I went to a fabric store and found some polyurethane called Dura Clear varnish. It is white at first but dries clear. It did darken the thread but only by a shade or two, actually closer to 2 shades but that was quite evident and not almost black. That is Dura Clear by Americana. Until I happen to find something better this varnish will do.
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I think I have discovered why threads unravel... I back up to straighten up a thread or two and when I do tension gets released and the tag end is not under enough wraps. I would just brush the ends of a wrap and the threads would loosen and then I would try pack the threads back into place and the threads only got looser. Thank you for your post.
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Thank you for your frustration relieving post. I do exactly as you described. I'll work on it. I've only built a couple of rods so far and thoroughly enjoyed the process. My wife is retiring March 1 and we will be on our way to visit our out of state kids.... my rod bldg stuff is going with me as I'll have time to work on build #3. Thanks again.
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I enjoyed reading your post . I read with great interest the posts as well. I recognized a number of things I am doing and work on those today as I am working on build #3. I thought I had enough tension because when I would try to move a guide it stay put very little in the way of movement. Also Tom K asked if I backed the thread up and I do that and also tucking the tag ends under enough wr
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Thread winding is basic to rod building and I seem to have a recurring problem of threads loosening up and unraveling which does the same to my nerves. At first I Tried the book for tension same problem. Then I built a jig and used springs washers and a wing it.Same o same o.I have had some success with the guides. Just wrapping is the main problem. I've adjusted tension a number of ways sti
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Does color preserver reduce the strength of thread wraps by soaking into the thread and preventing the epoxy from soaking in through the thread? I put a bright bronzy brown thread on each of the ferruls and added a bright green band over the top and it looks very good but when I applied epoxy on a test wrap the brown went almost black and the green darkened so that neither color looked good. I
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On my topic of guide sizes. I have 2 new posts and I can't seem to access them. I believe I asked to have password remembered but I still can"t read responses.
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The rod that I just finished is a 9ft 8wgt. from the reel the firstbstripper is 20mm and the second is a 16mm. The first snake guide is a 5mm and 4s to the top. we have a great small mouth fishery and I have a 9ft 5wgt and was difficult casting bass poppers and wgted clouser minnows and as a result built the 8 wgt and. line is wf8f and I cast that combo pretty good. Still working on the clou
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The rod that I just finished is a 9ft 8wgt. from the reel the firstbstripper is 20mm and the second is a 16mm. The first snake guide is a 5mm and 4s to the top. we have a great small mouth fishery and I have a 9ft 5wgt and was difficult casting bass poppers and wgted clouser minnows and as a result built the 8 wgt and. line is wf8f and I cast that combo pretty good. Still working on the clou
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If this is your rod just brag about the fish you caught with it. you won't do it again.
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I have a location mark for a guide that is visible after epoxy was applied. it doesn,t stick out like a sore thumb but is visible if you look closely. the mark didn't bleed through the wrap but the epoxy caused the thread to become translucent. i'm being mindful of wrapping threads that don't lose their color and don't become translucent to the point they show what is below after epoxy is appl
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Well I stop stressing about stripper guide size . I went to the local fly shop and looked at the sages and the other high dollar rods and they all had strippers as large as I had on hand so dang the torpedos full steam ahead. The rod casts beautifully, at least from my perspective. I also ordered guides XBSG wire guides and I like the minimalist look and will try them on a rod in the future.
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More good ideas. I'll give them a go thanks again.
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Thanks for the suggestions . I'll give it go.
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I have finished 2rods and have tried to write on them with not very good results. I used extra fine oil based paint pencils and I have used white out correction fluid. Iwas sure extra fine paint would work but the paint spreads just enough to fill in spaces that should be clear of paint . White out evaporates too fast..Some have used testors paint with a metal nib so far no satisfaction there
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I just applied epoxy to some thread windings and before application the epoxy the colors were electric green and copper and now the green is green but 2 shades darker and the copper wrap is almost black. I know a color fast application can be applied but won,t allow the epoxy to penetrate the threads and possibly make the wraps weaker. The colors I selected are bright and was a bit disappointed
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Bryan, the minimas guides(highish) would have a part # and where you get them. I have mudhole and anglers workshop catalogues , sometimes they describe the profile( hi, low) . Also, I was in the yard casting my fly rod and was watching for line slap and didn't observe any. I have the line in my left hand andkeep it awayfrom the rod. Maybe for me rod slap may occur further up the rod. Again t
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I am beginning to understand tradeoffs. none of my connections require a 20mm guide. they pass through the guides on my other rods just fine. My style of casting is I like to keep my arm in close to my body and 10 and 2 the rod allowing the rod tip to load. i don't need to cast a long ways. I don,t want to re-invent everything with each rod I try to make. are there some rules of thumb that g
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Tom you mentioned a high stripping guide. Can you expand your reply as to high part., Thanks
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Thanks Tom for the suggestion. I'm learning everything I can about flyrod building. Thanks for the insight .
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I finished my first rod and casts great. so know I'm on to the 9ft 8wt and ordered the guides from anglers workshop. They show 2 listings for a 9ft rod so considering that the rod is an 8wt I ordered the F10XX which shows a 20,16,6,5,4,4,4,4,4,4 guide set. the 20mm stripper looks totally out of proportion to the rod so I plan to order PBXBSG in size 16 and a 14 stripper and keep the larger
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what is IM6, 7, 8, etc. actually mean. Im guessing but I think it is graphite and whatever the number translates to.
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so many fiber glass blanks to choose from not to mention colors and then s-glass or some other combination of glass. any suggestions on good quality blanks without the high price tag.
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I was thumbing through the electronic pages and came across maxxon outfitters and there flyrods and they looked pretty good and the prices were very inexpensive. Any with some knowledge of these guys and the rods, oh and graphite reels.
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Drew, I don't have a problem with a rode trip. We were at the water park not long ago and I should have found this blog earlier.. I don,t have any steelhead experience and the rod I have is an 8ft6in 5wt. I'll shoot you an email say tomorrow or so and we can talk about it. A phone call may be a better way for me so I can express myself better. I'll get back to tou soonest.
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baycity midland in fact im in the middle of the two. farm town .if it was a long distance for someone to drive maybe there is stream/river in between that would make a good spot to take some of steepness out of the learning curve. it seems as though trout fishing got technical since I got back into it.
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Auburn Michigan. If there is someone willing to take the time. I have a big back yard. I'll give the rest of my info if there is anyone interested in giving me a few pointers. Of late I have been going to a local rod and fly shop and they seem to answer my question but that's all. Kinda like it is some sort of secret . I just enjoy getting back on the stream and it really doesn't matter if
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Phil Ewanicki: If I understand you correctly a 6ft6in rod doesn't roll cast as well as say a 7ft6in rod. Does the stiffness or action play a part in the roll cast? I've been practicing the roll cast in the back yard with mixed results. The fly, more often than not falls in a heap. I have orvis' book and read it over and still have so so result. In a stream where it gets a bit close is one ac
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as to line wgts, is it possible to go lower in line wgt and still make a good cast. I'm guessing that it would take a bit of practice
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lots of good advice guys. I'll do my best to apply it. Has anybody used matrix rod blanks.MHX blanks are on the short list for a first time build and if I decide to build up a 6ft6" rod w a slow response to possibly mid/fast for a better roll cast on small streams. If there are any blanks not on the radar(catalogues) let me know. Just one observational question and it has to do with the
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