You can cut the tape strips thinner with scissors, I do micros all the time like this. Beats sliding a rubber band down the blank then having to cut it off. Just wrap up to the thin cut strip and remove the tape. The partial wrap will hold the guide. Static test the rod with the wraps and if it is messed up, change it. If you make enough rods with the same blanks that you have already tested in t
Forum: rodboard

I think there are different types of builders here on this site; some that are totally performance driven that would include making the lightest possible rod (Excessive wraps / weaves add weight), some that look at it as art, to be decorated and stand out and some that are somewhere in between. The sequence to putting a rod together is: mount the rear grip, mount real seat, mount fore grip, the b
Forum: rodboard

Lamson Liquid 7+. Is a very good deal at around $100. It has the same drag as their high end reels and goes great with 6, 7, or 8wt . They are also light. I have the older 3 pack 8wt I use on my 5wt rods, you get a body and 3 spools and a carry bag, at around $160. I take it when I travel to Patagonia or the Rockies because I can use different lines with different wt rods. Works great on a 5 wt
Forum: rodboard

Build on the straightest axis, curve up or curve down. The guides make the rod bend where you want it to. The easiest way to spine the rod is to set the butt end on a smooth floor and put pressure, with your finger on the tip end and bend the rod. Mark the inside curve and repeat a couple of times and the spine should be in the same place. The spine stuff is over rated so that is why you build on
Forum: rodboard

Don't cut it down. Wahoo can swim 60 mph and the more bend along with leverage you can get in the rod the better chance of landing it. If you were doing a high speed troll (15 to 20 knts) you would want a 7' or 8' rod using 60# to 80# line (of which your reel is capable of).
Forum: rodboard

I think when the new braided lines came out it kinda threw a monkey wrench in the whole process. Really put a lot of light and medium tackle to the test because the small diameter line will just not break off like the mono. Many of the aspects of people using braid changed a lot of the way rods would need to perform as well as reels. We just put it on and did the electric cool-aide acid test.
Forum: rodboard

Epoxy a winding check on the end of the barrel but make sure the ID of the winding check doesn't touch the blank, or it will scratch it up. If you are using PTSK/ASH hood with hidden thread barrel, Fuji makes the graphite insert that goes over it with a winding check that goes on the end to cover the gap. Call the girls at the Rod Room they can help you out. You will also need to cut some of the
Forum: rodboard

Nice set up. I would have to get divorced to have something that nice. If you are already use to the left hand set up, keep using it.
Forum: rodboard

I think the thing we all have in common and enjoy is: We enjoy making and using the thing that we put together with our own hands and as in the bible" he saw it was good". When we get conformation of this through the eyes of others either by use or just seeing it, that it is good. It gives us purpose beyond the mundane lives that we live. It is an escape for maybe a not
Forum: rodboard

Paul, Tinker away, that is the fun part about this hobby. I also think that a spiral is more fun to fish with and in some cases will @#$%& people off (very rewarding). You should be able to pass those knots with the 5 mm rings no problem and I am also with Tom on the sizes, RV 6, KB 5s then the rest at the thin part of the tip KT 5s. I kinda like the idea of the 1/2 size larger on the tip but wi
Forum: rodboard

We have been here before. I started building fly rods for myself, so I could have a quality rod with high end blank and components at half the price. You can spend a lot of money on a high end rod and it will have crap for guides and the reel seat. At some time, because I also fish using casting rods and sometimes spinning, I started building them too. Had no intentions of selling them to others.
Forum: rodboard

You can also do it with Seaguide Ti framed guides. Great quality guides with good ring materials.
Forum: rodboard

Phil Ewanicki Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > When replacing a guide I use a blade along the top > of the guide foot and just peel the wrap off. It's > easy. On the remaining windings rods with a thin > coat of epoxy finish a slow, stead pull of the > thread will often "pop" the epoxy off the rod > shaft. Carefully scoring a line
Forum: rodboard

Dave, Just turn a wood insert a little then do the tiger over it. Mark where the insert fits into the reel seat sections and don't do anything to them, so it will still fit tight.
Forum: rodboard

Have you figured out what kind of reel seat you are going to use yet. Typically on a rod that short I would mount the seat, measured from where the rear reel foot will anchor into the rear slot on the reel seat, at around 8.5" to 9". This would be a medium light blank. You really haven't given any details of the build other than a jigging rod. Is it heavy, medium, light? What is the sp
Forum: rodboard

On spinning rods I am opposite of Roger. Because your hand placement is forward with a spinning reel the fore grip is more important than the rear grip. I think at least a 2" fore grip would work and a short rear grip if any. You could also do a rear grip to the butt.
Forum: rodboard

Clear auto finish will work and is UV tolerable, after all it is made for cars. You can get the small samples cheaper and you will have enough to do a couple of seats or more. Also if you want to paint reel seats and other components automotive paint is the way to go just get the samples otherwise it is really expensive. Look at the PPG or 3M paints but there are a lot of others.
Forum: rodboard

roger wilson Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Phil, > I might suggest that rod builders do not sell > facts to their customers, they sell happiness. > > It absolutely makes no difference at all what a > rod looks like, what a rod feels like, how heavy > or how light a rod is. > > The only thing that is important is that the
Forum: rodboard

Herb Ladenheim Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Adding weight does not make the rod "slower". Nor > does stripping finish off a rod make it faster. > Tom, correctly, has said that "the action is the > action". Can't change that unless you cut the > blank from either end. > The flex profile is not changed. > What yo
Forum: rodboard

If it is windy, just over line your 5wt with a 6wt line (assuming you have a 5 wt). I would make a 7 wt instead that way you can deal with wind better and throw larger streamer flies when its calm. I travel to southern Patagonia about twice a year and in the summer (December January) it is really windy on some days, like 40 knots plus and a 7 wt is minimum. It will also work on calm to slightly w
Forum: rodboard

I built a 5 wt and an 8 wt on the BVK blanks and they are great blanks. You also may want to look at the NFC fly rod blanks, they are a lot like the G Loomis NRX blanks.
Forum: rodboard

Man Rich, I didn't realize how bad my vision was till you said you could hardly see with 2.0 reading glasses. Iv'e been wearing those for about 3 years. For your work bench get the round light magnifiers, wear your reading glasses when using it and you should be able to see to wrap them. When fishing get one of those three packs of 3.0 readers just to string up the line on the guides with and kee
Forum: rodboard

Is there anybody on here that is making tournament casting fly rods? I hear a lot of speculation about what makes a fly rod cast farther but it does not look like anyone actually does it. From what I can see watching competitions is that the rods have a normal amount of guides for the length. I am seeing 8, 9 and 10 guides on 8.5', 9' and 10' rods and not in a exact amount on each length. It appe
Forum: rodboard

Is anybody familiar or have built on the Zentron Fiber blanks? It looks like its a nylon S-2 8 Micron fiber with similar properties to carbon graphite (carbon/rayon). How are they, what do think or what else do you know? Material properties, weight, strength, elasticity, etc? Looks like something new.
Forum: rodboard

Flex coat fast setting epoxy. You can start turning after an hour. Its waterproof and you can not see the lines in the cork.
Forum: rodboard

I have done what you want to do and the Torzite rout is pretty expensive. I would look at the vendor on the left "Rod Builders Warehouse" and get the Sea Guide Ti framed TiXMG with the Silcon Nitride RS ring. It is an L titanium frame that is half the price of the Torzite. Also I would not tear up a good working fly rod that has no issues. It is easier, at least for me, to just build
Forum: rodboard

Those Fuji blanks have a large butt and a small tip. I believe 11 guides should work fine with the sizes you are using. Set your 1st guide from the tip top at 3.25" and keep the stripper where you got it. With a real flexy tip you just need to move the 1st guide a little closer to the tip top. I would do something like this (INCHES): TT 3.25 6.75 10.5625 14.6875 19.125 23.875 29 34.
Forum: rodboard

Ed, You must have the unfinished blanks they offer, at a very good price. These are dried / heated in a polymer plastic wrap used to hold the prepreg in place and will shrink, applying pressure to the drying blank. The film is removed leaving ridges in the blanks surface. These ridges are not sanded off and offered to the public at a very good discount. I have actually been sanding these on my r
Forum: rodboard

I build a lot of baitcasters but I have found that many blanks designated by the manufacturer as spinning blanks will have smaller butts. I have used these types of blanks for more than half my baitcaster builds. I have , however, come to realize that larger butts on blanks with a thinner sensitive tip section will have many of the desired attributes that I like in a finished rod. I would not lim
Forum: rodboard

With nylon thread you are basically stretching it then cutting, the thread pulls itself back under the wrap. I was having more difficulty with polyester thread like Fuji with this because it doesn't stretch as much as nylon. I also started using small Flush Cut diagonal electric wire snips, these are the best things I have found that will usually not accidentally cut thread you don't want being c
Forum: rodboard