Rick, You may be hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees that metallic thread (of the same size) is weaker than non-metallic. That being said, ANY type of thread affords much more holding capacity of guides than actually required. The bottom-line is that while metallic thread may be sufficient for a main wrap, its intended use was for trims / accents. It’s your choice.
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Mark, Thread fuzzies are inevitable but there are ways to drastically reduce them. First and foremost is a SHARP cutting tool be it a razor blade, snips, scissors or fingernail clippers. I purchase precision “extra sharp” single edge razor blades and style 11 X-acto blades from McMaster Carr. When using a blade, ALWAYS cut in the OPPOSITE direction from where the thread came from; this has a ten
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Leslie, You are correct = ONE pass with PG is all ya get! Trying to improve on the initial coat will likely open Pandora’s Box.
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Leslie, Hook keepers are certainly a personal preference = neither good or bad. While I could not answer definitively why the difference, I Like them on my UL trout rods but not my saltwater rods. But if installing a hook keeper on ANY of my rods, it WILL be a Norman Miller Hook Keeper!!! Every aspect is absolutely perfect, especially Form Follows Function but also easy to make, definitely custo
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David, Your grips are very nice indeed = good job especially for your first attempt! I am glad you find turning cork so much fun. Inversely, anything to do with grips (shaping, reaming, mounting) is my LEAST favorite rod building operation; I enjoy wrapping the most. From your photo, I cannot see what you are complaining about; the quality of the cork in the full length grip looks fairly good t
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Jim, Both FG and CF rods / blanks are FRP, Fiber Reinforced Plastic, with Plastic being the word of concern here; plastics can “take a set”. Tom is correct that the polyester resin used on the older FG blanks is not as stable as the present day epoxies used with CF blanks and hence were / are more prone to taking a set, but the CF blanks are still susceptible especially when heat is involved as
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Dave, The above replies are good and certainly worth considering. Rather than wasting the time to rewrap your guides, go ahead and apply the finish to them as they currently are and see how it turns out; if it looks perfect = done deal. If not = learn from the experience. I tend to agree with Tom and Herb that the dry appearance of the thread may be hidden after wet-out with finish. I am still v
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Carbon, in any form, is well known to be an excellent conductor of electricity; carbon motor brushes being a prime example. So the previous replies do not really surprise me BUT THEY HAVE REAWAKENED ME!!!! Electricity will ALWAYS follow the path of least resistance! If your head or rod tip (especially sitting on a lake) is higher than the immediate surroundings during an electrical storm, you hav
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Leslie, Tom obviously has much steadier hands than, or not as critical as, me. Presumably as most others, I find having the rod turning while applying wrap finish (PG or epoxy) is not only convenient but very helpful in producing a straight, clean, crisp ending edge onto the blank. I agree that 9 RPM may be slower than preferred or optimum; I’m guessing 30-50 RPM is what I like and use. The fast
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Mike, While I am more of a cork kind of guy, I will be following your topic to learn as well. Are you H-bent on EVA or is Hypalon or possibly other foams adequate? Firmness and durability are my paramount concerns.
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Michael, Is my pea brain assuming correctly that the measured TNF of any given blank would be identical whether initially deflected, say, 2in versus 4 or 6in? I would think that although the “tip speed” at the midpoint of the oscillation would be greater if deflected 6in, the tip also has to travel further, whereas the tip speed would be less if deflected only 2in but does not need to travel as
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Roger, Your suggestion of “cone nets” prompted me to try them on my thread set-up. The cone nets work perfectly if the thread is taken off the END of the spool. I have to be honest and say that I am experiencing difficulty attempting to adapt them to my vertical, tensioned spools where the thread is taken off from the SIDE of the spool. But I have not given-up hope; the idea seems too good to ig
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Michael, You have obviously spent a considerable amount of time, effort and thought on your TNF measurement process. My hat is off to you for your devotion and willingness to share your findings. It only seems logical that measuring the frequency of a blank or rod in its raw, naked state will produce the most accurate, precise and repeatable measurements versus adding a “prescribed” amount of we
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Mr. Ewaniki, I take serious offense to your statement “There are precious few records of OBJECTIVE, MEASURED TESTS of the basic physical properties of fishing rods or rod blanks”. I have orchestrated tests and posted the results for everyone, so has Mr. Danek and many others including Dr. Hannerman. Coming from someone like you who is always demanding hard data facts YET HAS NEVER OFFERED A SIN
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Robert brought up a great observation as to the possible reason we all have our own favorite rods. Although it may be the main objective while on a fishing trip to catch fish, it really is only one part of the experience. The companionship, grandeur of nature and other factors all combine to provide the whole experience. If all aligns perfectly and the trip is a memorable and pleasant experience,
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David, So you also think Norman is a faster typer than me? LOL
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THANK YOU ROGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That may be just the solution I have needed!!! I designed my thread carriage / tensioners with the spools vertical, and at times the thread can flop down and under the spool; it doesn’t happen often but Murphy’s Law dictates that when it does, it does so at the most inopportune time. While I am certain a spool net would work flawlessly when the thread is being p
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Thanks for the additional information from Hunter, Russell and Kent. Kent mentioned Dick Kantner and his career at NARMCO (National Armament Corporation) and their development of carbon fiber (CF) on projects such as the SR71 in the 1950s. Interestingly, NARMCO was employed by the US military to develop the fiberglass (FG) process (ground breaking technology at the time) during WW2 to build ligh
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Norman, You are obviously a faster typer than I am!!!
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Dave, Norman and Roger replied while I was typing. Mine mimics Norman’s because I learned from him. The 2-line static load test will reveal how closely the line follows the NATURAL curve of the blank. Secure the tip top and temporarily mount the guides to the blank; the easiest most effective way is to use dental bands or thin cut pieces of surgical tubing but tape can be used as well. Secure
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Dave, Congratulations = you are a fast learner!!! You can stop worrying so much. Your butt guide is 19in from the spool axle tip = PERFECT; anywhere between 19 and 21in is good and I usually start at 19in. The choke guide is 20.5in from the butt guide which may be a tic short; try 21 -23in. Space the other 2 reduction guides to form a bullseye between the butt and choke guides. For the runners,
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Scott, Excuse me but I am confused. First you mention “I am refurbishing a St.Croix Legend Rod that is painted” which implies that it is an older rod which you want to change the grips and seat. But then you mention “It’s not as bad now that some of the adhesive is set up, it was pretty gooey when I removed the seat and Foregrip” which implies you are trying to remove new grips and seat that you
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Kent, Although to a lesser degree with my heavier saltwater rods, I have always looked for, purchased and used the lightest tackle possible to enhance the fight and give the fish a chance of escape. For my mountain trout fishing (unfortunately less backpacking into the backcountry in the last 10 years), a 1-4lb spin rod, 750-1500 reel and 2-4lb test hybrid mono/fluoro has always been my weapon o
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Thank you to David and Russell for your contributions to the cause as well. Please allow me to clarify a statement made in my last post as my choice of words may have been confusing; “with so many off-shore offerings available” was intended as the number of non-USA made blanks available and not “off-shore” / saltwater rods in general. Russell, unfortunately, the term “soulful” will remain embed
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Robert, I knew a guy who always put us on the rats at the dump with our 22s; oh, sorry, misconstrued the title lol.
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Kent, Phil and Kendall, Thank you for the replies and hopefully they will encourage others to follow and contribute as well. Hopefully, others will be as interested and informed with your replies as I am finding them to be. I was beginning to think that I was the only nostalgic freak of the site lol. All three of you seem to have a respect, if not love or passion, for some of the earlier rods w
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Neil, Texalium is nothing special; it is simply aluminized FG. Cut it as you would with regular FG or CF tubing. Although many use the tape method that Robert suggested to reduce splinters, and is certainly not a bad idea, I do not bother. Simply cut slowly with light pressure using the finest SHARP hacksaw blade you can find, 32 TPI or finer if you can find it. Leave enough (.062 - .125in) to b
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In a recent topic of mine seeking info of Sabre rods, Russell Brunt replied with an observation / question “There were a lot of great rod blanks from the past. I find it interesting as to which ones were prized the most by time period and area of the country” and “I'd love to hear what were your "go to" blanks from the past and for what waters/fish. Also how you feel they stack up to cu
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Thanks Russell = good reads!
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No one can really argue with Roger’s synopsis. If just a tic is required to make it fit = go for it; if not, save it for a rainy day. The additional cost of acquiring the proper part may pale in comparison to the aggravation caused by attempting to make the present part fit.
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