Marco, In reading and understanding your concerns, it doesn't appear that you are have a problem with the decals RELEASING from the backing paper. It appears to be a quality issue with the decal. Was the surface of the decal fragile before wetting or did it becaome that way after wetting? Were these custom decals or decals mass produced? It sounds like a problem I encountered while making
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Hey Guys, Think of the poor guys that engrave the receivers and checker the stocks on $100,000.00 Holland & Holland double rifles and shotguns!!! Thats the last thing, like rod finish, that is done. Nerves of steel and the patience of Job. You can't rush quality! Keep 'em turnin. Charlie PS: Yep. I messed up a few times too.
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Bill, Yes, you sure can write on waterslide paper. However, the pigment used must be waterproof - not water resistant, waterproof!! Since waterslide paper has a very shiney substrate, check for proper pigment adhesion prior to finalizing application. The ALPS printer uses a heat process to bond the opaque pigment to the decal paper and there is little chance the image will smear during applic
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Hey gentlemen, To toot one's own horn, if you will look in the first few pages of the original issue book, "Advanced Custom Rod Building" (Winchester Press-1978), you will see that I helped in the majority of the drawings for this book. Dale was very helpful to me as I was just beginning to construct fishing rods for fun and profit in the early years. When I showed the book to my wo
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Jimmy, Is the decal a waterslide or a peel & stick? Finish the thread as you would do normally either with CP then epoxy or just epoxy depending on the look you desire. Ensure the area for the decal has good epoxy coverage so you can have the best possible surface on which to apply the decal. Be sure the epoxy has cured sufficiently, at least 24 hrs, before you apply the decal. If the ep
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Tom, Still on the topic of lathes, what model by any brand would it be that allows the turning of a rod grip, attached to the blank along with the reel seat, while the blank passes thru the power end of the lathe? I saw a picture of this very thing in a rod manufacturers advertisement brochure and thought it would be excellent to chuck it in this fashion. The seat end cap had been left off s
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Herb, Unless you are building rods with guides that have huge feet, you should be getting plenty of epoxy in the small "cavity" created by the guide feet. I use TM HiBuild and build mostly fly rods of all sizes. If I use NCP thread, I go several guides ahead and apply finish across the ridge of the guide feet and let it saturate the threads so by the time I get to those guides, satu
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Sean, Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Think of the cost of the materials and time in constructing a beautiful custom rod and then whizzing all of it away for a few pennies. Find a great finish and stick with it until they go out of buisness - then change to another finish! As craftsmen, we should always do it right the first time so we have more time to build new rods instead of re-doing t
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Hey Bill, The last time I built on a Loomis GLX, I was suprised as to what the finish looked like. I had never seen any blank so dull and appeared to have missed the finishing stage. I believe I too had called Bob at Custom Tackle as I had purchased it form him to ask him the same questions. I like the loook of a satin finish but this was nothing like I had seen before. Even the other man
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Hello Kate, I have previously sent three e-mails to the listed e-mail with no response requesting the latest price and availablity of a complete Jungle Cock neck for fly tying - but this way is better. Please send the information to tightlinerods@aol.com. Thanks for your time and effort. C
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Gentlemen, "I have no quarrel with those who sell for less, for they know what their product is worth" In 2003, when I resumed building fly rods, I thought @#$%& was going to be a gold mine. . . boy was I wrong. I had nice rods, great photography and I set the minimum to what I would sell it in my area because I knew I was not going to "give" them away. I was amazed a
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The excise tax is no longer calculated as in the past. The tax is $10.00 per rod whether you sell it for $20.00 or $1000.00.
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The excise tax is no longer calculated as in the past. The tax is $10.00 per rod whether you sell it for $20.00 or $1000.00.
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Hey Friends, A note about Dale Clemens' books. Other than the fact that I fortunately have all three and one in which he has signed with a note , because he at the time of writing the title, ADVANCED CUSTOM ROD BUILDING, had asked me to do most of the drawings for the book from his sketches - this I did with great pleasure. Dale was always a great help to me back in the mid-seventies - whew .
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I will also agree that Bob and his crew are a wonderful business to deal with. On one order a fews years back where a local resort needed 10 - 9' fly rods for their new sports center grand opening, Bob was able to get me 12 blanks and all of the accessories complete witnin a week of ordering. I placed it on a Monday and I received it on Saturday of the same week. You just can't leave people like
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Hey Scott, Epoxy is easy. Just let it cure hard and then use a sharp single edge razor blade and shave the fuzz off. This is an easy one. I once found a knat embedded in the epoxy when I came home from work one day. I just shaved his little butt off with the blade and epoxied over the wrap again. The wonders of epoxy. Good Luck. Charlie
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Thanks for the information Tom.
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Gentlemen, I recently attempted to go to Dan Craft Enterprises' website from the link to the left and from a search in Google both of which resulted in an "website not found" error message. Some time ago I read he had had some problems with e-mail and maybe website problems also. I need to get some more blanks from him but would also like to see his current site as well. I sen
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In regards to pricing for your time and talents, I have a quote in my shop that says, " I have no quarrel with those who sell for less, only they know what their product is worth." Keep 'em turnin Charlie Tight Line Custom Rods
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That is correct Spencer, he did tell me he had discussed the issue with Loomis and the only thing they would do for him was to replace it with a 10 ft - 5 weight which he did not desire because he normally uses the rod with a 3 weight line. He felt that would not be suitable so he declined the offer. Thanks and I appreciate your input. Keep 'em tight Charlie
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Dear Friends, I have a customer that recently lost the tip of his treasured Loomis 10' 4 wt fly rod to a very large brown trout. As you well know, this rod is no longer manufactured. If anyone knows of the location of a complete rod or set of blanks for the model FR-1204 GLX please respond to the e-mail address below. The tip is all that is damaged. Any help will be appreciated. Than
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Dear Andrew, Definitely apply the decal with Micro-Set. It greatly aids in the application. In my opinion, there is no need for Micro-Sol on a fishing rod blank. Micro-Sol is designed for model makers that need to apply decals to the many rough and uneven surfaces so the decal appears to be "painted" on. With a fishing rod, it has a perfectly "glass-like" surface - nothin
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Hey Gary, American Tackle hi-build is all that I have used since I got back into building three years ago. It flows out evenly and it has a very nice pot life as I have gotten well over an hour out of the mixes I place on pieces of foil. I have tried Flexcoat which also works fine but does not have the pot life I need while I work on finishing the guide and butt wraps. I build mainly fly rods
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Dear Karen, The Gudebrod thread color Olive Green (1892) is beautiful and blends well with the Rainshadow green and the StCroix Canteen Green Pearl. Charlie
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Dear Jim, I usually apply 3 to 4 coats of AMTAK Clear Coat Hi-Build with the Flex-Coat brushes to any decorative butt wraps I create. The first application is usually right after I mix up the batch of epoxy. All other coats are after I have applied it to the guides when it is much thicker. I give it a little extra help with "flowing out" with the goose neck lamp I use to work by and
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Dear Galen, Take the extra time to mix up and use a good grade of epoxy for your tip tops and everything else for that matter. A few extra minutes at the beginning can prevent a lot of extra minutes when you have to do it over. I use the Trondak U-40 Rod Bond because it stays where you put it and as the manufacturer states, remains flexible even through full cure. It is a 50/50 mix with s
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Hey Mike, Go to your local office supply store and pick up a product called "Un-Du" adhesive remover. It is similar to a product I use in my frame shop called "Un-Seal" that is used to remove customer artwork from mounting boards. It releases the bond of the adhesive without harming the artwork. It evaporates very fast so ya gotta be quick. I just ried to solution on a new
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Dear Paul, It is definitely recommended you apply a thin coat of finish where you wish to place your decal. Decal fogging may occur of you don't. Ensure the section of the blank is "squeekie clean" to allow proper adhesion of the epoxy. Do not use any type of petroleum based solvent due to the residual it will leave. Apply the desired finish and let it cure for approximately 24 hours
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Hey Folks, Dan's THA man!! . . . I had a special order for a gentleman who wanted a 6pc fly rod for a Canadian fly fishing trip and Dan was able to get me what I needed PRONTO. I ordered from him on a Friday after noon EST while I was still at work and when I got to the shop on Monday afternoon it was at the front door waiting on me - and the customer had it to go to Canada when he needed it.
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Dear Dave, Re-using an epoxy finishing brush is definitely penny-wise and pound-foolish. For what reason would you risk the quality of a custom rod that you have invested with possibly hundreds of dollars and several hours of valuable personal time to risk applying a continuous source of "cured, dried bits of previously applied" epoxy finish from a "cleaned up" brush? If
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