Thanks for the input! I certainly wouldn't consider myself a "good" fly caster by any means... how about "fair." I would call my style ugly but fairly effective. ...lol I am going to build 3 or 4 flyrods. Most likely a (3wt or) 4wt for trout and small waters and then either a 6wt or 7wt for largemouth/smallmouth bass and low wind saltwater days and an 8wt or 9wt fo
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Well I have replaced all my factory casting and spinning rods with my own builds. Just sold & shipped the last of my Loomis factory built rods this morning. Now I want to start building replacements for my factory fly rods. I'm not sure why but the is something intimidating with the thought of building a fly rod. What subtle differences do I need to plan for or watch out for as I
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Don, That is a great blank. It's heavy enough to use for worms and spinnerbaits and light enough to use flukes, senkos, topwaters and other stuff. All the SCIII blanks i have used have been great. Pretty light, sensitive and durable... There are other good "all around" blanks out there but you can not go wrong with your selection.
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I haven't used the Shikari BB804 but it is a very popular blank to build for using large swimbaits (bass fishing in Ca).
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The ICFST and the TFST are two very different colors/looks. The ICFST does not match the Fuji Ti framed guides... not even close. The ICFST is almost the color of Gudebrod Pewter metallic thread, it has that bronze look to it. (still not sure why they call that thread color pewter) I believe the chrome is even closer in color to Ti than the ICFST. (at least you can tone the shine down in c
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I use Andy's exotic burl as caps on most of my rods and have not had any issues.
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I only fish moving baits to the left... swimbaits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, etc. All of my worm, jig, and slow stuff is normally straight on. The reason I put the bumper on the right, is to keep it on the handle side of the reel... it allows the rod to lie flat on the deck or if I turn it over, the handle keeps the rod high enough to keep the bumper off the deck... seems more protected like t
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Tom, I certainly don't have the credentials to question your system but let me make an observation based on my own experiences to date. Arbitrarily putting the bumper exactly halfway between the butt and #2 guides may be perfect in theory and does work great with a only downward load applied. The problem I have when a load is applied to the opposite side of the bumper, the line rubs the b
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That's great! I bet you got as much out of it as they did!
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Apparently I forgot to choose "all dates" in my searching... duley noted! I did try a test of the CP on a scrap but it is just too thick to be absorbed as it is, which was why I asked how thin it should be... "Keep in mind that CP is a solid in suspension. by diluting it, you REDUCE the amount of CP solids that available to do the job" I understand that but if it's t
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To date all my rods have been wrapped with NCP or nylon with no CP. I have a bottle of the Gudebrod 811 CP and it says "thin with alcohol - clean up with water" Having never used CP before, how thin do you want it? It is about like cold maple syrup at the moment. Also, do in need more than one coat? And how long do I need to wait to apply the second coat or finish? I searche
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No problem.
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Maybe... I'm supposed to build it for a friend, If he changes his mind, you are welcome to it. I think the shipping will exceed the price. ...lol I'll let you know when I hear from him. keith
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"But some how the paper work I wrote down the blank specs on disappeared. " Steve, I have an All Star IGMB965 that I got from Andy, last week. What specs are you looking for? I'll post what I know and if you need something different, let me know. I mic'd the tip and butt if it helps, mine is .648" butt and .080" tip. I measured for the trigger to be
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I'm still a novice rod builder but I have a pretty solid experience base in fishing the type of rods you are looking at. I have 2 that fit your criteria and I am very comfortable suggesting, as both are extremely light, strong and will make a great worm/jig rod - a St. Croix SCV and a CTS tournament series. The CTS is available from Andy Dear. I was very impressed with the CTS, and actually c
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I found out last night, after a small mishap, that even after 40 minutes you can lightly heat it with a heat gun (set to lowest setting) or blow dryer and get it to thin back out like water! Anyway, after that little lesson, the heat gun now resides in my finish area and will be used every time! If I have too much on it will drip off when warmed... which is good since I'm still new enough to
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Sorry Mike (and Tom) I didn't even realize what I did until this morning. (my intent was not to take business from Sponsors) I have seen the mixing cup and stick packs but they were not such a great deal.... the big stack of cups is a great deal but I haven't run across them at the sponsor sites I shop at. Will edit post above.
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Flex coat mixing cups - have the measurement lines. (in CC, Tsp, drams and ML) I bought a pack of 100 for $3
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Sounds good, Thanks for the tip! Keith
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In a perfect world, I'd rather make the blank look better not the finish worse but don't have any idea what to do to the blank... thought about a coat of wax but until it has a uniform look, that won't fix the problem. Thanks!
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I have a rod that I am finishing tonight, in fact, it's rotating as I type this. The blank was a steal, but looks like it has been around the block a few times. ...lol The nice, shiny Threadmaster looks out of place on such a blue collar blank. Is there any reason (functionally) that I shouldn't or couldn't use #0000 steel wool to dull the finish down? Or, would it be better to try
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I haven't checked on warranty yet, he boiled off the cork and reel seat last night and stripped the 2 guides that were left. Will that matter for a possible warranty? I didn't know if you had to send the "rod" in as opposed to just the remaining blank. I will call the sponsor and find out, though. I'm thinking the line was cut on the blank as it broke... but that is only specula
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Thanks for all the ideas, and thanks Ralph for the penny count, I'll used that to compare what my tension is set at. I found out last night, that there was only one hand on the rod when it broke, it was on the handle and the rod was in the neighborhood of 30 degrees to the snag... I now think it was a defect or even shipping damage that we didn't see prior to the build. Oh well, it's done.
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Unfortunately the line also broke at about the same time... so the rest of the rod is 20' below the surface and there is no guide foot to examine. The break did occur at where the wrap begins, not at the foot itself. there is only about 1/64" of threadmaster on the end of the carcus. (his wraps began a good way ahead of the feet.) We will likely never find out exactly what happened... but
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Cliff, I said the tensioner I read about used 4 ounces, not the device he used. (Still trying to find a way to measure the "right amount" ot tension for us newbies) I would suggest that he used lbs of tension, not ounces. He was snagged when this happened and I did not see what he did to cause the break. But considering the break was almost a perfect circle at the base of the thre
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I realize this is almost impossible diagnosis over the internet and I also realize this is an extremely subjective topic. I feel good about the guide prep since I was there helping with it and checked each guide as he finished them. I did pack some on the butt wrap before he applied finish... it was very tight, and tough to pack at all. So, I feel like this was the "problem" he had.
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Well, last night was a heartbreaker. I helped a buddy build a rod and he wrapped it while I was out of town... he commented when he watched me wrap that my thread tension was much looser than his. I remembered threads here that suggested too much tension would result in breakage... but he opted not to re-wrap it. It broke while we were fishing last night, at the base of a wrap. What an e
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Andy, Neutral in the hand is the best feeling for me, others may like a little one way or the other. Mock it up where you think it's right and then use your own hand as the fulcrum... rarely will your hand balance in the same spot as hanging the rod. (And be sure you have a the reel spooled with line when you do this! ) I don't like adding extra weight either but in certain applications it
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I do plan to tape up one blank (to ensure an apples to apples comp.) both ways and test it sometime soon, likely for a few hours to get a true representation of what may differ in performance and feel. I figured that I'd ask the question since I don't have the guides on hand to test both ways. I do realize that the bumper is different than a choke guide but still, the line still must pass throu
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I am hoping a few of you with simple spiral experience can help me. Keep in mind, I am very new to rodbuilding and just looking to satisfy my own curiosity. And if it matters, my question is pertaining to bass casting rods only, medium through x-heavy, in the 6' 6" - 7' range. And as far as butt guides go, I only use narrow spool casting reels. (Abu 4600's) Is there a reason that the f
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