Phil, wouldn't just the opposite be true? Something with a concave foot would actually have more surface area contacting the rod blank given the same width of guide feet? And the smaller the radii of the blank, the more important the amount of contact would be. I do see what you're saying about the increased cost of the guides, they're certainly not cheap, but the amount of time I save in prep wo
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Phil it's worth reading their site. Basically the underside of the feet are concave to fit the round of the blank better (less air space..less epoxy to fill the dead air space), the feet are consistently ground (excellent qc) foot length consistent and usually doesn't require prep and the guide shape is a little different (round v. teardrop shape). They have all kinds of neat little features...I'
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Didn't see this until now Randy. I'll send you an email.
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Marty, I agree with the above posts, I think a 5wt would be sufficient and would still make a great panfish rod. I loved the Eternity2 5wt that I built for a customer, although my experience with it is limited to yard casting. Loads very smooth and has a beautiful presentation. Very accurate. Don't think you'll go wrong with it. I saw a Bushido 4wt that Randy had built at the MRB gathering a mont
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Phil, I'm following you now. You are just cutting long and applying tension. I agree with you on the single foot guides. I have a pair of 7.5 foot RX-8 4 wts that have single foot recoils that are incredible casting machines (100+ feet in capable hands...not mine 65-75 for me), but most of my other builds I use the Snake Brand universal guides. I did a short (rudimentary) experiment with the sing
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Marty, In answer to your question, that is the size that I use on my 5wt. I used a 12 stripper, 8 double foot ring guide then ran the rest of the length out with sz1 snakes. I have a "regular" loop top. But my last fly build I did more along the line of what Tom said. It was a 3wt and I used a sz10 stripper (offset about 15 degrees favoring the stripping hand) to a sz 2 snake then 1/0 s
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Agree with the above posts.. I've painted 3 or 4 blanks, even hired a pro painter friend to paint one. I would say as far as metallics go, the Batson Eternity 2 blank is beautiful, the Red MHX blanks are also beautiful and every one of the rodgeeks blanks I've seen/built are awesome. For the amount of time and materials, pay the upcharge for a factory painted blank and you won't regret it
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I know that Kevin at Getbit had some of the variegated FishHawk thread. Might give them a call to see if they have any of the "ocean" in stock.
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John, I agree with you. I think the cob handles or reel seat would look amazing. I first saw stabilized corn cob as a set of knife handle scales from a friend who is a custom knife maker. He told me that it can be very difficult to work with and 1 or 2 out of every 5 he gets break during shaping (even though they're stabilized.) He has a really significant upcharge for the cob because it's such a
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This was the first gathering that I have attended and I will say that it was a great turnout and enjoyed input from other builders. Huge thanks to the sponsors. I will definitely make the time to attend next year. Thanks to board for some interesting breakout sessions.
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Jim, just to let you know, the customer that I spoke with you about on the PB731MXF who was planning on using it for the walleye run on the Maumee River finally fished it. He commented "tremendous backbone" and "sensitivity is unbelievable". Coming from a guy who has a pretty good stock of custom builds... Said the rod passed his expectations. Keep up the great work and pass t
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Another thing to take into consideration is your casting stroke... if you are an accomplished caster that likes a fast blank, someone who likes a moderate fast or a mid flex rod?
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Marc, I would have to second Will Cooper's suggestion on the Liberty blank. They have a really soft/fast tip that has an incredible amount of backbone. I build quite a bit of them for customers and it will be next personal UL. Also the Batson Revelation series are great little UL blanks with a fast tip. If you like the more moderate action rods, the Phenix Mirage series are pretty sweet.
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Jerry, I would try giving them a call. I know that with the BKTAG guides they were waiting on a few sizes from their supplier. (I was on hold for some as well). Just give them a call, they are very receptive to phone calls and work hard to straighten out any problems I've had (which have been very few). Good luck!
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Yep Roger, a few dollars would've saved me some time on the rewrap. I had already started applying it when I noticed the particles floating in the mix. I just thought that maybe I was remembering wrong on how thick a fresh bottle of CP should've been. Should've stopped right there. Luckily there isn't a rush on this particular build.
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Victor, completely agree! They are a great bunch of people. Also, those Liberty blanks are great if you have the occasion to build one.
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Thanks Kevin (or Jacob) Might have to re-wrap a couple of guides because it looked spotty. If you want, could you just send out a bottle with the back ordered guides? I'm in no hurry. I'll give you a call in a little bit.
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I had a back up bottle of water based CP for about 1 year and after leaving my used bottle open overnight the other day, I pulled it out. The consistency was quite a bit thinner than my old bottle. I stirred it well and when applying to the thread wraps I noticed that there were some small opaque particles floating in the bottle and on the wraps as I applied it. I'm wondering if the bottle had po
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Dow, would love to be on the mailing list for this event for the future (if there is one.) I am supposed to be working that day, but maybe I can get someone to trade days with me at work and head up your way from central Indiana. Hope you all have a great turnout.
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Kevin, I'll be ordering at least 3 DS series blanks (two 7 footers and a 5'6") come first of the week. Might be more still have 3 days of this show. Thanks for a great product.
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Will, I've had similar experiences with the Liberty blanks, I've built quite a few of the Dropshot/panfish series and absolutely love them. Also built a MB732.5XF for my father in law and he loves it (although I would say it's more medium than ML power). As a matter of fact, he got his hands on a DS700 that I built for his fishing buddy just this evening and now I have to build one for him too. I
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Dave, I sent you an email with his contact info and sent your email to him as well. I just sent you both there same email.
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Tom, nothing listed in Illinois at all. Dave, thank you. Not sure what's going on with the email (unless you tried to type in the "host" right after my name as it appears on the thread) it is not hidden, but here is my email. jaredtaylor794@gmail.com I will pass your inf
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Thanks Travis, I think my email is not "hidden" when you find it, just send it to me and I will pass it along. Anyone else any closer?
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I met a young man today who is wanting some repair work done in Champaign, IL area. He wanted to bring me his rods in Indy to a show I'm at. I don't have the stock on hand to do a repair here. He said that he cannot find anyone in his area. Could anyone out there point me in the direction of a close (within 60-90 minute drive)builder? Appreciate any info passed along. Thanks in advance.
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Yes, Joe. That's the one. It's a very tough blank. I like them a lot. Kevin at GetBit showed them to me when they were new. I also like the shorter 5' and 5'6" version for bluegill and crappie.
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Joe, one other you might try is the Liberty Dropshot/ultralight rod in a 7 footer. It's tip is really soft but has a tremendous amount of backbone. Getbit Outdoors has them they're a private label made in the US blank. I've built 4 or 5 of them for customers (going to build one for myself soon). The tip is fast, but not nearly as fast as the 822.5 and is much softer (think light-ultralight tip).
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X3 on Spencer's and Tom's recommendation. The 822.5 rods from Batson Rainshadow are fantastic blanks for that application. If Ron or Karen are out of them, the Revelation REVS610MXF would be my second choice (I believe this was the replacement for the ISB822.5 when they were discontinued)
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As Chuck said, Ron might have some that are not listed on his site, if you email pics to him (or us for that matter) maybe we can find something that is true to the time era. I ended up with a boatload of ferrules from a deceased rod maker last fall, so if neither Ron nor Chuck has them, I might. Good luck! And please post pics of the rebuild.
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I would try a low melting point hot glue with as little amount as you can get away with to wrap them. I think the super glue would have too strong of a bond to the blank itself. I've used narrow 1/16" tape that I've purchased from an auto paint store. It was ridiculously expensive so I only use it on the tiniest of guides. Also have used the surgical tubing cut to size and have used dental r
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