Lol... That's true Tom. Yes, but you had me laughing on that one!
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Hello All, I hope your winter is going well. Here in Minnesota we just came out of a -20 below snap of fun and games! Anyway, have any of you found a solvent based color preserver that you like? Why is it that we had really great color preservers in the 70's and now it appears they're all water based and most people are not happy with them. I just ordered some of Al's Silk Color Rite. I know i
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Dick, nice Grips. I like them very much. Very nice work. Silicone Molds? How do you use them?
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Great stuff to consider. Thank you gentlemen. Anything else?
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I'm in the process of setting up a new CNC Machine that will be doing all of the foam grip lathe work so I'm setting up for sizable production. I am also in discussions with General Plastics looking into them producing these grip blanks and urethane grip liners (17mm - I want them run the entire length of the grip). I do want to mention that the North Fork CF Grips and very light and they have on
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I'm with Paul...I got sick of the limp loops too. And it really does slow you down. At least it does for me.
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Thanks Dick, Great advice! I plan on building hundreds of these so I'll heed your advice and go for the 6lb density. This is exactly the kind of advice I've been hoping for. What do you paint them with? What did you color the foam with? Yes, I'd prefer it was black. And yes, cost per unit matters to me as well. All these things add up to kill our margins so I do care what my "per unit"
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That makes perfect sense Tom...thank you. I ordered 1". I also ordered the 4oz unidirectional. It's .006" thick. It was inexpensive and I want to try it. They say it's super high quality. Still, North Fork should do their research properly and credit you and Andy. I did know that anyway. I'm also strongly considering a Vinyl Ester resin and also a sprayed Vinyl Ester Clear Gelco
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Thanks Phil, I appreciate that. I'm in Minnesota and we have a few Walleye fishermen :-). So, I build a lot of Spinning Rods. Given most fish are below 10bs I build rear grips considerably shorter than production rods. They're about 6-7" and I want to build them with a composite rear grip instead of cork. I'm just so fed up with the cost/quality of cork that I'm building them of graphite ove
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Tom, I know you and Andy created them and I appreciate the work you've put into your creation. Just look at your publications, it's very clear. I don't recall Alex crediting anyone in the video but there's a lot of garbage in that video that I skip through. So, I'm sorry you're offended by whatever he said. Could you please advise me on what size sleeving to order? edited to add; oops, I see y
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Tom, what size 3k sleeving do you buy? Maybe 3/4" or 1"?
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By the way, I've found a 4oz unidirectional carbon on the Soller site which I'm going to buy and try it the way North Fork does it. I'll be using the Soller 3k sleeve and doing it with my vacuum system. The unidirectional is so light I don't think it will adversely affect the final weight of the grip (the North Fork Grips are extremely light). It just wraps around the flat, not around the "c
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Well, the strength has to be coming from the skin, otherwise, if the cured carbon fiber wasn't providing much strength it could be compressed onto the foam core. Enough "compressions would compress the foam and eventually create a space between the two causing delamination. So, obviously they are both contributing to the strength of the end product. Below is the video that North Fork put tog
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Actually, the only sleeves that come in usable sizes are the 3k and the 12k (standard and heavy). North Fork Composites uses a base layer of unidirectional and then a sleeve over the top of that. So, they make sure the strength is there, regardless of the size of the grip. I've purchased approximately 10 of them and they are nicely built. So, I'm looking at other options. Plus I need them built d
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Thanks Phil, I didn't think of that. I did find the part of Tom's initial article that stated it's unnecessary to use anything more than the thinnest sleeving. I also have the article on using shrink tubing to assist in conforming the sleeving. I also have all the vacuum equipment and I think I can rig up a way to use vacuum to force the material to conform. I don't use intricate shapes on my gri
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Tom (Kirkman), I've got (what I think) is all of the back issues of RodMaker Magazine related to building carbon sleeved expanding urethane foam grips. But I've got a question I can't seem to find the answer to. What grade of Carbon Sleeve is best suited to grip making? I'm inclined to go for the 12k (heavy) Carbon Sleeves from Soller Composites. A little experienced recommendation would be appre
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Personally, I've seen the devcon epoxy fail. And that was their long cure time epoxy. I'm not sure why. It was on a rod I built someone 3 decades ago. Since then I won't use anything that's not industrial grade. Over the years I've tried many. Today, I only use fiberglass laying epoxy from US Composites (and System 3). US Composites is top quality and it is super reasonable. They are great to dea
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Yep...that's the set I have as well Drew. I too like the one on the bottom. But, I like the one 2nd from the top for laying on more finish on smaller guides. I find with a spatula I have more control over how much goes on. I like using them on edge to move/spread the finish the way I like. I used brushes for decades, and really, I had little problem with them. For some reason I've never had bubbl
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I'm kind of like you Roger, at least much of my process. I bought a new Milwaukee digitally controlled heat gun about 6 years ago. Boy is it nice. The low speed really is perfect for this. It's a bit big though, and as such, a little more difficult to handle. Roger how much heat do you apply? I can dial this new one up to the temperature I want but I'm always nervous about what temperature to set
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Hey Tom, how do you like the U-40 Epoxy? I went and watched the video. Great video. You're right, we tend to complicate the whole process. Did you make the video? Anybody else on the U-40? I remember when I started I used to rotate my rods by hand but that's over 40 years ago. I'm glad those days are gone. Along with the cup and a phone book. I usually ended up putting something heavy on them. We
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I agree Matthew but temperature doesn't "create" bubbles...correct? At least not in my experience. Finish epoxies develop little heat. Yes, heating it up will shorten the pot life. It also speeds curing on the rod when you use a heat gun or any other bubble busting heat methods. Yeah, me too on my shop temperature so I never have to deal with low temperatures. Get this, it's somethi
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Great information and ideas Matthew!
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Yes Phil, how does temperature create air bubbles? I understand that cooler temperatures thickens epoxy and therefore is not as able to release air bubbles in the epoxy as easily as warmed epoxy (that's why we use a heat and air) but I don't understand how temperature "creates" bubbles?
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Exactly Ed.
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Phil, how does temperature create bubbles?
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I also want to add that I wrap my guides just beyong the end of the guide foot so they're as small as possible. I've switched over to REC Recoil guides for almost every rod I build (except my high buck 7/8/9/10 weight fly rods and Spey Rods, then I use two of the Fuji K series Titanium Torzite guides. And if I have a "tool" fisherman I'll use two of the 2 foot REC Recoils). I dislik
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I like all of these methods. I use Sable brushes as well. In fact I've never used any other brushes. But, it is my opinion that you never get these brushes completely clean, regardless of how hard you try. At least for me, that's what I've experience. Plus regardless of how hard I try some of the epoxy somehow hardens deep down into the bristles. I use 1/4" brushes and even after one use and
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As the title suggests, have any of you abandoned using a brush to lay on your thread finishes? I'm new here but I've been building fishing rods since I was 17 years old. That's now 44 years that I've been building fishing rods. Have any of you tried using different application "sticks"? For example, the thin white, round plastic mixing sticks that you buy from Mudhole or Anglers W
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My rod building room is 14' x 25'. I have 6 100 watt LED's in the ceiling. The room is finished. Then I have my workbench. I'm new here so I don't know how to attach photos (or if you can). I built the workbench from Rodmaker Magazine's design. When I bought my subscription many years ago I believe it came with 2 CD's. One included a number of projects and that's where I saw the workbench. If I'm
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