Looks like several of us were writing our replies at the same time. Norm
Forum: rodboard

Get a set of reamers or make your own. Chuck the appropriate sized reamer into a drill and begin reaming. Start with a reamer that fits partly into the hole. Make sure you let the grip slip in your hand every once in a while during the reaming process. This slippage is important and will allow everything to remain centered. Take your time and don't force anything. Check for fit on the blank ofte
Forum: rodboard

Have not used a blade to cut thread for years. Insert the tie off loop early and when the wrap is finished insert the tag end of your cut thread into the loop and pull the end of the loop to edge of the wrap. Cut the thread with scissors very close to the loop end, then pull out your tie off loop. This will put the tag end under the wrap with no nub sticking out. Works great and saves time and fi
Forum: rodboard

They should all work well for what you want to do. I have four salmon / steelhead rods that I use for distance casting for inshore saltwater and freshwater spillway fishing all with Fuji KR concept guides. If you want a little more backbone try the RX8 XST1085F, makes up into a very nice rod. Norm
Forum: rodboard

Do not know what kinds of hooks you use, but a size 3 and maybe a size 4 guide might not allow some hooks to go inside the ring. Even if they do you may have problems popping out the ceramic rings. For a fly rod they may be fine. Norm
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Checked my old rod stash and found a 16' telescoping jigger rod that somebody gave me awhile back. With the butt section removed it is about 12 1/2' . The diameter of the butt of butt section is 1 1/8", the diameter of the butt of the next section is about 1". It is a fairly substantial rod and I think it do what you want it to do. You can have it for free if you want it, just email me.
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US composites. Norm
Forum: rodboard

Kerry - Hope you and your family are safe and sound with minimal problems due to Harvey. Take care of yourself! Norm
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Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Texas! Norm
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How about a bass jigger pole. They come in 14' or 16' models, can make shorter by removing butt section. Inexpensive and may work. Norm
Forum: rodboard

Don't know if the 12' two piece. or 14' three piece MHX crappie and panfish blank would work for you. I know their 10' blank will lift 2.lb crappie out of the water. Since they are composite blanks they are pretty tough and durable, but might be a little soft. The nice thing is they are relatively inexpensive. Center pin, Spey, salmon or light surf blanks will be more expensive and may not work
Forum: rodboard

Mark, email sent. Norm
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Tom, I will be there again. Looking forward to seeing you and Dominic again, as well as other friends I have met at the expo. Norm
Forum: rodboard

I have no problems with putting a guide on the ferrule. The only problem I have seen is people using the ferrule guide as a handle for twisting the tip section on and off. The mechanical advantage gained by doing this can cause enhanced twisting forces that can loosen the guide and at the worst crack the blank.if not careful. Norm
Forum: rodboard

You have already marked where you want your guides to go, just place your guide ring over the mark and place a mark at the end of each foot to indicate where you want your wraps to begin and end. Norm
Forum: rodboard

I like to go with an exposed blankreel seat that is a little smaller then the measured diameter at the reel seat location. For the example above I would buy a 10 mm seat and ream it to fit. These seats ream fairly easily if you are dealing with just a few mm. Some blank manufacturers will give blank diameters every inch or two as a convenience for sizing exposed blank reel seats and winding check
Forum: rodboard

Because it was a rainy and slow day today, I wasted some time by looking at a box full of salvage tiptops that I accumulated over the years. So in complete disclosure, I found two old aluminum oxide guides that had groves in their rings out of 173 tip tops I looked at with my magnifying glass. So I can now say that some ceramics can groove. All of these 173 tip tops were inexpensive aluminum oxid
Forum: rodboard

I agree Michael, Vicker hardness is only one characteric involved in guide ring choice. However I think hardness is a major factors for resisting grooving. All of the various ceramics differ in a number of characteristics and hardness is just one. Other characteristics include fracture resistance, specific gravity (wgt/unit volume), smoothness, heat dissipation, and price, just to name a few. Fr
Forum: rodboard

For a 7' KR casting bass rod, Fuji suggests using a double foot KW10 (or an RV6, which only comes in a titanium frame) as the stripper guide followed by a KW5.5 as a reduction guide. These would be followed by running guides which include 2 or 3 KB guides with the remaining being KT guides all of the same side (I am assuming size 4 from what you said above). By doing a spiral wrap you probably us
Forum: rodboard

Minima guides have a hard chrome ring insert that has a Vicker hardness of about 1000, if they are PVD coated their hardness will be higher than this value. For comparison, SS has a hardness of about 400, aluminum oxide is 1200-1400, Alconite is 1300-1500, Zirconia 1000-1400, silicon nitride is 1400, Nanolite 1800, and SiC 2200-2400. SiC is by far the hardest of all inserts, but in my option this
Forum: rodboard

I have several complete sets or cork borers that I have had for about 40 years. They are usually sold by science supply stores, but not by hardware stores. If you google the term cork borers you will a number of sources some more expensive then others. My cork borers range in sizes from 3 mm to 25 mm, and just about every bore size in between (about 1/8" to 1"). You can get small bore
Forum: rodboard

I have removed several reel seats from broken rods with polyurethane foam reel seat arbors by using cork borers. Cork borers are simply sharpened metal tubes that come in a variety of sizes; very handy tools to have. Length of the arbor should not be an issue. Norm
Forum: rodboard

Again I personally have never seen a ceramic tip top that has grooved, but maybe the tip tops I have seen are used in a different fishing environment. It is hard for me to believe that fishing line is more abrasive than a hacksaw blade or a metal file. SiC tip tops are harder than all other ceramics but are also very brittle. I have found them to crack more often than others. I prefer to use Alc
Forum: rodboard

I have never seen a grove in a ceramic guide or tip top, The ceramic used in the tip top is the same as used in the guides. I know that you can not groove or scratch a hardloy guide. I have a bunch of salvage guides representing all of the common ceramic insert materials from Sic to aluminum oxide and everything in between. As a demonstration to show people how tough the ceramic inserts are, I ha
Forum: rodboard

Tom - For the CRB guides, standard grade uses aluminum oxide rings, performances grade uses titanium oxide rings, and elite grade uses zirconia oxide. All use 316 SS frames. I have not used them so I can't comment on quality vs Fuji guides. However, all ceramics are sufficiently hard to hold up to all types of line without ever grooving. Norm
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North fork composite's site is still functional. Norm
Forum: rodboard

Most epoxies will break down when heat is applied, fast cure epoxies more so than slow cure epoxies. Many rod builders will use 5 min epoxy for installing tip tops because it will easily break down when heated so the tip tops can be replaced. If you want a reel seat that can be removed relatively easy at a later date, try using 5 min epoxy, with masking tape arbors. I do not use 5 min epoxy but i
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Tack the leading edge of drywall tape to the blank using super glue. This will hold the dry wall tape in place so when you apply the epoxy the tape will stay in place and not slide around. Wrap the tape on the blank to the thickness you need, then unwrap it and then start applying the epoxy as you tightly rewrap the tape. This make sure all of the holes in the tape are completely filled. Slip on
Forum: rodboard

Since you will be fishing inshore waters I would go with the titanium tidal wave guides because of the corrosion resistance and lighter weight. They are more expensive, if you want to save a little money use the duralite rings. Neither the Duralite or Nanolite rings can be cut or scratched with a metal file, so both will hold up to any kind of line. The airwave inserts are not as hard as the cer
Forum: rodboard

Tommy, if the intent of your comments was to @#$%& people off you certainly succeeded! You need to stop asking questions because you already know all the answers. Have a good day. Norm
Forum: rodboard