Not a fan of the ACS for my personal rods. Bill has sums up why I don't like them. And the complaint I've heard. I have had a couple guys try them and then order the ECS on their next rods. And I've had a few guys order the ACS all over again. ........................................
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I apply a coat of finish. After the finish is set I lightly sand with 1000 grit paper. I sign using a rapidograph drafting pen with opaque white ink. With the fine tip its easy to get 5 lines of text around even a light crappie rod. Lightly spritz with artists spray fixative to ensure it doesn't smudge. Apply a coat of finish. ..........................
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I love it...won't use anything else. I've got a ton of dental rubber bands that have been untouched for 7 or more years now. I do all my testing etc with the guides taped on the blank. When I'm happy with my placement I then mark each guide location with a china marker. I pull off each guide and make sure they are all properly prepped. Then its time to stick them on. I slowly warm the
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Some of the high end wood turners can help you out. Its been a long time since I was in that circle but I think I know what you're looking for here and they have the answer. A carriage needs to be made for your lathe that a hand router can be mounted to. The router needs to be fitted with a 1/8" diameter straight cutter or similar. What ever width spiral you want. As you hand turn you
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I shape Hypalon on the lathe all the time. Stanley Surform tool...50 grit paper on a wood block...80 grit paper on a wood block. .............................................
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The best thing I did is make my own reamers. They beat every reamer I've bought, including the Dream Reamers. I bought two identical rod blanks that were similar to the rods I build most. I cut them into 18" (I think) lengths. Starting at a blank diameter of about 1/8". I cut my first one 18" back from that diameter. Then moving on to the second rod blank, I cut the top 10&
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Mo As in the thread from a day or so ago... I start with a Surform tool. Then 80 and 120 grit papers double back taped to long wood blocks. I suppose they're 3" wide by14" long. When held diagonally, you get a very wide platform across the grip and its easy to keep everything "level". The Surform roughs to shape/diameter. Then I use the 80 grit to remove the tear o
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Tom makes a good point. Using just paper can keep your grip from coming into round. I should add that my 80 and 120 grits are double back taped to long wood blocks. So three of my steps are with rigid tools that make sure the grip is concentric. The first two steps cut the grip to shape. The third is the smoothing pass that allows the finishing grits to easily do their job. Small grad
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Surform...80...120...220...320...400 ........................
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I put down a coat of finish first. I've worked out timing with my finish and drying box. And at 3 hours after my first coat of finish goes on I can pull a rod out of the dryer and apply stickers. The finish has some pretty high tack and there is no way a sticker is going to lift. Once it goes down, its down for good. It's the only way I'll fly now... ................................
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Denatured ......................
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I sign in drawing ink for technical pens with a rapidograph pen so take that into account... I prefer to sign over epoxy. I scuff my finish with 1000 grit paper. I find I have much fewer issues with ink wanting to puddle. I use artists spray fix to keep the 2nd coat of finish from smearing my ink. It takes just a very light spritz to hold the writing in place. Dries in under a minute.
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When I was at St. Croix they were painting their blanks by pulling them thru a rubber membrane with a small hole in it. A T section of pipe was on a stand with the long leg of the T pointing up. The two ends of the T each had a membrane mounted in a frame. Each membrane had a hole in it. The T was filled with paint and a blank was inserted and pulled back out thru the two membranes and hung
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Another that drills first... .......................................
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I use a box. It keeps dust and lint out of my finish. Its good for storing rods that are going to have to sit a bit and keep dust off them. Its good for pushing the cure time on finish. Its good for pushing the cure time on structural epoxy. Its great in the winter to get a nice regular temperature going. I have my halogen under cabinet lights in my box plugged into a timer. I can have
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3M is certainly the best paper I've used. Auto parts stores is where to go for the higher grits. And wet/dry paper. I've got 50 thru 2,000 grit papers. 50 - 120 for Hypalon. 80 - 400 for cork. 220 - 2,000 for smoothing finish, stablized wood, etc. ..........................
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On seats that are a larger diameter at the threads than the exposed blank area, I install an arbor. ...................................
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I think I have fewer "tire kickers". Guys just looking. My orders are pretty steady. Possibly slightly fewer than last year. I haven't taken a look at the numbers but I actually think I may be ahead of last year dollar wise as I've had more higher end rods. ...........................................
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Cabela's has some 2-piece models. ..........................
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My opinion...the MHF is way too much rod for spinnerbaits. Unless, of course, you're fishing really big ones. I would have been at the MF. Maybe even the spin version of the MF which is lighter yet. I don't think its micros or the spiral wrap. The blank is way too heavy for what he wants to throw. Especially since its so short. The MHF is a broomstick in 7', much less 6'6". .
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I'll second Roberts comment... I find that most times people are asking for glass or composite...its because they don't realize they make graphite blanks with a moderate taper. Not that there is anything wrong with preferring glass over graphite. But you need to know about them BOTH to prefer one over the other. .................................
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Gudebrod Goldenrod. ..........................
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My favorite seat. Wish the ECS's came with that. My mouse at work has the same Soft Touch coating. 10 hours a day...5 days a week...took about 3 years for me to wear a little spot thru the material right near the Forward/Back button on the left side. The rest of the mouse is just fine and even the spot which is now about 1/4" long by 1/8" tall isn't peeling or letting loose.
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The 5S66LF has almost twice the power as the S781 IMX. And about 5° slower. I would suspect the S782 would still fall short of the 5S66LF in power. ......................................................
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Another vote for the St. Croix 70MLF. I personally like the LE model. .....................
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In the last 8 to 10 years of shipping rods I've had 3 UPS claims. All of them honored. My most recent one was denied for lack of packaging materials. That was because my customer returned the rod to UPS for their inspection with all the bubble wrap missing. I disputed the claim, got some testimonials, photos of how I pack rods, and the pointed out the sheer fact that I ship 50 high end custom
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Last time I weighed them...a TFST was much lighter than a similar sized Recoil. Most guides in the Fuji Concept titanium frames are lighter than Recoils. The TFST is a sleeker guide than the TLST ..........................
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The most I go up to for my leader material is 15 pound fluoro. I also use slip bobber knots for Walleye and Crappie fishing on 6 pound line at most. #6's seem to do OK with the Uni's...slip bobber knots "clank" against every #6 guide on the way out... I would NOT steer you towards a #5. I THINK a #6 would work for you. ................................
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Was waiting for someone to bring it up and Lance finally did... Weight plays almost no bearing on the shipping cost when it comes to rod tubes. Its the length that kills you. I've shipped the same sized tube and used weights from 7 pounds to 12 pounds (because I wasn't actually weighing the tube) and the cost never varied more than a buck or two. PVC is the only way I'll ship. To not s
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Mo Reaming a 1/4" ID grip out to 1/2" often leads to an off centered hole. And is a ton of work. ...as an example... Reaming out a 0.4375" ID grip out to 0.4688" takes just a couple strokes of the reamer and keeps the hole perfectly centered. I drill out all my rings to the nearest 1/16" under the blank diameter. Some times even gluing up different sections o
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