Thank you for the replies from Kent, Aaron, Michael, Norman, Chris, Roger, Tom and John. Apparently there actually are those who are gifted with a super-human sense of feel who can detect a fraction of a gram distributed over the length of a blank and hence do not approve of blank coatings. The rest of us mortals either avoid coated blanks out of principle (it does add SOME weight) or find the co
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While no one can dispute that any weight added to a blank reduces its recovery speed which basically deadens the “feel”, how much additional weight is required to actually notice the difference? Of course, and should be obvious, cantilevered weight out toward the tip of the blank will have a significantly greater impact than the same amount of weight closer to the fulcrum / real seat. Many on th
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Stan, Tip wraps are optional = personal preference. All the replies above are good; for ultimate performance = no wrap, for aesthetics = wrap. I prefer a brief tip wrap which complements the guide wraps. On my UL / fly rods I often wrap an open spiral of a noticeable color to aid visual detection of light bites. In the end = to each their own.
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Tyler, Decal Connection will do it for you but you need to get prior written permission from the source. DC has a vast array of logos but they respectively honor ™ rights.
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Douglas, Good post!!! Yes, it is called personal preference. While possibly insignificant to most, your question has plenty of merit. While the vast majority of inscriptions / decals read from buttt to tip, that is opposite to what the typical, right-handed angler sees when holding the rod. Although I have admittedly following-the-norm with the “butt-to-tip” read orientation of inscriptions / d
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Thanks Spencer, I’ll keep that in mind.
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This is a grateful thank you and follow-up for those who responded to my inquiry / post of how to produce the clearest “invisible wraps” of a few weeks ago. The general consensus for the thread to use was Hitena natural silk thread. Although I did not receive any comments on the use of PG versus typical thread epoxy, I used CTS Crystal Coat due to it being the thinnest and clearest thread epoxy I
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A vintage, historic and unique power rod wrapper from the infamous Roger Wilson. I’ll start the bidding at $2500.00.
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Phil, From our off-site Banksia conversations, apparently you were correct in that you found very little interest for a Banksia nut handle from your customers. You, me and apparently Aleks may be the only ones who appreciate the profound beauty. Granted, they certainly are not the lightest handle, but they're not THAT heavy. And yes, they are time-consuming and messy to produce. While they may n
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Aleks, The first two photos are my plain-Jane handle, pockets unfilled and sanded bare wood with no finish. The third photo is Phil’s very nice half Wells handle from 12 years ago, pockets filled with colored epoxy and a True Oil finish. I want to be just like Phil when I grow up lol.
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Peter, You can probably trust Ron’s infinite wisdom of “sure can” in this instance. Most of these 1-to-1 epoxies are pretty much variations on the same theme and although there may be slight recipe differences, they should be compatible with one another. Scuffing the surface as Leslie suggested would certainly not be a bad thing but may not be required if the first coat is less than 72 hours old
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Phil Erickson recently introduced me to Australian Banksia nuts for turning into rod handles; they are stunningly, intriguingly and uniquely gorgeous. Using the search function here, the last post involving Banksia nuts was from Phil over 12 years ago so I thought re-posting might be of interest to those unfamiliar. They may not be of interest to those who consider the lightest weight top priori
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Aleks, Great idea / concept!!! Prepreg for the masses! Granted the 300*F will be a limiting factor, but when the wife is out of town…. Lol. I can easily obtain 200*F in my styrofoam “oven” with no more than 1 or 2 lower wattage light bulbs. 300*F would probably melt the styrofoam. But an easily constructed box of .5in thick plywood with a couple incandescent light bulbs inside could easily suit
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Robert, From the replies, it should be obvious that thread finish epoxy, both brand and type (high / low viscosity) is a personal preference as with many other aspects of rod building as well. While most are pretty much variations on the same theme, their handling characteristics can vary. Only YOU can decide which works best YOU; and you won’t know until after trying others. There are other co
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Jim, Save yourself all the time, effort and aggravation of measuring and recording / relaying your measurements. Simply placing the guides where they “look good” in a nice progressive spacing will often get you 95% of the way there that the 2-line static load testing will make obvious.
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Ken, As with the last word of my previous reply “ENJOY” (but apparently you already are).
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Jim, You have received quality information from respected veterans such as Michael and Herb; I’m taking note as well. There is no better substitute for 2-line static load testing for guide placement, no matter what type of rod. I static load test 150lb tuna blanks with 30lb + of weight inducing a deep bend in the blank as well as for UL trout builds. Please do not read that as if I put 30lb of w
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Ken, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. While many would simply consider them just “ol’ rods”, you have an opportunity to experience fishing a part of history!!! Whether they are prestigious, milestone examples or just run-of-the-mill rods, clean them up, replace what is needed and enjoy fishing them. Some might say “what if it breaks?” Then it died a glorious, honorable death serving its
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Spencer, Thanks for your input as well.
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OK, I never want to hear how picky I am ever again lol.
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Lynn, Thanks for the reply. That certainly appears to be very clear. That’s 1 vote for Hitena. Excuse my ignorance, but how does their size “4A” compare to, say, ProWrap size A?
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Shawn, It is pretty safe to say that the vast majority of wraps are coated with thread finish epoxy. For the minimalist trying to save every grain of weight, PG is so thin that it should provide the lightest finished results. For those desiring a more protective “lens”, finish epoxy is probably a better bet. Without any supportive data of the cured thickness, I would approximate that 4 coats of
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In the search that I ran here, I got a related topic that I posted 4 years ago and the next most recent after that was over 10 years ago. So, I am inquiring as to what the most current opinions might be for the best thread to use for “invisible wraps”. I cannot read the name of the Japanese silk (YLI?) that I purchased 4 years ago. While it worked, it just wasn’t quite as clear as other invisib
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Roger, Your point is extremely well-taken and thank you for bringing it to everyone's attention. I embarrassingly admit to overlooking physically challenged anglers. Obviously (hopefully), in such a case as you described, electric reels should not only be allowed but encouraged as well. Robert, Thank you for your contribution as well. That sounds like a pretty good solution until the fish star
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Charles, Thanks for your input as well.
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Hunter, Sorry, but I cannot help you. But I was intrigued with the vintage seat that Ladd posted; now I know where Tom K. got the inspiration for his homemade version.
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Alex, At least not in this case lol.
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Alex, Thanks. You are certainly correct in that a narrower reel would reduce the torque imposed on the rod. I rarely use my old Senators any more in favor of the more compact 2-speed daiwa and Avet. Nonetheless, cranking the reels under load still produces that annoying back and forth rotational torque of the rod. I have started building the foregrip larger in diameter which helps, but doesn’t s
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Michael and Norman, How badly did I misstate or misrepresent my belief (and fact) that TNF is superior to CCF??? I totally agree with both of you!!! Again, I TOTALLY AGREE WITH BOTH OF YOU!!! Dr. Hannerman’s approach to “blank frequency” / “speed”/ “oscillations'', whatever anyone wants to call it, involved adding artificial weight to the blank tip to simply slow down the oscillations enough to
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Michael, Yes. The upswing and downswing of the reel handle causes the rod to rotate / torque accordingly. Ron, If you are referring to Phil Erickson, then OK. If you are referring to another Phil, then Shhh yourself!!!! Lol (but not really).
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