Ron, I like the light powered popping rods a bunch and use them for crappie builds quite a bit here, but my problem is that I need a blank that is at least a 2 piece. Not sure how much I would screw up the action buying 2 blanks of a moderate tapered rod and making my own "travel rod" or just cutting the blank in half and using an aluminum ferrule. Not saying I wouldn't do it if I had t
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Spencer, agreed that it's pushing the limits of the combo. He's "hot rodding" his reel (upgraded bearings, spool, etc.) I don't know if a regular "spinning" rod blank would perform as well as a spin-jig or a dropshot blank. Just wondering who out there had built something similar and if I'm missing out on a 2 pc blank that might work better. Agree with you about St Croix's his
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I have a customer who is wanting a 6'-6'6" rod to use with a finesse baitcasting reel throwing down to 1/16 total weight lures with 4# line. Here's the kicker... the guy is legally blind and his mode of travel is a scooter. So he has to have at least a 2 piece rod that he can break down to put in a rod tube and strap to his scooter. I'm thinking that something with a really fast tip would be
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Thank you Tom. Hopefully when I get back over to his place, hoping there might be some type of indication on some of the similar blanks (or a shipping label or anything). I did find out that some of the blanks were purchased from a retired firefighter from the department I work for. He is still alive, so I might be able to get with him and see if he did originally buy these blanks, who the manufa
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Norman, took another pic of the blank and posted in miscellaneous section. You can see the translucent quality of the blank and might be a better indicator of the color (natural sunlight vs indoor flourescent light)
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You might be on to something. These three particular blanks are one piece, but there are over 100 different blanks that we have to go through, Fenglass, old honey colored Lamis, some Herter's blanks. I would love to find out if that is what they are. Good news is that these were stored well (other than they're dusty) and most seem really straight. I want to do CCS and URRS on these because they s
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Norman, I uploaded a pic to the miscellaneous photos. I haven't seen a Fenglass blank that had an unsanded (?) finish that you can see and feel the rings, but I am only comparing it to Fenglass blanks that I've had my hands on (which is very few). I was kinda wondering if it might be one of the brown Lami blanks, but I haven't seen them, only heard of them. Here is a link to the pic .
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Jim, received the email and am looking forward to punching in my data as well. I will see what I can come up with and share my findings with you. Thank you for taking your time to send that. I'm still surprised nobody had a guess or three on manufacturer of the reddish brown blank. I'm assuming they're before my time, but a really nice blank nonetheless. Maybe I should post a pic in the miscell
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Phil Ewanicki Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There are plenty of ways to determine the power > and action of a rod, but none of them can account > for personal taste, or prejudice. Well said and duly noted, Phil.
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Thank you Tom, I'll give it a whirl and see if I can find info on the "Tip power" measurements and try to incorporate it into measuring these blanks. Appreciate the help! The blanks that I'm most interested in so far are a spiral wrapped glass that is hollow and a deep reddish brown color, eyeballing them they seem to be a fast moderate or on the bottom end of moderate-fast. Guessing a
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Thanks again Geoff. I will take the time to look it over, I think that the CCS is one of the most objective ways to look at qualities of a rod without all the manufacturer hype (no offense meant). That is one reason why I started the thread to see if there was a way to quantify the way these rods bend, how much weight it takes to bend them, etc. Thanks for the link. Now to pop a little popcorn
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Tom, was able to locate a conversion chart according to Hanneman's CCS info. I know that it's not an exact science, but definitely more exact than others I have seen. Does this sound somewhat close? Upper end weight range (1.5 x number of cents) - 20= weight in grains lower end weight range (0.8 x number of cents) - 20= weight in grains then convert grains to ounces 1 grain= 0.002286oz
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Geoff, thanks for locating that thread, but the link didn't show on your post. That sounds like what I might be looking for. Anyone have any experience with the URRS that could pipe in?
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Thanks, Tom. That absolutely makes sense. I was kinda hoping there might be a way to figure at least what "midfield" in the ballpark might be, but I guess that flexing it under different loads with a known blank might be the only way to get me in the neighborhood.
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Randy, that's another possibility, but there really is a BUNCH of blanks and I was trying to think of a way to kind of separate and categorize them without actually building all of them.
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Thank you gentlemen. James and Roger, I was kinda thinking that, thanks for the reassurance. Geoff, if it could be located, I'm sure it'll help in the long run with all of these we will be sorting through. Joe, that's a fantastic idea, but everytime I finish a crankbait rod for myself, I have a friend that offers to take it off my hands... I do have some labeled blanks as well. I grabb
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Please forgive my ignorance, but I recently have access to bunches of unknown conventional fiberglass blanks from the 70's and early 80's. These will make awesome crankbait blanks, but i need to figure out just what I can throw on them. I know that I can use the CCS to measure some of the characteristics of these rods, but I'm trying to figure out how I can "best guess" on lure weight r
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Barry, I just found out that one old rodbuilder from my area passed away and it is/was a friend's grandfather. He just contacted me yesterday to have me help him sort through the 200 plus blanks that he has. I can be on the lookout for one similar to yours. Might even have a similar reel seat. Send me an email with a couple pics and I'll see what I can find. I should be going over tomorrow or Sun
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Will, I haven't built on that particular blank but I have built a few of the liberty blanks...the Mag Bass series and the UL/Dropshot series. I will say this, I've built on slightly lighter overall blanks, but the swing weights on the Liberty ones are great. I think you'll enjoy it. It should have no problem handling the size fish you're after. Good luck and please keep us posted.
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Tom, I have had pretty good luck with using a black thread on the guide wraps and adding automotive pearl pigment to the epoxy (on matte black blanks anyway.) But as Bryan said, you have to experiment with the amount of pigment added to the epoxy. For me, using about 6ml (total mix) of flexcoat lite build, I use the flat side of a toothpick, cover about the last 1/8" with a heaping scoop twi
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Thank you, Dave. That very subtle burn looks fantastic! I got my woodburning pen out a couple weeks ago when my youngest son (who is 4) wanted a "Batman" themed rod. I burned the Batman symbol on one side of the cork and the old school "Batman" written in the cape ala Adam West. I used to burn a lot of wood 15-20 years ago and thought "why not cork". Definitely need
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Dave, nice looking rod. That mayfly weave and imprint on the cork look very classy. How did you get the image on the grip? With a laser or woodburning tool? It doesn't look like it is "burned" deep into the cork.
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Completely agree with the above posts. Much better looking than my first 5 builds! Also the photography work is superb. You are off to a fantastic start. But be warned, it is highly addictive.
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Thanks, I definitely stir the CP... might just have to paint the blank under the wraps or do full under wraps if it comes up again (or just talk the customer into a darker color).
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Thanks, Tom. I've had bleed through a couple times on a neon green thread on a matte black blank and recently on a "old gold" non metallic on a black blank. I thought the CP would lock the color in, but was mistaken and had some bleed through. Does it have to do with the solids that are in the CP maybe not uniformly covering the threads? Like the darker spots being where the thread wick
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Will using a NCP thread help? I know that gaps will show no matter what, but if you want to stay true to the color, would it make a difference to use a NCP thread? My experience with it is non existent because I usually use regular nylon and CP because I like the brightness of regular nylon.
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Nate, what kind of lures will you be throwing with this rod? That will help immensely. Are you planning on trolling small crankbaits, using beetle spins, or live bait, etc? I personally like either a really soft tip or something with a more parabolic bend. I have built on the Rainshadow 1 power popping rods (XP841 and SP841), the Revelation REVS72UL, a Phenix Mirage that was 7'7" (very mode
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I built a IMMWS62MXF for a friend's dad and it was very well received. Very sweet blank. Very light and seemed to be very sensitive.
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Tom Kirkman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The idea, from a marketing standpoint, is that > some rods do not follow the same path as the > person moving them. Your hand goes one way and the > rod another. Obviously, this isn't the case, but > they would like you to believe otherwise. > > So chalk up "tracking" in the same c
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Quinn, I just finished a build of a 5wt Eternity 2 and am very impressed with this blank. Can't advise about the #6. As far as the #5 it was very straight, beautiful finish and agree with Terje about the way it casts. It seems to cast well with both a slower and a faster casting stroke. It is also very accurate. I wouldn't hesitate to build another for a guy that likes a fast stroke
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