Hello Jose, I can't tell you much since my Harnell catalogs a thing of my ancient past. There may be someone who can recognize the model number. Some more information would be helpful: type of handle (is it a hypalon grip), what kind of reel seat is on rod, what type of guides (are they saltwater guides with a round cradle frame or are they spinning guides or are they snake guides used on a fl
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Hello Harry, You might try Woodturningz.com. They sell spindles of acrylic esters that are 1.5 by 12 inches in a variety of colors. I bought one they called abalone, but haven't had a chance to use it yet. I have used their smaller spindles for reel seat inserts and they turn rather well. I hope this helps. Sincerely, Mike Blomme
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What you and Tom have discussing is the right approach. However, you do not have to wrap the guides on the blank to do the test casting. Place the guides where you want for test and TAPE them to the blank. Do the test casting and then changes the guides and test cast again. Good Luck. Mike Blomme
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Hi Don, I know many many people are part of Facebook, but there are also many many people who would rather die than join Facebook. You may be thinking I must be a Neanderthal, however you would be wrong. By using Facebook to illustrate some item, you are excluding a large population of people. For example, I can be reached by snail mail, e-mail, cell phone, snail phone (AKA land phone), and e
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Hi Frank, You can save yourself one step. Converting to mm by multiplying 25.4 mm/inch and then dividing by 25.4 mm/inch is unnecessary. Just keep everything in inches or everything in mm if the metric system is the system of units where you live. Just my two cents. Mike Blomme
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Scott, In addition to ProWrap, there are Pac Bay Thread, FishHawk, Madeira (polyester), Sulky (polyester) that I have used. The polyester threads will need to be coated with CP because the polyester threads were designed for sewing machines and they add small amounts of silicone for lubrication purposes. There is also a company called Thread Art. They make a polyester embroidery thread in the
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Peter, As I understand it, the use of micro guides are to lessen the weight on the tip section of a rod. For freshwater rods this makes sense. On a surf rod where you may be casting baits in the 2 Oz to 8 Oz range, the weight of the guides are minimal compared to your baits. As a result you will not be able to see any increase in casting distance. As others mentioned, the passage of knots thr
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Hi David, I have used every kind of CP out on the market. They all worked. However, there is always a slight difference from the bare thread to the CP finished thread. As Tom remarked, the use of light thread on a dark blank will make that darling more vivid. I like Chroma Seal, U-40 Color Block, and Cason's Solvent based CP. I now use more of the Chroma Seal than any of the others. If you
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Hi Gary, If this lacquer is anything like the stuff I used back in the fifties, it can really form bubbles. That stuff also dried very rapidly often "freezing" the bubbles in the lacquer. Mike Blomme
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Call the supplier and explain your concerns. If your supplier is one of our sponsors, they will very likely make good on their products. Mike Blomme
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Jeff, I sell my rods, but I am retired from my day job and don't want my rod building to become a job. I limit the number of rods I build each year. I use what profit I make to add more tools so I can build better rods or build them more efficiently or I use this profit to take my wife to a fancy restaurant for our anniversary. As a result I don't order large numbers of items each year. I ha
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Dennis, The best thing you can do is use the CCS system on all rods you build. When you take the rod out for test casting take notes on how the rod casts, the feel of the rod, how easy it is to serialize a given length of the line. By doing this with each rod you build, you can build a data base that you can use when you build rods for family, friends, and customers. I began doing this about f
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I use small cosmetic sponge foam to apply. I sand between coats with 800 grit paper. I use a total of four coats--I like that look too. Michael Blomme
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Hi Geoff, I am in agreement with Phil on corrosion with NiAg, but there was a time when we had nickel silver, anodized aluminum, and chrome plated brass for ferrules. This was back in the 1960s. We were not aware of weight on a rod--particularly an 11.5 foot surf rod or a salmon mooching rod. In 1961 and 1962 I built the spinning surf rod and the mooching rod. I used Mildrum steel guides wit
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Hi Jeroen, I am also part Belgian (father's side, but scottish on my mom's side). Mike Blomme
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Hi Jeroen, I probably didn't make myself clear. Alloys have different properties than each of the metals they are made from. Many Many years ago I used nickel silver ferrules on my multi-piece rods. Today nickel silver ferrules are still used on Bamboo rods. These alloys are much more resistant than nickel itself. The same is true for titanium alloys. The individual metal atoms in the alloy
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Hi Spencer, I wonder if that is titanium alloy or pure titanium metal. The formation of titanium dioxide from Titanium and oxygen is about -945 kj/mole. The negative sign make this a reaction that occurs with the evolution of heat that indicates that titanium dioxide is more stable that Titanium and oxygen separately. This is why I think that most uses of the metal is in the form of alloys.
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I am sorry but I misspelled metals on the earlier post.. Pat, Some metals such as aluminum form a hard oxide coating that protects the metal underneath the oxide from further erosion. Other metals like iron form an unstable oxide (rust) that flakes off. As I mentioned earlier the titanium is a reactive metal. The reduction potential of Titanium is -0.86. Any metal that has a negative reduct
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Pat, Some melts such as aluminum form a hard oxide coating that protects the metal underneath the oxide from further erosion. Other metals like iron form an unstable oxide (rust) that flakes off. As I mentioned earlier the titanium is a reactive metal. The reduction potential of Titanium is -0.86. Any metal that has a negative reduction potential is reactive. Metals such as silver, gold, an
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Guides frames are usually titanium alloys. As a metal Titanium is rather chemically reactive and would react with oxygen. Titanium alloys are much less reactive and are used in frames on guides. However, cost is one reason for the lower availability. If you want a high end guide, then you can search out the companies that make them (see our list of sponsors on the left). You can also get rin
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Hi Bob, you are right about Makoi. I haven't tried that brand yet. Mike Blomme
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Jon, Gudebrod was a thread manufacturer who made nylon thread of high quality for many years. The variety of colors was large and they also made a thread which had two different colors twisted together. Unfortunately they have gone out of business. Today we have Pro Wrap, Fishhawk, and Pac Bay Who make nylon thread in a rather large variety of colors. They also sell metallic threads and so
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In addition to what Roger wrote, you can get a digital caliper that allows you to switch between the metric system and the English system (only the USA uses it not the English). In addition the calipers allows you to measure both inside diameters as well as outside diameters. Such a caliper is a useful tool if you plan to build rods on a continuing basis. MikeBlomme
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Phil, That is a great idea. I use that thread to hold bait on the hook when I am surf fishing. I just never thought of using it to hold a guide in place. Thanks for the idea. Mike Blomme
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Scott, I use PermaGloss on all of my fly rod builds. I find four coats begins to produce a bit more gloss, but Tom K is correct, it will never look like epoxy. I did a test wrap using CP followed by 8 coats of PermaGloss. This test did show considerable gloss, but you haven't gained anything because you have added weight and it still doesn't look like epoxy. I personally like PermaGloss beca
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Judd, I suggest you call the people at Angler's Workshop in Woodland, Washington where the CPW is made. They can be reached at 81-877-741-7720. They are one of our sponsors and are extremely good people to work with. They sell the CPW and can provide you with all of the information you need. Good luck. Mike Blomme
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Hi Guys, I fish in the surf, and do inshore fishing for Salmon and Bottom Fish in the Pacific Ocean. When I built my first surf rod I used steel guides with a hard chrome plating from the Mildrum Company. I used a Tungsten Carbide ring on the tip top. After nearly forty years, I found no corrosion and the tip-top had no grooves in the ring. I also rinse, wash, rinse, and dry my rods after ev
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When first I began building rods in 1959, the color preserver we used was a form of model airplane "dope". This material dries quite rapidly, but many bubbles are emitted and get caught in the rapidly drying liquid. Very often you would need to pop the bubble, sand it down and then add another coat. I was very happy when the new color preservers appeared. You can experiment with it
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Hi Jesse, I mask off the decorative wrap on each side of the inscription. I then spray some Krylon Art fixative over the inscription. Do this lightly. Let it dry and repeat with the fixative. Let that dry thoroughly over night. Then apply varnish, epoxy, or Perma Gloss finish and you will be fine. Mike Blomme
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Good Morning Frank, I place a thin coat on each side of the rings (excepting the end pieces). I apply it with a small spatula ( an artist's spatula will work fine). I put a very thin coat on the ring. I use Rod Bond for this purpose. This glue will remain where I put it. I then clamp the rings together. If I do it right, only a very small bead of glue will be pressed out when the rings are
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