Gentlemen, Sponsors that are now distributers of St Croix blanks, please contact me as I need to establish a wholesale account with you to purchase some of the new 2010 blanks in Fuchsia Metallic and Burgundy gloss. When Dear Ole Bob McKamey moved to Mudhole I lost my best dealer . . .and yes I have already contacted them by e-mail request but no response and I am already a wholesale member
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Hey Mark, In 1978, Dale Clemens published his 2nd book "Advanced Custom Rod Building" into which he placed, as he stated "most of the drawings" which were done by me. I have all three of his books and this one bears my name in the acknowledgements and a handwriten note and thanks on the title page. Just think if he had really LIKED the insurance business, he may never hav
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Scott, The ALPS model I have is a MD-5000 which uses "dry film" cartridges with the head applying the "film pigment" to the paper by a heated multi-pin head assembly. Thats why ALSP recommended a short rest between large runs of printing so the head would cool and not destroy itself earlier than designed. I don't know what model ALPS you have but I am not aware of any
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Gentlemen, As previously stated by the manufacturer: "We do not use colour preserver on any of the wraps that hold the guides down because it prevents the finish from soaking into the thread, which is essential for a strong bond" A strong bond for what -- Guide to blank - thread to guide - thread to blank? They may be implying the entire thread/guide assembly needs to be bond
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Gentlemen, Warranties are all a part of everyday life. Life insurance is warranty against death . . .If I die, somebody's gonna pay!!! You bet you're gonna die, and the insurance company bets you won't - winner takes all!! The insurance company wins as long as you are living, you win when you die!! Man, what a trade off! I have been in the custom picture framing for 33 years and just last
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Andrew, If I may offer some input. I take pride in my finishing so I may be of some help. I use Flex coat brushes to apply my finishes. (Purple - 1/8") Spatulas are for cooking and credit cards are for going in debt. Use the brushes once and throw them away. Don't clean them and be penny wise and pound foolish. I have used FlexCoat, Threadmaster and American Tackle finishes, all H
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Hey Chuck, You can do what I did several years agon and then again most recently to update my website. GOOGLE custom fishing rods ,or any other wording, and just read as many "warranties" as your mind and butt can handle. This will give you an idea of what is out there. Ever wonder why the finished rods are so expensive with companies that offer a "Lifetime no-questions-as
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Dear Bob, You will always be "da Man" as I remember how you got me TWELVE (12), 9'0" fly rod Batson blanks and complete hardware and accessories in less that one week when I got back into the business 6 year ago. I will never forget you OR the Batson boys for that grand effort. I feel certain you can still do the same today - I just wish I had the order to give you a try!! Th
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Gentlemen, Also being in the custom picture framing business for 32 years, I happened to come across a quote quite a few years back that I firmly believe in to this day: " I have no quarrel with those who sell for less for they know what their quality is worth" I don't believe Orvis has listed anything in their catalogs that was inexpensive. They have a wonderful reputation for
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Chris, Without seeing the damaged blank, it would be hard to diagnose the proper repair. However, in recognition of your friend becoming a new father, I bet you already know what would make him a wonderful Father's Day gift!! That way you would never have to worry about the "repaired" section of the old rod ever again coming back to haunt you. And in addition, you would have a
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Chris, Charge him for a new blank and strip the broken rod and much as possible and build him a new one - your profit will be the smile on his face when you tell him he will be fishing with a new rod. Thats customer service! I feel certain he will appreciate your efforts. Good Luck. Charlie tightlinerods@ao
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Jim, The St Croix rep told me at High Point February of this year that the ferrules on their blanks didnt need wrapping - I feel they do! - on ALL blanks - No disrespect to their quality, I just like the added hoop strength. I doesn't take that much time to do it right and be safe. Wrap at least TWO diameters up the blank section. I like to start the required dimension from the tip forw
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. . . there are NO CEILING FANS - for obvious reasons . . .and there are many! Charlie
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Hey Larry, Contact MICRO PARTS & SUPPLIES, Inc. Cary, Indiana 1-800-336-2131 They have the cartridges and other MD 5000 printers for sale. I don't know about repairs, etc. Hope you can get 'er fixed. Charlie
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"No good deed goes unpunished" My dear wife hates it when I say that . . probably because it is so prevalent. Thanks to Tom for all of his efforts in all of the things he does in support of the Rodbuilding Arts. Imagine if he was in cahoots with Dale & Gene back in the 70's - WOW Charlie tightlinerods@
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Gentlemen, Isn't it strange that most of the issues we have as rod builders, too numerous to mention so just read the posts, are usually brought upon ourselves by us - -the builders and manufacturers. Remember when Dale Clemmons and Gene Bullard had everything we could ever use for rod building! Man, life was so simple then. Maybe we could ask the guide manufacturers to add a few more nu
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Gene, If the seat is of the aluminum kind, what I do is remove the rubber butt cap or plug if it has one, mask the end of the cork grip near the seat, if it still exists, and then use a long handled butane lighter to heat it just enough to break the adhesive bond. Boiling water only gets you to 212 degrees and a hair dryer is for hair . . .Even if you cut it with the Dremel tool, its still st
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John, What you are doing and all of the advice previously given is great but no one stated you also needed to DE-GREASE THE METAL PARTS of all manufacturing residues and fingerprints after the roughing up process. Use electrical contact cleaner or a "brake parts cleaner" that does not contain petroleum distillates. The cleaning process must not leave a film of its own. After clea
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Jon, I always have the reel seat glued up ahead of time, epoxying all of the parts together EXCEPT the end cap. This allows me to see where the inside of the seat is relative to the end of the rod when I install it for the final fit and it also keeps me from being in a hurry and forgetting to put the reel seat foot ring on before putting the butt cap in place! Always rough up the insides o
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Thanks Walt, The link given only takes me to a searching tool for registering domain names. Did I miss something? I even tried it in a different IE6 window and it gave me the same result. Let me know if I need to do anything else with the info as I would like to help this gentleman. Charlie
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Dear Friends, A gentleman called me the other day to ask about a rod warranty that he had assumed I would honor as the rod was labeled very close in name to my business. He received the rod as a gift in approx 2002. and the rod was labeled "Tight Line Custom Pro Series" It is a casting rod at 6'-0" and of medium action with a retail value at approximately $250.00. He stated tha
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Scotty, I have never used Madiera but have used extensively a brand that is a direct competitor to Madiera - ISACORD-by Amann USA. They have over 315+- colors in 40 wt plus metallics, Pearlessences, and Metallic solids. They have 7 variations of GOLD metallic. Beautiful stuff. I will have a blank shaft at High Point with the colors I have chosen for my shop. I have used their metallics more
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Burton, Eddie is 100% correct and I too have been with Bob for the last five years and try to not miss a chance to sing the praises of his fine operation. On one occasion about 4 years ago, Bob was able to get me 13 complete 9'-0" Batson fly rod blanks with all needed accessories to my shop in less than ONE week from initial order. I ordered on a Monday and the units were delivered on a
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Thanks Tom, you are correct. Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives. See you in High Point. Charlie
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Tim, There is one thing that should always on the minds of custom rod builders: "HIGH QUALITY should never be rushed" We are CUSTOM rod builders - not mass producers. Keep 'em turnin' Charlie tightlinerods@aol.com
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Gentlemen, I use an embroidery thread (ISACORD) on some of my fly rods and have the same issues with the 4-5% residual lubricants that are inherently a part of the Madeira manufacturing process that makes the thread usable in the embroidery industry. As I read a lot of the "finishing issues", two items always seem to float to the top of the list: Trying to rush the job and using addi
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Ahhh Yes Bill, The sweet smell of money - methal mercaptans, NCG's, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide - all the great things in life at "the mill" . And, thanks for the infromation guys about the priciples of micro rod fishing. Charlie
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Kevin, Mr. Stevens is da' man. The distance casting of the plug sounds wonderful - however, without intending to discredit any of your's or Bill's talents, what if you then suceed in "hookin-up" to your prize fish of the day with all of the line out - then what???????? Fish Wins??? With conventional casting and spinning equipment, how far can one effectively set the hook on
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Hello James, Fred has a good point of using threads designed for the art of rodbuilding before advancing to Madeira threads. I use a similar thread manufactured by Amann USA (ISACORD) which is also an embroidery thread with about the same number of colors (315 to be exact) on my light weight fly rods. The colors are beautiful and really sparkle when CP is properly applied and then epoxied. But
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Marco, Yes I do apply epoxy directly over the decal and the associated area. After the initial thin layer of epoxy to the blank has cured, I apply the decal and let dry thoroughly. Then with a 1" sable brush, I "wisk" away any debris that remains from the decal installation, such as lint from the tissues used to absorb the excess water from decal installation. I then apply
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