I turn some wood handles for my own use. I have a Delta midi lathe. For turning tools, as a minimum you need a spindle gouge, and a spindle roughing gouge. I started with a Harbor Freight set that was not high speed steel, and bought some individual HSS tools. I saw Harbor Freight now has a HSS set for about $79.00.i use my 3/8 spindle gouge the most, after using the roughing gouge to get the
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Hi John, I am in Gainesville and have been building rods off and on since 2007. I would be glad to participate with everyone Bert Nagy
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Jay, I built a dock skipping Rod a few years back that was 5' 9". I put a 6" handle on it, as I did not want it to catch on my sleeve. It works quite well. Caught a lot of fish on it. This was before KR and Microwave, and I used the 27X method. I am just finishing a 5 foot Batson E Glass Rod. On it I went with Microvave Guides.Just used the recommended spacing. I cast 1/16 oz j
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Scott, It was nice to meet a fellow Pennsylvanian, although I have not lived there for 35 years. Sorry your trip home was not so great. Bert
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I put the Forhan locking wrap on all my wraps, including the K guides, and have not had any problems, I redid a rod for a friend, about 2 years ago, and put on Batson microguides for him. He brought the rod back this fall, and had managed to pull every guide out. I had not put the Forhan locking wrap on this rod. Wondering if Jim Ising of Anglers Resource might respond to the original quest
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I had the same question, as I like to throw small crankbaits and # 5 shad raps in the shallow water. I had to use a spinning reel to to throw them I picked up a Curado 51 E and tried it. I am using a rod that I built on a Castaway 784 blank from Lance at Swampland. It does not work as well with a Curado 201E. I think the smaller reel will cast smaller weights better. Bert Nagy
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I fish for spotted bass and largemouth bass in the southeast US. My home lakes are Lake Guntersville in Alabama and Lake Lanier in Georgia. I have tried walleye in Minnesota, and had a good time doing that. Bert Nagy
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I have built two bait casting rods using the Fuji recommendations for the KR concept for casting. They only required a little tweaking during the loading tests. I used the 10 DF, 5.5 DF,, and then 4.5 KB and 4.5 KT's I was really please with the results. The rods cast further than other casting builds I had done. I was really pleased Bert
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Michael, I just wanted to thank you for posting your color recommendation of the Gudebrod garnet on an Batson RX8 TiChrome blank. did not have any, of that color, so I got some ProWrap Merlot. I just put the first coat of thread epoxy, and it looks fantastic! The black cherry look is elegant on that blank. Thanks for sharing! Bert Nagy
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Good Afternoon, I have a friend looking for a 7 1/2 foot Medium Heavy rod for throwing Senkos for largemouth bass. The rod is to be a baitcaster. He lives on Lake Guntersville, AL, which is a very weedy lake. The fish are usually around the grass. My experience with Senkos is that you need a flexible tip end with a lot of midsection and backbone. They are usually thrown weightless., so
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I built one last year using a Batson ISWB945 Swimbait blank. It works well, but I think it is a little overkill for my fishing. I also found that with my boat (18 foot Triton) an 8 foot rod is a little unwieldy. The A rigs I use are about 2 ozs, and that is the lower end of the weight rating of the blank. Bert Nagy
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I use ChromaSeal with Maderia a lot. I put on 3 coats, and allow the last one to dry overnight or all day. I have never had a problem with fisheyes. Two just does not seem to be enough for me. Bert Nagy
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Used a razor blade to start the backing and got the decal installed. Did not even cut myself :-) Thanks again Bert
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Jerry, Thanks for the offer, but I have 3 pd them. Just can't get the backing off. I was not even sure if the decal was peel and stick Thanks for the replies Bert
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Does anyone know what kind of decal is supplied with the ATC microwave guide set? I have been trying to peel the backing off,, and it has not gone well. My wife have better fingernails than me, and she can't gt it either. Thanks Bert
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Hi Ken, Thanks for the reply. the tube is .93 inches, and the Batson X flock comes in .98 and 1.18 inch. Was thinking of getting the 1.18 because of the reel foot. Also, was going to put a couple of wraps of fiberglass wrapping tape to anchor the reel. Have you tried that combination?? Bert
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A friend has one of the original Browning Tennessee Handle rods from the mid 1980's. He loves this rod for fishing shaky heads on Lake Lanier for spotted bass, It is pretty well used, and so far I have stripped the guides and finish. Going to put Microwaves on it. Also, the handle is pretty ratty, and I am going to sand it down and repaint it. He was asking about attaching the reel using s
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I'm a little curious about a 12 oz Alabama rig. I built an A rig rod last year, and have used it quite extensively for bass. It is rated 2 to 6 oz. Before I built the rod, I weighed a couple of commercially made rigs, and a homemade one made from utility flag wire. I came up with 2 1/2 oz for a commercially using five 3/16 oz jig heads, and five swimmin' Super Flukes. The utility wire A rig
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I would appreciate a recommendation for an EVA split grip set that fits the American Tackle Size 16 reel seat. I have looked all the grips on the sponsors websites, and can't find one that fits into the reel seat. There are a lot of really nice grips for casting reel seats, but not many for spinning reel seats. Most of the straight grips are about 1.00 inches or larger, and the Aero is .98.
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Hi Joel, I built the Batson ISWB 945 last winter based on Steve Gardner's post. I threw A rigs with it the rest of the winter, and early spring. Iit is great. I saw you are in Georgia. I live in Lawrencville, northeast of Atlanta. If you are close you are welcome to see it. Bert Nagy
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Jim, I use an MHX CB 845 and a Lamiglass CCB 844 (Composite) for moving baits on Guntersville. I have a Seeker 706 (S Glass) but have found it does not do as well in the grass as the other 2. The Seeker is a great rod, but the other 2 handle the grass better, in my opinion. Bert Nagy
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I am in Lawrenceville about 45 from you. Be glad to have you over and talk rod building. Don't have any on the turner right now. I'm retired, so I am around a lot. Bert Nagy
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Max, here is my take on small tops. I used a Size 6 tip top on my build. and not a micro top for a couple of reasons. 1) The 6 ring is larger than the micro tops. There is more area and glue holding the ring in.. A lot of times the bait gets reeled up to the top, and bangs into the ring.. In my opinion the larger ring is more robust. 2) On one of my first micro builds, I used a micro ti
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I built a Batson ISWB 945 Swimbait blank back in April for throwing Alabama rigs. The A rigs that I throw are about 2 1/2 oz. The blank is rated 1 to 4 oz. My build used the new longer foot Baztson microguides (XPBMKLG series), as I wanted to try them. I did a spiral wrap. The rod has a XBLXNLG double foot 7 as stripper guide,, two 4.5's as transition guides, to a 4.0 as the first running
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Hi Roger, Thanks for the reply. I know Matt pretty well, and he takes pretty good care of his equipment, I fish with his Dad all the time. Matt really liked the rod, so I doubt he used it to beat off a fish. :-) More than likely, it was stepped on. I was thinking the same thing as you about repairing it. I cut the butt cap off this morning, and found a piece of fiberglass blank that fit th
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I uploaded a photo of the breakage. It is such a clean break that I am amazed. The jagged part was on the bottom, and I think that was from separating the 2 pieces. Matt said he was only throwing a weightless Super Fluke when he saw it was broken. He said he had high sticked a 10" bass earlier. Other that that nothing unusual Steve you made a good point about repairing it. I'm
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I built an ATC IP 704 as spinning rod for my friend's son about 1 1/2 years ago. I got the blank at the ICRBE about 2 years ago. He has been very pleased with the rod, and was his "go to" rod. He fished a tournament with us last Sunday, and we ran into him on the lake, Said his rod had broke, amongst other things. (I'm sure it being 103 degrees and no fish, did not help) He gave th
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It depends on whether you are talking about spinning or casting reel seats. I have never built a split spinning seat, but have done several split casting. My experience is that how you hold the reel is a big factor as to whether the split casting seat is comfortable. I use Shimano low profile reels (Curado and Citica) mostly. I hold the reel in the palm of my hand during the retrieve. My
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I have made quite a few rods recently with brown burl cork. I put Birchwood Casey Gunstock Oil on all these grips. It builds up, and gives the cork a sheen. if you used the green or blue burl, it really brings out the color and contrasts of the different cork pieces in the ring. It takes 6 or 7 coats to get the sheen I like. Regards Bert Nagy
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Thanks for all the input, especially the other brands. I will pass along to my friend, and see what he wants to do. As usual the help on this board is great! Sincerely Bert Nagy
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