Chris, As mentioned and suggested, measuring the CCS and TNF of both blanks will provide you with precise numerical values of each blank for precise comparison. While possible, it is doubtful that NFC will “give” you another blank since, afterall, you are the one who broke it. But why waste it? While 2.5in is significant, it is not huge (or is it?). How can you be certain that you would not pre
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Jasper, The nature-of-the-beast is that epoxy (actually the hardener) will yellow with time. Some yellow more quickly or severely than others, even when left in the original bottles and isolated from UV exposure. While darker colors of blank or thread may disguise the yellowing to an adequate extent, white wraps on a white blank will accentuate the yellowing. Before building my own rods, I had 2
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If so many rod builders proclaim the necessity to avoid line contact to the blank on a conventional guides-on-top casting rod or line-slap on a spinning rod, why would line being allowed to contact the blank on a spiral wrapped rod be exempt / any different? I am here to learn.
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Trung, As Michael, and probably many others, I apply a decal of my logo on builds unless requested otherwise. Obviously, depending on the size of the logo, one receives quite a few logos and the price is reasonable from Decal connection. If a customer wants an additional inscription, the $5.00 charge, delivered, from DC is easily accepted and passed onto that customer. Personally, I see no need
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Robert continues to amaze me; he is a living record book! Good job Robert! I use NCP 98% of the time and do not particularly care for CP, so there are certainly others more qualified to answer Ernie’s question. Even NCP changes color to some degree after the application of finish; I do not know whether or not CP would change the color of NCP. Michael offers sound advice = trust personal tests.
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Thanks Roger. I have seen your stands a number of times and consider them to be quite attractive, functional and straightforward to construct.
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El, Tom’s comments are good indeed. You mentioned “What about avoiding thread flare after a tie off cut?” That leads me to believe that you are pulling the final thread tag all the way through and out somewhere in the middle of the wrap, then trying to snip it off so the end does not show. If so, consider an almost fool-proof tie off method instead. Insert your pull-through loop early, let’s sa
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Thanks Michael and Norman for your valued, veteran insight. Michael; it is comforting to learn that you agree hanging the rod by the tip top (2nd or 3rd guide in your fly rod case) “...does not in any way load the blank so as to induce a set”. That was one of my biggest concerns as the eye of the tip top (guide) is not not centered to the centerline of the blank which does create a tic of off-ce
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Apparently, there are more builders who use guide foot adhesive than I thought there was. Again, while I do not employ it on all my guides to be wrapped, as Russell said, it is a Godsend to me for the micros! Although I have never experienced “guide pull-out” in 50 years of fishing, there may be others who are not as careful with their equipment. Since learning of “locking wraps” on this site, I
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Aaron, Michael, Roger and Phil, Thank you for taking the time to reply. With blank / rod storage confronting all rod builders, I am surprised to have not received more replies. Has anyone attempted hanging their rods from the tip top via a small hook? What would the possible pros and cons be?
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OK, it is a given that we all build custom fishing rods. With the exception of those rods that we build for a particular customer within a specific timeframe, how do you store your other masterpieces which might take “awhile” before they are delivered? For that matter, how do you store your own personal rods? Time length type of storage is the main question. While a rod propped against the wall
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Dennis, All of the above replies are very good, but no one can be certain if both parts of the epoxy were included or only one. I am in total agreement with Michael’s statement “My philosophy is always to try the least disruptive solution to any problem first…” Post curing at an elevated temperature (possibly 24 - 48 hours) may cure the mix presently on the rod ENOUGH to apply a proper ratio /
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Roger, If line slap against the blank is a concern of yours (rightfully so) with low profile guides, then why would you choose to introduce excessive blank contact with a spiral wrap which goes from a 0* butt guide to a 180* second guide? A runner guide train on the bottom of the blank will never allow the line to touch it while a 0* to 180* reduction train certainly will. Allow me to suggest
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Whatever one wishes to call it, All CCS values are derived from a specific amount of weight attached to the tip of a blank or rod to deflect it by 33% of its length. That specific amount of weight (be it pennies minted after 1996, lead, meadow muffins or whatever) is the IP of the blank / rod. With weight being used, what else to call it other than weighing the defection of the blank? Who dictat
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It should be obvious that a UNIVERSAL listing / labeling of any particular blank or rod would be beneficial to the entire fishing industry; manufacturer - to - builder - to - Joe Angler! Yet, after many attempts, all have failed. Why? = because none have offered an across-the-board, ANY blank or rod, STANDARDIZED format!!! Without the ability to be applied to EACH AND EVERY POSSIBLE BLANK OR ROD,
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Daniel, While some of your (Fuji) nomenclature may be correct, some of it is unfamiliar to me. The “G” in front would be the frame color, but I have never seen it = may be an old designation for “gold”. Fuji’s present “turbo” (wherever that can from) guides are “LRX” unlike your “LR”. The following “S” would indicate a SiC ring while the last letter, “G” simply means “guide”. While I am unaware
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First of all, congratulations both to Norman and Aleks; Norman for your new position and Alex for realizing the benefit!!! While possibly not the first to befriend me with all my newbie questions when starting rod building 7 years ago, Norman has consistently always been there for me to flatten my learning curve, IMMENSELY, and is also just simply a great guy to converse with. His aptitude and in
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Rick, There are many who use a quality glue such as TiteBond 3 and an ~equal number who use an epoxy such as RodBond. Apparently, both work; it is up to the user to determine which is best for them. Personally, I use RodBond but that is not to say that TiteBond will not achieve adequate results; it is simply what works for me and hence, use it. Basically, I trust an epoxy over glue.
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Lynn, Certainly NOT stupid! Without actually seeing it, I tend to agree with Peter that it may be guide foot adhesive (basically white) rather than tip top adhesive (basically yellow). While they both are “hot-melt” adhesives, the guide foot adhesive has a much lower melting point and thus is not as strong as the tip top adhesive; don’t intermix them unless you like living on the wild side!
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El, Looking for a different epoxy to solve your problems is working in reverse; most epoxies are slight variations on the same theme. Better to fine-tune your own personal skills and then all the epoxies will work for you.
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Steve, There may be other “guide foot adhesives ‘ out there but I am only familiar with the Flex Coat brand. It works extremely well and, yes, the guide can be adjusted after wrapped; obviously not as easily as if no hot-melt was used, but still adjustable nonetheless. I do not use it on all my guides (wraps) but it certainly comes in handy for those micro runners, especially if there are numero
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El, Apparently your body is ulta sensitive to epoxy; you will have to take adequate and appropriate measures to protect yourself. While there must be others with similar sensitivities, it is safe to say that the majority have no issues. You are just starting rod building and hence are on the steep part of the learning curve; we’ve all been there. The more experience you gain, the better, easier
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Randy, Allow me to expand on the very good advice from Spencer and Phil. Definitely yes to using FG rather than higher modules CF for the repair pieces as Spencer suggested. As Phil mentioned, both an internal “spigot” (preferably tubular) and external “sleeve” would be the best as long as they were not overly stiff (combined, stiffer than the original blank; a slight tick stiffer is OK). Keep t
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I would not have thought that boiling water (~212*F) would be sufficient to soften the types of epoxy commonly used in rod building. While most epoxies are considered “low-temp” (<150*F), even though basically plastic, I would have thought considerably more heat would be required (>300*F) to soften them. Thanks for the info Phil.
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While Ghost or Invisible Wraps may certainly not be the norm for most, some of that may have to do with unsatisfactory results from previous attempts resulting in wraps that did not live up to their name, invisible. After my first attempt, which proved to be quite disappointing, I sought advice from the knowledgeable members of this site; I am so glad and thankful that I did! I cannot remember th
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Kevin, Thank you for taking the time to address a subject rarely revealed in rod building; taking photos. The insight afforded by the video offers very needed, yet possibly overlooked, basics to achieve great photos. I found it to be very informative and well presented; now I just need to finally get a cell phone lol. Job well done!!!
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Tony, You may be referring to the U40 Cork Seal. While there may be others (Birchwood Casey’s Tru Oil?), it is the only “sealer” that I know of, hence use it on all my cork grips. I will stop short of claiming that it is a cure-all / fix-all to every cork concern, but if it is a U40 product, I trust and employ it nonetheless.
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I appreciate Tom’s sarcasm, “bargain”. Even so, allow me to repeat “one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor”. But to add another old saying, “you get what you pay for”; really?!?!
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Marc, You are obviously intelligent enough to understand that the smaller the tip of a blank = the more fragile it is. Unfortunately, not all others are as intune. It is up to you to inform your customer (for both of your benefits); not just when you deliver the finished rod but also while deciding which blank to build on.
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Bob, I certainly understand and appreciate your particular durability concerns. A double foot KW will definitely withstand more abuse than a single foot KL-H and thus may be your best option. While a KL25-H would be good for your size 4500 reel and 40lb braid, the KW30 is probably a good choice to achieve enough height. My spin set-ups are KRC (KL-H) and not NGC (KW) so I may not be the best to
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