I just built a 822.5 Rainshadow drop shot rod and have a factory St. Croix 6'9" XF and can't tell the difference in the blanks or performance. The blanks are 1/2 the price of the St. Croix as well. The other thing you may want to look at is Batson guides as well. I like them much better than the fuji's as they seem to take less time and effort to prep. I bought mine from Fishsticks4U and the
Forum: rodboard

I have one of the Delta sharpening tool centers and it is a great tool to have. I can't remember the speed but I thought it was about 1700 rpms. The nice thing with this is the 1000 grit wet stone it is great for touching up the edges as well as smoothing out the tool marks after you grind the tools. I think I paid about 150.00 for the center at Farm and Fleet but it will put a good edge on anyth
Forum: rodboard

John - Thanks for the Idea I see that woodcraft sells this product and I can pick it up next time I'm in Madison and I will give it a try. Your right the Padduk (Padauk) is very porus and light and I love the red color. Great for fishing rods not so great with flex coat. With the porus nature of the wood I kept getting air bubbles in the finish coming up from the grain in the wood as it dried. I
Forum: rodboard

That's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the advice Mark
Forum: rodboard

I built a split grip casting rod for my self and thought I would try Flex Coat on the wooden grips. I have put 2 coats sanding between coats on the Padauk handles and you can see inperfections in the finish. Can I use OOOO steel wool to knock down the finish and the slight inperfections and then use a buffing wheel to bring the finish back to a semi-gloss or will I have to sand the finish down an
Forum: rodboard

I have never blown on a pot of epoxy to get the air bubbles out but it's a great heads up. I use a $20.00 heat gun that works great to take the air bubbles out of the pot. I also find that it will take the air bubbles out of the epoxy on thread wraps with ease and it will help the epoxy flow for touch ups. You may want to invest in one to see if that will help with your sensitivity to the epoxy.
Forum: rodboard

I have never worked with hypalon and noticed that it comes with an inside diam. My question is how do you plug the open end, do you glue up scrap pieces and put that inside the hole? Or do you use a different material? Thanks Mark
Forum: rodboard

I have built a couple of rods with wood handles that I have turned myself. On the first rod I used a clear coat (automotive) finish. It turned out well at first but, the finish doesn't seem to hold up well to getting knocked around in the boat. I have heard of tru-oil but I know that with guns the finish will scuff as well but it it easy to touch up. My question is this several people have told m
Forum: rodboard

Thanks Tom for the answer. By the way I just received my first issue of Rodbuilders very prompt service, Thank You Mark
Forum: rodboard

I have the 69MLXF in a factory St. Croix spining rod that I use for almost every thing and it's one of my favorite rods. I have however just built a casting rod on a 3C70MHXF with a split grip. St Croix recomends this blank for drop shot use on their web site. Although I haven't had much time to work with the rod but it seems to work as well if not better than the spinning reel and it's also 7' t
Forum: rodboard

I know this is off the topic but does Kistler offer the blanks by themself? I have a friend that uses the Kistler for Bass and swears by them. They do seem to be lighter than my St. Croix's but I like to roll my own if you know what I meen. Mark
Forum: rodboard

I live in Wisconsin and would like to first off say how sorry I am to hear that his son in law lives in Iowa (kidding). I personally fish for multi species and the best all around rod would be a 6' 6" medium action with a fast tip. If you jig it's nice to have a shorter (6') rod that balances well, if your after bass it's nice to have a 7' so the 6' 6" is a great compromise. My persona
Forum: rodboard