Don't know what to tell ya Russ. I live in Minnesota and it gets cold here. My box is in the basement against an exterior wall. I do have insulation between the box and the wall, but no where else. Room temps are commonly in the low 60's. Even when it's minus 40 outside and I only had one of those 2-bulb fixtures I was hitting the mid to upper 80's in about three hours. Adding another fix
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Halogen undercabinet fixtures. I have two 2-bulb fixtures (20 watts each bulb) in my box and can get the temp from the low 60's to the upper 80's in about an hour and half. Temp peaks at about 92 this time of year in Minnesota. Each fixture has a switch with high/low/off. I have them wired together and plugged into a timer on the outlet. I can have my box preheated and ready for finish by t
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I'm not a Trout fisherman by any means, unless its Lake Trout, and a friend of mine would like me to build a fly rod for her son who just started college in Bozeman. She would like to keep costs down. Her son is a novice fly fisherman as we don't have any Trout streams here in central Minnesota. I'm looking for some suggestions for a blank that will be forgiving of a novice, and be afforda
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Artists spray fix. You don't need to hose it on, just a nice light coat. No need to wait any more than 10 minutes. Probably not even 5. I've run the hair dryer over it for 30 seconds and finished immediately. But it dries very quickly.
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The last woven graphite Cabelas seats I bought had PacBay labels on the bags.
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NO such thing as a fine paint pen. I use a drafting pen. 5 or 6 lines of info around even an ultralight blank. Artists spray fix will allow you to finish over without worry of smearing. And you don't have to wait several hours for it to dry. If you're impatient, hit it with a hair dryer, otherwise wait a FULL 5 minutes.
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You CAN use it. Of course. But, it is more prone to flaking than standard or rubberized cork. Your quoted statement is quite true outside of saying "should not". You always have the option to do whatever you like to do. I avoid using burl cork at the ends of my grips.
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If sensitvity is critical... St. Croix Legend Elite and Shikari SHX. So far those blanks are the most sensitive blanks I've been able to find.
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I've seen guys use syringes. Big veternary ones. Some guys use measuring spoons. But quite honestly it is very forgiving and you don't need to get a perfect ratio. I use a spatula and mix by eye. I've never had a batch not set up. I always keep my left over sitting out so I can check its hardness to know when the rod is ready.
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This morning I emailed Tom to ask if my subscription had lapsed since my last issue was volume 7 number 3. I could have sworn I reupped when Tom announced that he wouldn't be sending out any expiration notices. I got behind on my reading and just caught up before Christmas and have been expecting the latest issue to arrive. Tom promplty replied back that I'm good through volume 9 number 5!!!
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Also check BackBounce blanks. Those are commonly used for Swim Baits for big Bass which are right in line will those BullDawgs. Very similar baits, very similar presentations. Those 12" Bull Dawgs are 6 ounces and a whole lot of bait to be throwing.
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The last one I built (late 2003) did not have any markings on it.
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Agree with both of the above. Put your tie off loop in early, pull it tight to the wrap, trim as close as possible, pull through. Your tag should be under the wrap. And if it does stick out, you can easily slice it flush after a coat of finish.
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I like to put a coat of finish over the area where a sticker is going to go before I apply the sticker. I let the finish set to the point where it is quite firm, yet tacky. For me, 3 1/2 to 4 hours in my drying box at 90 degrees. At that point when you put the sticker down, its down! My logo is a custom dry transfer with some very fine lines. I used to ruin 1 - 3 transfers before I got one
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Shikari.
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I've got a beam scale from RCBS, the 505 that will weigh down to 1 tenth of a grain, or 3 ten thousandths of an ounce. (.0003 ounces) $65 from Cabela's.
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I find that a size 25 is just fine for the 1000 - 3000 series Shimano reels. That's my most used first ring. For people that don't like holding reel seats I use a skeleton seat. I put the hooded ring of the skeleton inside the cork. I glue the hood inside a pair of rings and then glue up around that. Fore grip and insert all in one. I turn that to shape and then where the reel foot will s
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Mike - Different Mark.
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Ed - I feel that I gain sensitivity in my Walley rods by using high end components, direct hand exposure to the rod blank, and reducing weight. Spin Jig rod blanks in Shikari SHX, or G. Loomis IMX (if you can find a straight one). St. Croix Legend Elite also has some nice blanks for this. An exposed blank reel seat for a casting rod and a "no fore grip" fore grip on spinning rods. M
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Any color goes with the SHX. Titanium guides, black thread with silver trim. Goldenrod. Teal.
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For my jig rods, usually spinning even for a lot of Bass applications, I'm with Tom on this. They are light weight, comfortable, not terribly cold, give good sensitivity and secure the reel well. I typically go with a "no fore grip" configuration so that a finger can be placed directly on the blank.
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If you're going to the Nth degree... Fuji titanium framed SiC's are the lightest ceramic guides I've weighed. 1/3 less than Alconites. The black foam arbors are about 1/3 less weight than comperable sized Flex Coat arbors. Regular cork is about half the weight of burl. And burl is about 3 times lighter than rubberized. I've got actual numbers if you'd care to see them.
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Yea, and I know its accurate because I haven't blown myself up yet! Mike - it is most certainly personal preference. I, personally, am still torn. I like certain things about each of them.
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Ok, I've got one cut down... The Flex coat arbor measures, .654 OD x .254 ID x .931 L and weighs 22 grains. The graphite foam one measures .670 OD x .268 ID x 1.018 and weighs 14 grains.
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I turn mine. Usualy rubberized cork.
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I rechecked my notes... 1 Flex Coat 17mm, 4.22" long arbor, weighs 89 grains. 3 of the 17mm graphite color arbors, measuring a total of 3.66", weigh 47.1 grains. So, the Flex Coat arbor is only going to be about twice the weight. I'm still undecided about which I prefer. I like them both.
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Mike The Flex Coat arbors are not lighter than the black graphite foam ones. As a matter of fact 1 full length Flex Coat arbor weighs nearly 3 times what 3 black graphite ones do. I've weighed them.
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Very much on the right track. I typically start off with a 20 on Muskie rods. I use Abu Garcia 6500's and with that wide spool I feel I get less line stacking concerns if I start out with a larger guide. Then use the 12 10 8's. I'd stick with doubles on your jerk rod. Singles would probably work, but when you're throwin lures like The Pig, singles would spook me. And singles will be f
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Anything by 3M works well for me. I won't waste my money on other brands.
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