@DAVID Yes and no to me thinking rod building was "easy" - I had the idea to build rods a few years back but then thought it would be too cost/time prohibitive and would require a crazy amount of learning and specialized skill. It is and isn't all those things, but certainly isn't to the degree that I had imagined before doing a deep dive on it recently. I've seen a number of video
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@NORMAN - for what purpose do you use each type? I can see flex coat working better for grips than seats and paste maybe being wasted more on grips - and if they all hold about the same I can see that being their effective roles going forward.
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Thanks yall @TONY I really appreciate your thoughtful and insightful write up, I did already grab a caliper and like 11 spools of thread - 6 size A and 5 metallic, guess I'm learning wrapping the hard way haha. The rest of the stuff will certainly be implemented, I never would've thought to ask about the turned in rods for practice - certainly worth a shot. Around here there aren't any exp
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@DAVID thanks, and I did make 3 tape arbors but the amount of epoxy that FLex Coat said to use and the consistency of it didn't really build up in between arbors. I used their kit with the syringes and measured what they said but it didn't seem to build up enough to touch the blank between arbors - and I'm not sure it could've if I had more because it was more runny that I see on youtubers using
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I wish I could offer you some advice, but I'm new myself - that said for your leather grip idea, could you remove the grip from a golf club and epoxy that onto some cork or carbon grip? I've seen used golf clubs crazy cheap at savers or salvation army. ALso thanks for sharing that link to that site, I've found a whole new inspiration for building looking at their stuff, freakin crazy and beau
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Thanks for all the input! @CHRIS how are you getting the G4 out of the bottle in single drops, just holding it with the cap off with a miraculously steady hand? @NORMAN - thanks for mentioning the rubber plunger end, I think that would have the biggest impact on longevity and possible contamination from lubrication - I think I found some syringes on Amazon that will fit the bill, I feel co
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I really appreciate all the input yall. @RUSSELL Thanks a ton for the in depth detailed reply, I wish I bumped into before I started this journey - I already bought one of those beginners kits for like 150 bucks and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff I thought I needed by reading and watching videos. A coffee cup and some cardboard woulda been much easier on the wallet haha. But I did fi
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A complete novice is giving me too much credit haha, so far the extent of my building is gluing on a reel seat and foregrip. And the recommended vutt cap was out of stock and when I checked with Mud Hole they said the one I got was fine so I ordered the wrong things trusting the guidance they gave. Honestly i don't think my schedule would sync up with anyone in person, I have a 3 year old and
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Please help me know what to buy, list what items (or a couple per category) you use. I have no idea what, out of the hundreds of each part, is a "good" or "Quality" product when I'm looking to buy everything I need to for a rod. Practically nothing online has any reviews on any website I look at. I'm sure there is some subjectivity to it all, like any product, but with ZERO
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Can I start wrapping while the seat and grips are drying? The Flex Coat epoxy didn't seem thick enough to build up enough to touch the reel seat, is there supposed to be monster globs of epoxy in between the tape arbors that touch the reel seat? How many rods does a set of two 4 oz jars of epoxy make? Does it really matter if I use a regular lighter or a butane torch lighter?
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Would've been nice for them to tell me what caps would fit, but it is what it is I suppose. I'm gonna try to just see how they look cut up and glued together, I don't think I have the time to order more and build 4 Rods before Christmas.
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@NORM I posted the links to the products above, I was told by a representative at Mud Hole that this grip and butt were fine for my 4 builds. But then when I started getting things figured out to build I realized they don't fit together at all - butt cap has ring that's wider than the tenon and the tenon is about an inch too long. The only way to fit them together is cutting them both totally flu
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Its like so many other things in different markets, charge more and people who have money will think its better and buy it - or just want to say they have the ______ because they can. Look at Doyo - let's be reel here, there is not much difference between some of the reels different companies put their name on, but the price difference can be crazy. Or Apple Airpods vs so many other wireless ear
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@TOM I mean I'm wondering how it will turn out cutting the ring off of the butt cap and cutting the tenon off of the grip and trying to glue them together, I'd imagine I need to get some sand paper to try and get them totally flat - but I don't know if this would still look ridiculous or not.
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I was going to try to post a pic but I don't think I can on mobile or something. I can't tell I'd this will look ridiculous and I should just order new grips or cut to size go buy some sand paper and glue them flush. Can we post pics on our phones?
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@ROGER thank you very much for sharing, I was inspired to search the term epoxy in the amazon reviews for a number of similar syringes (because the one you linked doesn't have tips) and I think I am narrowing it down. How could I test if there was an silicone coating issue? would just applying a coat and letting it dry over night reveal the issue if there was a coating?
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I might be new to building, but I'm not new to fishing so @PHIL I would posit this - the best indicator of a fish taking a MovinG lure and creating slack would be that you feel a change in the resistance during your retrieve. I think these are the more challenging bites to feel, especially with lures that only create a little resistance to begin with (small worm 1/8 oz weight). It will suddenly f
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@NORMAN yeah that's it - I was typing my post while you posted so I didn't see it until now. I really appreciate you taking the time to look into it and share your thoughts. I had no idea I was holding it upside down haha, world of a newbie. Maybe I'll accidentally discover a new trick by doing something backwards
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This is the grip And this is the seat They also had me get the wrong butt cap, I called about all this so to their credit the refunded me the grips and butt caps, but I really just needed guidance the first time to get this right. I do appreciate that they did what they could after the fact to try to make it right though. Again I'm just hoping these weird hiccups and mismatched parts s
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Thanks for the feedback yall! Not gonna lie, I'm pretty let down by mudhole right about now, got a whole lot of extra work and hoping things work out for my first builds which are all gifts. At least the kids won't put a hurtin on the rids so my mickey mouse work around should largely go unnoticed. So my best option isn't to try to leave some amount ifof tenon to glue to, just slice flush
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I don't really know what particulars would help. What would make for a different approach? It's a spinning set up - would casting be different? Is a tenon necessary? If I can get it to fit enough to epoxy do I just do two tape arbors? If I take off too much can I just put a thick glob of epoxy around it to hold it or would I be better to lob it off and just use the tape? The ten
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Is it common for rear grip tenons to be too large for seat? Should I just totally chop off the tenon and put my first tape arbor wrap up against the grip? I have no sand paper but should I try to sand the tenon to fit in the reel seat? Slice it to size with an exacto knife? Thanks
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Thanks for the advice and input yall! So far the biggest issue has been setting up the space in the basement. We just moved here not too long ago and haven't spent time in the basement to make it a usable space yet. I forgot the wiring down there isnancient so I can't use 3 prong plugs which screwed up my plans pretty good. Also I was sent the wrong parts. But I'm still feeling good and am set
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I was hoping they would have a black Friday or cyber Monday sale and I could buy a blank or 2 but they didn't. Si I bought 7 blanks from NFC haha. @STAN you right, there's enough competition that they aren't really set apart - prices aren't special, no sales, and colors aren't really special-
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@MARK- I had read that and value your thoughts and experience, but it's at least $10 for shipping if I don't need $100-$150 worth of stuff right now (already ended up dropping way more cake on these building supplies/tools than I realized I would need to getting into this - but I expect the value to be exponential with more bulds). I just happened to not know at the time the little details of
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Similar issue here having ordered Gen 4 but there's no syringes, I have some flex coat filled syringes though - once those are empty can they be cleaned and used for the Gen 4?
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Hmm, thanks for your thoughts. @RICHARD - isn't that wrapping opposite the spiral ridges? Given the difficulties wrapping a ridged rod what's the impact of a novice builder doing a novice job of wrapping on that blank? Will a mediocre wrap job have an exponential negative impact? I only have size A thread and with shipping I don't think it would be worth ordering size B or greater - cou
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Let's see if it works now...
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This seems like a solid wrapping, I admit I'm new - but this appears to me that it would hold equally well as with "traditional" wrapping techniques. I've seen comments about wrapping on unsanded X-ray blanks and wonder if this would help - thoughts? It let me post so in trying the link here Again...
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Thanks yall I see a number of Rod maker magazine articles get referenced, but I can't seem to actually find the articles when I look - how do I get to these articles?
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