont be too steep or expensive! all the best marty
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Hi Guys, I've unsuccessfully tried to find someone to produce acrylic winding checks and reel seat collars for me. Can anyone help/point me in the right direction? many thanks marty
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as tom has said, your wraps have to be immaculately packed to prevent shading issue. i will usually put a very thin coat of tinted finish (using a similar light color) before wrapping, which i find prevents shade variation/show through.
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Todd email now visible.
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Just a quick post to highlight the great service i had today from Lynn at the above company. Quick response to my enquiry and very helpful and patient with my questions. As i'm over in the UK its often hard to source components from the States, especially as i'm a one-man operation and cant justify $1000+ minimum orders! (if any of the other forum sponsors think they can help me please
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Thanks Tom for confirming my suspicions re: reactivity. I was a little heavy on the original epoxy topcoat anyway, so was hoping one or two thin coats of the waterbased would suffice rather than another layer of epoxy, but if I need several coats of the waterbased (never used it before) then the "quick fix" don't work! cheers marty
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somehow forgot to add a decal to a rod I've just finished... whoops! the area already has threadmaster finish over existing decals, and I was hoping to get away positioning the missing decal and seal just the immediate area with a single coat of roddancer one-part (water-based) varnish. (rather than a complete extra coat of TM finish over the whole area) will this be ok? will the RD varnish
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When i started many years ago i bought a big bundle of 4ft long wooden dowels in various diametres and practiced on them for 3 months - cost me £12 back then and ive still got a load left in my garage! After whipping,glueing,varnishing and experimenting away to my hearts content when i felt ready i jumped straight into building on £150 blanks and (with a few small hiccups) never looked back.
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Would be interested in hearing other builders tricks and tips for making their rods shine in the display rack. So far I've heard of furniture polish and autoglym extra gloss polish for the blank and guides, and car dash wipes for shrink tube and eva/duplon. I've always just given everything a quick buff with a lint free cloth and thats it ! (perhaps i'm missing a trick or two!)
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sorry, PU = Polyeurethane i have a feeling the only way to remove is to sand it with very fine paper, and hope that a little steam will rejuvenate the flocked surface.
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I have managed to get a few spots of pu cork adhesive on the flocked shrink tube part of a rod handle. I must have had the adhesive on my nitrile gloves and unwittingly transferred it to the flocked shrink tube - its only a thin film but it definitely wont budge using DNA - anyone have the answer?
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thanks, it probably is overkill but i get through a lot of DNA and although its not expensive I have a lifetimes free supply of panel wipe so seems silly not to use it instead. ** note to others: most panel wipe degreaser is nasty stuff, not suitable for enclosed environments or without full PPE/ventilation/precautions - make sure you check safety data sheet, and choose a low VOC water based
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I've got an unlimited (free) supply of automotive panel wipe degreaser, water based. (not the unhealthy solvent based!) I was a bit concerned that it may be slightly corrosive, but I've had a little play on scrap bits of blank and on nylon/metallic thread and also thread finish with no issues. before i start using it on expensive builds am i missing a trick ? any drawbacks or hidden gremli
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does it click up to that point ? or only when the two are mated all the way ? use a pencil and coat the male spigot with graphite as Tom has suggested. It will show where the walls are not touching.
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as Tom has said, you have a mis-match of taper between the female and male spigot. put one turn of plumbers ptfe tape on the male spigot at the top end,join up and see if the click goes, if not try a turn a little lower on the spigot, so on so on and hopefully you will find where the mis-match is. if you find the position do not assume its the male spigot that is worn, its usually the femal
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suspect you are wrapping with too much tension - try a bit looser, burnish and see if it helps.
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suggestions please for a thread colour that looks good with metallic scarlet tips....... i'm thinking black, tan or another shade of brown - anything i might have missed? (sometimes i just "get" colour combo's straight off the bat, but this metallic scarlet has got me going round in circles!)
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lot of good advice there for you Jeremy. If there's one thing i have learnt after 25yrs its that a light hand is the right hand. By light hand i mean go light with the application, and go light with the manipulation. If you follow this as a beginner you wont take too long to end up with a decent result, and a good foundation to build on. Dont worry about the fact you may need 3 coats plus, at
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Can anyone enlighten those of us who could not make the Expo on the virtues of the machine? I've had a look at the LRT website and i cant even work out which machine it is! (but i am an I.T./techno idiot so please excuse my stupidity)
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If you cant find them locally give me a shout Paul, i can send you some from the UK.
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Nigel if you applied the same batch of finish to your guide wraps and dried them at the same time then it would point to the decal being your problem. if you didn't then it could be a number of things, including the finish going off too quick,dryer spinning too slow, drying in too low a temp, rod bouncing in the dryer etc etc etc so try and eliminate the variables to pinpoint the cause.
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You are not alone Robert, i have stripped and rebuilt some of my rods multiple times. In fact just last week i have rebuilt a pair of rods that I first built in 1983. (don't laugh but they were early carbon carp blanks that i crosswrapped from butt to tip with strips cut from VHS tape!) I rebuild for various reasons - sometimes for aesthetics, sometimes for performance, sometimes just to try s
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