Jason, I completely understand. I had actually thought it may be a no no as well, so no problem.
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I've never had a Torzite ringed guide in hand, but it is reported by others that the ID of a Torzite ring is about a half size larger than a comparably numbered SIC or Alconite ringed guide. So the ID of a Torzite #4 would have the same ID as a 4.5 in a T2 SIC ring. I've never done a spiral wrap, but I have read many threads discussing them. From what I've read, you don't need that many diffe
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You may be able to get the same blank the Legend Elite is built on, through Rod Geeks. I believe the Legend Elite's are built on SCV blanks. As far as other blanks go, I'd look at a Rainshadow RX10 ETES78ML . It's listed on Rainshadow's web site but I don't see that blank listed on Get Bit's site or on Utmost Enterprises site, but the Rainshadow site shows the blank in stock. If it's in st
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Looks good Al. Nice spacing on either side of the accent in the wrap. Nice clean edges on your finish. Nicely done. That blue thread makes me think of NRX. Have you fished with it yet?
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Weight at the tip is what you need to concentrate on with flipping and pitching rods, IMO that type of rod is where a balanced rod and reel combination is a must. Be open to the possibility of adding some weight to the butt to counter act tip weight. Build it as you would but don't epoxy the butt cap on, then tape some weight to the butt and see how it feels. The rods going to weigh more, but
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Michael, that was excellent advice. Well done !!!
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Whether the juice is worth the squeeze is going to be up to you. There will definitely be a weight savings going from the CBR LZR guides, to Fuji titanium framed guides. Exactly how much, I can't say. I don't have any of the LZR guides on hand to weigh, and I've only used one set of the LZR guides, and that was on a spinning rod. I didn't weigh them to compare them to the weight of a Fuji guide o
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Like John says, when you're using nylon thread without color preserver, finish epoxy wicks through the thread and fills the tunnels naturally. When I wrapped my first couple of rods I never did anything to address the tunnels. I just coated the wrap with finish. I would inevitably have small bubbles form along the sides of the guide foot., so I started addressing the tunnels before I put any fin
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My idea of what looks really awesome and what . the guy in the videos idea of what looks really awesome, are worlds apart. I understand that wrapping guides can be challenging and not necessarily all that fun, but I personally wouldn't go the tape route. You're wrapping something that is much wider than a single thread, around the tip of a guide foot and then around the foot and the blank. Yo
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Daryl, I haven't built on that blank, but I personally would go with the IM version of that blank. I have a rod built on an MB 666 IM blank, and one built on a MB 668 SM blank. The SM blank is a lot heavier than the IM. Heavier in the sense that if I had known the 668 SM blank was going to be so heavy, I wouldn't have gotten it. You're talking a rod that is a foot longer so the weight difference
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Just thought I'd post a picture showing the ideas I had for adding some bling to the XO skeleton grip. The reel hood / nut combination is from a size 16 Pac Bay casting reel seat, but I also tried a size 16 hood / nut combination from a Fuji reel seat. I would think any size 16 hood / nut combination would work on the XO, as long as it has a single locating tab located in the middle of the r
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Kevin, no problem. I enjoyed doing it. And glad that it helped. It was an eye opener for me as well. And definitely brings the cost effectiveness question into play. With the spinning rod guide trains I outlined above, the cost difference is $103 and some change. And for a casting rod guide train using a KW 10, KW 8, KW 6, (2) KB 5's, (6) KT 5's and a 5 ring 5 tube tip top, the differenc
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David, I have no doubts that some people have better sensory acuity than others. Perhaps they actually have higher performing nerve endings, or perhaps a greater degree of mental acuity that help them to detect subtle differences in feel, or perhaps their bodies aren't as beat down by life, as other persons bodies might be. As for the examples you gave concerning the athletes you mentioned. T
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I have no experience with popping blanks, but from what I understand is that they make excellent crankbait blanks because of their more moderate or moderate fast actions. Peter saying that the Rainshadow popping rods are much less powerful than bass rods of the same named power, applies to crainkbait blanks for bass as well. They aren't as powerful when compared to an MB or SJ blank. If you're
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Mark, you're absolutely right about the question being posed to a room full of rod builders, which is why I am a bit perplexed by some of the responses to the OPs question. If you are building this rod for yourself, and you're building it while you would normally be do something that you don't get paid to do, like watch TV, then how can how much your time is worth even come into the picture.
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Is building a rod for yourself really a "is it worth the effort" kind of thing? Unless you absolutely hate building rods, then isn't it a labor of love? There are parts of building a rod that I don't love, like doing guide wraps with trim bands, or inlays in the wrap itself, but I love the results, so if I want to do them on a rod I am building for myself, I do them without complain
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The reason I did all the weighing that i mentioned in the previous post, is because the topic of this thread is about mixing guide frame materials in different parts of the guide train in search of a faster recovery speed of the rod. A faster recovering rod is believed by some, to be a more sensitive rod. I happen to believe that it is, but as I alluded to at the end of my previous post, can that
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Update. I got a response from both Aleks, and Kelsey. I should have just sent my original e mail to one of them, but I figure they're too busy and that whoever answers the e mails sent to the info e mail address, would just pass them along. Aleks said he was going to do a video and a post concerning the use of the XO skeleton grips. And while I am interested to watch the video and read whateve
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Lynn, exactly. I just use a 3/8 drill bit and turn it by hand to get rid of that. The chamfering tool is a good idea though. Think I'll pick me one up. Thanks !!!
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I got me a new toy, so I figured I'd post some weights of the same guide trains, in two different materials .Guides are Fuji T2, which are blank titanium frames, with SIC rings, and BC grey which are stainless steel frames, with Alconite rings. The guide trains are KR concept guide trains using KL-H 20, KL-H 10, and KL-H 5.5M reduction guides. a KB 5.5, and 7 KT 4.5's. Tip top for the titaniu
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As for myself, reaming usually eliminates that little lip around the center bore of the grip, but there is still a little puckered end of the carbon fiber sleeve to deal with. I just sand it down. I usually start with 220 grip paper on a flat surface, and then holding the grip in my hand, move it back and forth over the sandpaper. Once I get it close to being flat, I move to 320 grit to smooth it
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I;m with Norman on this. Unless it has a hidden hood, I find up locking reel seats to be extremely uncomfortable. Why anyone would want the heel of their hand resting on the hood and locking nut is beyond me. Throw in the possibility of contact with the threads on the thread barrel, and it's a definite no go. But as always ....personal preference wins the day. We aren't the ones using the rod,
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Oh, and now that I've cooled down a bit from when I wrote some of my earlier posts, I just wanted to say that I won't be sending the grip back. It's just too cool looking and of such high quality that I will definitely be keeping it, I can make it work to my liking. With that said, I've been playing around with it a bit. Measuring certain aspects that some have question in other threads wher
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Norman, I sent the e mails to the info e mail address. I've usually gotten very fast responses to those e mails either from Kelsey, or even from Aleks. In hindsight, once I didn't get a fairly prompt response to those e mails, I should have sent them directly to someone. So I've sent copies to both Kelsey, and Aleks. Now that I've done that, I am sure that I will get a fast response. A sincer
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Lynn, you are absolutely right !!! I was hoping the ID of the slender portion between the two grip areas would be the same as the thread barrel. I sent NFC an e mail questioning what the ID of that slender portion of the grip is, on October 29th. I never got a reply. I had to come to this forum to get an answer to that question. I ordered a blank with a specific butt size because I thought I
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Norman, thank you for the response. Much appreciated. And no, they don't give you a lot of overlap for gluing the blank in place. As I mentioned in prior posts, it's only the length of the thread barrel, which is 1.75" long. And like you and others, I too would have thought that the full length of the reel seat portion would be the same ID to give you at least 4" of overlap. While I sti
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Ok guys, I took some pictures looking down the thread barrel so you can see what I'm talking about. You can see the area that is the thread barrel pretty clearly. The little notch in the outside of the thread barrel is the top of the thread barrel. If you look at the pictures you can see pretty clearly where the palm swell is. The thread barrel stops and it's just a shadow past that. One of
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Kevin, no the entire length of the seat portion of the grip isn't the same ID. Take a look at the pictures ofr the grip on the web site, and you'll see what I am trying to describe.The entire grip is hollow and it follows the contours of the reel seat. The portion where the reel foot rests on the seat doesn't open up as much as the sides and top, but it does open up. So as I said, you can put as
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Michael, thank you. Kevin thank you as well. I truly appreciate it guys. Kevin, definitely not the kind of number I was hoping for. It appears that I am not going to be able to find a blank that would be any use to me personally, that would work to pass completely through the XO skeleton spinning grip that I received recently. And based on the construction of the XO skeleton grip. The only wa
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I'm curious if anyone has this blank sitting around or if anyone has built on it that might be able to provide me with a specific measurement? I'd like to know at what point on the blank a measurement of 12.4 mm or .488" occurs. How far from the butt of the blank? I'm trying to find a blank that will fit through one of the NFC XO skeleton spinning grips, and that 12.4 mm is the ID of
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