EI--- But Dale WAS wrong. I am not saying that because he was not a physics major. I am saying that because it is so easy to prove that building on the spine does NOT prevent rod twist. The only reason I mentioned him being an insurance salesman is because he was a salesman and he used the idea of the spine as a sales tool that rod builders could exploit. Tom--- Yes that is what I see when I w
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Reverse cutting spade bit. Easy and accurate.
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When I watched the video of Gary Loomis it seems to me that what calls the spine is actually the stiffest axis, not the weakest which is what Clemens and other noted rod building authors considered the spine for decades. So Loomis is actually talking about the stiffest axis which is the straightest axis. I have built enough rods to know that the spine and the straight axis are the softest and sti
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A straight rod blank will become drooped once you put the guides on it. I like a blank with a slight overall curve so that once I built it out on the straightest axis it will then be roughly straight in a fishing position. I've looked at plenty of NFC blanks and Edge rods made by them an d they do not appear any more or less straight than blanks from any other makers I have seen.
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If you mean CTS New Zealand yes they make very nice blanks. Not sure about their selection that would meet your AA and ERN criteria for bass use but they probably have something that would work. I think they offer to make any blank into a multipiece version for a slight upcharge. Not sure if they put in spigots or actually design in a ferrule but you could always contact them and ask. Something e
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When you say premium blanks I think you will only see a minor difference from those and your RX6. It is going to be more about the taper and power than the material when those materials are so close in properties. The other thing I would worry about is traveling on airlines with a 1-pc 7 footer. Many airlines are not that friendly these days when it comes to longer pieces of luggage. At least n
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I had a hard time finding them to. For some reason they are not listed in alphabetical order like the rest. Look under "American Grips Piscari"
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Commercial rod companies do not turn their cork grips. Not even the premium fly rod companies.They buy them pre-formed. But in terms of saving money I am talking about casting and spinning reel seats. The larger the seat the higher the cost. Factories build for looks with an eye on cost.
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A nice effect can be made by putting down a short wrap of thread in whatever color you like. Finish it and then apply the decal on that and overcoat with one more finish application.
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Make a test wrap with no CP and apply finish. How does it look? Try another spool of thread and use CP on it and apply finish. How does that look? The only way to find the problem is to try a couple things and narrow down where the problem really is. It might be the thread. It might be the CP
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Factories use undersized seats and grips because they are cheaper. If they save 50 cents on ever reel seat or grip and they build a half million rods per year the savings add up. Fishermen get used to seeing rods look a certain way and think this is the way they are supposed to be. 99.9% of fishermen buy factory rods and they use whatever comes on those rods. How would they know if a larger seat
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I never use CP. I adjust the colors to look good knowing that they are going to get a bit transparent. So once you know they are going to appear darker and a bit transparent you choose your colors based on what you know the end result is going to be.
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A LOT of people fish rods with seats and grips that are way too small. They just do not know it because they have not tried something better. If they fish factory rods they almost surely fish with seats that are too small. I have clients with high end premium saltwater fly rods with grips that are way too small. Instead of being afraid to tell them I do. I put them on something better and after s
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What species do you mean? Snook? Maybe.Bonefish easily. Tarpon probably not. Bay, inshore or offshore?
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We get used to what we think fishing rods are supposed to look like and have trouble getting away from it. But a big part of custom rod building is setting aside what looks normal and branching out into what works best. I never worry about what the factories use.
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IF a customer wants a wrap and a closed wrap at that I look at the particular blank. On a shorter blank with lots of taper I will use a TOS layout. If the blank is something like a 11 or 12 foot surf rod I do not bother. The area in front of the seat and foregrip will have so little taper you can just manipulate the thread in there. Don't make things hard on yourself, its not rocket science.
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The first running guide IS the choke guide so that part is taken care of once you decide what size running guides you will be using.
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If the original grip was just sleeved over the rod blank butt then you could do a carbon skin in the same way but I think that is a lot of work just to get the look. I would use one of many heat shrink tubing types.
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Braid will work with nearly any good guide system. Mono not so much. Yes the lighter pound tests are more supple but I had some 10lb mono on a rod last week that was awful no matter what system I tried to use. It was a super abrasion resistant line and I guess it is just too stiff to work well though it is rated as 10lb test.
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If it were a pipe style seat with the same shape and diameter all the way end to end I would say do whatever you want. I like downlocking. But since these seats have a shape that is not the same end to end you are really going to have to mock up the rod and go out and do some test casting and retrieving. You will know in about fifteen minutes which you like best. A quarter to half hour now can sa
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Back around the 1990's Orvis tried to put a numerical scale on the amount of initial tip flex in a rod. So they obviously believed action was about initial tip flex and at least tried to put numbers on it. Not sure if they still use that system or not but I remember it well.
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I read over the kit contents and the one thing that stood out was their use of light curing UV resin for the guide wraps. This stuff made inroads into rod building a few years ago but only barely. Too many drawbacks. Do a search on this forum for "UV curing finish" and you can find a lot of users results with that type finish.
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Sleekest guides on the planet. But to each his own.
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Check the Zenaq guides. Very slim and sleek. The carbon versions look just like the Ti versions but maybe a little slimmer.
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I am one of the guys that think the base carbon frames are to bulky. This will be more of a problem as the sizes get smaller. I would like to see some sort of carbon composite used to make a more molded type guides like the ones shown in the link below. Now these are titanium but they also make or are making the same frames in a carbon composite. These are sleek and attractive.
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I always use one size larger for the tiptop ring than for the running guides. If you string up a rod and pull on the line you'll see why. If you use a tiptop with the same size ring as the runners and pull on the line to load the rod you will notice that the first runner does not immediately come under load. the rod has to flex a bit before the line contacts it. If the tiptop ring is one size lar
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Lynn--- I did not say or suggest anything to you about your time or paying yourself. I was responding to the OP who clearly stated that he would only be "saving $200" if he built the rod. I addressed his statement as to how I feel about the idea of buying off the shelf vs building in order to save money. For me rod building is not about saving money.
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You will only save money if you consider your time worth nothing. I build most of my own rods because I like certain things that I cannot get in a factory rod. If I was concerned about money I would buy off the shelf.
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Look--- shading isn't hard. Just go to the place you say you have access to that thread and buy several spools in the same color family. Dark brown, medium brown, light brown, pale brown, tan, etc. They probably have a color chart for each color family. Use them all or just three or four.
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Only thing I see that wasn't measured was the specs when testing on the stiffest axis. 180 degrees from the softest axis (spine) is rarely the stiffest axis. Find the stiffest axis and measure there and I think you will find just a bit more difference between that and the spine.
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