Hi Trace, If it were me, I would cut the arbor into 4 equal pieces, to be spaced evenly under the grip. Take care, Chris
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Matt, In addition to what has already been mentioned, some brands of razor blades come with a coating of lubricant. If you use an unclean razor blade to cut your thread, and again to trim stick ups and loose fibers, you could be getting contamination from that. I use a scalpel. The blades are clean right out of the pack. Take care, Chris
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Thanks for the follow-up. I hope you find something that works for you. Chris
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Phil, If you end up getting the FishHawk Metallic P #9326, please post back if it looks the same as the Gudebrod 9326 HT Electra. I don't believe it will, since the Gudebrod Electra is holographic, and has many other colors involved. FishHawk does have a Kaleidoscope thread, but I only see a pink color, no red. Take care, Chris
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Jose, For your next experiment, you might want to try the Pearl ex pigments. They are a dry pigment, with a slight metallic look, and they don't change the chemical balance of the epoxy. Take care, Chris
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Chopsticks will work for some of your rods, and they come free at most places. Chris
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Hello David, Once the epoxy has set up sufficiently not to droop, drip, stretch, or wiggle, you can stop rotating it. The time this takes depends on the temp you've got your room, but around 75° or so, with a properly mixed finish, two hours rotation is usually good. Take care, Chris
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You are certainly welcome. Chris
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Lynn, Here is an example of a foot control you could use: Chris
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I can't speak for all brands, but I have used metallic for guide wraps on several rods, the oldest having been built in 2005, and I have not had any issues. I used Gudebrod, and the rods range from a 7 weight fly rod to med heavy bass rods. Take care, Chris
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Hi Ken, Michael also asks about some "epoxy for guides" that he has, hence the appropriate comments regarding potential yellowing. Take care, Chris
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"If the epoxy hardener for guides has already heavily yellowed, I'd get a new 2 bottle set, only because of the color over light threads/white blanks." If you only wrap with yellow, brown, or black, on dark blanks, this is never a concern......lol. Chris
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Hi Jim, You shouldn't have any problem covering the guide wraps, hook keeper wrap, a label, and a small decorative wrap, before the flex coat starts to thicken, provided your finishing room isn't too warm (over 77° or so...I'm sure others will post their thoughts). And, you should be able to do multiple rods with the smallest kit , 2oz, that Flex coat sells. Take care, Chris
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Great idea, Doc! Chris
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Hi Michael, I use Quik Bond to mount my grips and seats. Regular Rod Bond is great as well. This should answer your other questions. Take care, Chris
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Hi John, I've experienced the same thing, with the exact cp products. The only difference was I was using waterslide decals I made myself. Take care, Chris
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Bill, If you feel the bend is excessive, let the manufacturer know. If you don't, you will always kick yourself for not doing it, especially every time you notice the bend. Building on the straightest axis is fine, but should not be used to compensate for an excessively bent blank. The manufacturer may end up letting you know what you have is normal. Or they may replace your blanks.
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Red wraps and gold trim, and my personal preference: no cp. I'm sure there will be more suggestions. Take care, Chris
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I don't know of anyone that pulls their fly line off the reel, directly in line with the rod. There will always be some sideways pressure, and without finish your guide is gonna move...that's a sign you didn't wrap the guide with too much thread pressure, which is a good thing. I've wrapped stripper guides on my fly rods rotated slightly towards my left. I really can't say if it helped or no
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Hi Jason, If you can find it, Gudebrod HT Black Electra 9534 is exactly what you're looking for. There may be another company making something similar, but I don't know of it Take care, Chris
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Hi Mike, Custom Fly Grips has free grip templates available on their website. I've purchased premium burl rings from them, that I really like. Good quality and good color. I myself use burl for almost all my grips anymore. If you want to offset the weight, you can core them with some of the foam reel seat arbors. I use Titebond III for natural cork, burl, and bark, but if I am g
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Scott, In addition to whatever info you will find on your search, I also recommend you make sure to cover your printer up when not in use, and refrain from using it for anything except your final label design...if you can print practice label designs out on another printer, it will prolong the life of what you have. Very expensive or impossible to repair, depending on what goes wrong. Ther
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Hi Alistair, I don't use CP either, and my experience solving this issue has been to use larger sized black thread, instead of coloring the blank. Well packed, I don't notice the difference in thread size. Another option for you to consider. Take care, Chris
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Hi Jason, I have several friends that fish baitcaster reels, not specifically spincast, without the triggers, and they have no problem. I think the triggers help, but aren't necessary. Sounds like this could be a rod to use as a transition to spinning reels, but that is of course your call...but a nice spinning reel for Christmas sounds great to me! Take care, Chris
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An automatic thread wrapper, by a company not known for rod building supplies! Just in time for the holiday gift season..... Chris
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Phil, I'm sure you'll get a bunch of varying thoughts on this, but here's my experience: I've done exactly what you described, several times, and had great success. You just need to match the taper as close as possible. It's not necessary to match the length, but I would try to match material, although I've seen some really nice graphite/fiberglass hybrids that worked quite well. Tak
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Hi Phil, I use original recipe ThreadMaster, and I heat my room to 75-80°. My dryer spins at 6 rpm, and I usually allow 6 hours before recoating. I apply over feathers, jewels, long wraps, and labels, and I do mostly two piece 9-10' rods. I usually have around 30-40 mins of pot life at that temp. Take care, Chris
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And here I thought "Pink tiger" was your nickname.....lol. Chris
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