True indeed. A bit OT, but I'll say that it is not limited to just factory rods. I've also seen my share of 'custom' built rods that is not as ideally as configured as they should be. There's the perception by many that as long as a rod is 'custom wrapped' that it is better than a factory rod. Not always. (And I'll say that some of the Japanese rods are amazing and hard to exceed because they h
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I'll contact you off forum if you are willing to go 5' 6", but your email is hidden. Mine is not in case you want to contact me. There's a Japanese manufacturer makes one just in that capacity and I actually have one on hand.
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Thanks all for your counsel and insight. Mark, to answer your question as to why not just find another blank more suitable, this is literally a one of a kind design that I picked up years ago that is no longer available. I've not found anything that matches it in power to weight ratio and design. Regarding sanding, some blanks are left 'raw' out of the oven, and others are sanded down smo
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And to think I paid them $500 for the list. Kidding....aside, interesting that someone is pulling this scam. I'm sure your sponsors appreciate this warning.
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Thanks Mark. Helpful to hear. The trick is to sand and compromise some fibers, and then leaving other fibers intact. I did not mean 30% reduction in material but 30% reduction in power - so that when i get the same bend with 30% less weight, that's when I stop sanding. And I will be sanding in a spiral movement so that the outer layer of fiber is removed but leaving below surface fibers intact.
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Tom, THANKS!! Your reply is exactly some of the information I am looking for. Yes, the comment about wall thickness makes sense. I do have one blank that was crushed when a truck drove over it. I can cut the tip section into six inch segments and look at the thickness of the carbon fiber walls. Do you or anyone have a sense of how thin walls generally need to be to maintain hoop strength?
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This is a question that surfaced recently and will likely need the expertise of those who know who carbon fiber cloth is laid out, rolled on the mandrel, and how the fibers continuity affect breaking strength. I have have some no longer in production UL blanks which are quite exceptional in their strength to weight ratio. Thus, I don't want to accidentally destroy any if I don't need to.
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Thanks all. Helpful posts and some creative approaches such as Norman's technique. Robert - interesting. Really excellent suggestion and worth a try for anyone building a straight cork grip. In my case however, I glue first, and then shape the grip so I can't selectively hit the specific cork ring. But great suggestion.
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Thanks Michael. When I say accent, it may actually be a fair bit. I don't know how to explain it but I do abstract type designs on sculpted grips so that it is artistic and organic looking. And as to weight, those who have helped answer my questions know that I am quite extreme in my pursuit of weight reduction on ultralight blanks. Adding burnt cork can easily add 20% or more to the weight of
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Years ago , I picked up some rings and sheets of 'burnt cork.' These are some kind of cork product that is dark brown in color. They are useful in adding accents to cork grips and turned out beautifully. However, the ones i got was something like 4X heavier than regular cork so I ended up using them very sparingly. I'd love to start using something like that again for accent. Does anyone ma
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Thanks all for the very helpful posts, especially Ray and Michael. Much appreciated. I guess I'll start going back to longer blanks...:) Do have a few 8 footers to try out. Thanks - keep the comments coming.
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I want to publicly thank Mike who e-mailed me with fantastic detailed data, comparing same diameter (OD and ID) and same length weight of a number of material. I also received photos. Just fantastic. Thanks a million for taking what I am sure is quite a bit of time to equalize all the grip physical measurements before weighing, and including detail of the type of glue used etc. THANK YOU!
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This may not be strictly about rod building but is related. Tom, if this does not fulfill the purpose of this forum, please delete. My question ties in to blank selection for the future. Context: I fish by a number of guys who use 2 lb test and chase trout. These guys routinely land trout in the 5-10 lbs class. However, sometimes they is also brush so when a trout wrap itself around b
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Thanks Ben :)
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Thanks Ben. Any chance you can measure any piece you have in length, outer diameter, and weight - if you have a scale that measures to tenths of an ounce? Thanks.
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Thanks Dan. Much appreciated. Your comment about Cork makes sense. They just feel so wonderful - or perhaps it is because I'm used to them. Thanks again.
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Dan, this is getting interesting! I'd love a photo. Where do you purchase the FC-06 foam? I did a search and could not find it easily. Incidentally, cork vary in weight. I just stacked 12 flor cork rings with identical dimension as yours and they came out to .56 oz on a precision scale. This is similar to the FC-06 in weight but do not require any clear coat. I weight some heavier flo
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Dan, What's the weight of the Forecast FC-06 by itself? Mark, perhaps I'm a bit dense....but can you explain what you mean by the "with a bun" comment? I think you are being humorous but it escapes me....:)
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Thanks Tom.
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Thanks everyone for the replies. Keep them coming. Ben, Data point for a vendor's 5" EVA grip with sub .2" bore is 19 grams. So EVA does not seem light compared to cork. Joe, Thanks for the detailed rundown. Will try to find your pics. Spencer, will ask as you suggested. Steve - intriguing. If no arbor for the carbon fiber tubing, something still has to be between th
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I don't fish with your type of setup but have a few thoughts. 1. If you want maximum casting distance, perhaps you can consider Gliss line. That is one of the longest casting line I know of in a spinning reel. 8 lbs test is equal in diameter to 2 lbs japanese Fluoro. 2. Given your lb test and braid, I believe that any reel from 1000 up would be large enough. Drag smoothness is more than
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I'm a self admitted weight weenie when it comes to rods. I happen to really like beautiful near flawless cork so I've been making short cork Tennessee type handles with no fillers. They are sure light. I can get a 5" handle assembled and installed at sub 10 grams or .35 oz. Question - does anyone have any other 5" handle material that can beat 10 grams once you factor in arbor an
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I too am a huge fan of cork and use Tennessee handles just long enough for my hand. Never use fillers for the cork or arbors as I ream the cork to exactly the same size and taper of the blank. After factoring the weight of arbor and carbon fiber tubing etc, it seems that all other material will be heavier than cork. I'd love to find out different. So for comparison, my 5" Tennessee h
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I just use a small diamond surface file and file by hand. Makes quick work of carbon fiber, and does not spit dust into the air like any electric tools. It is easy to control the sanding stroke by hand. And if you really want to capture all the dust, just wet the file and the dust will stick to the wet surface or drip into the sink, easily rinsed or wiped away.
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COming late to this topic. I like super lightweight ultralight blanks and cast very light lures. Assuming that the blank is straight enough on the axis I want to build, I use the spine primarily to adjust the power, albeit only slightly. So if a blank is a touch stiffer than I'd like, I build so that the guides are on the natural bend when bent. If the blank is really lightweight but I prefer
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Thanks all. Helpful. I got a nice stack of these and have not used them much so I was wondering.
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I have a number of the PacBay Minima in TiCH. When I ordered it some years back, they had that finish. It is a very dark metal gray - almost black. It was supposedly their hardest finish available but I had forgotten what the TiCH stood for - hence my question. Thanks all.
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Thanks Spencer and Michael. Michael, in case you are following, looking at the Minima guides listed on mudhole, I don't see TiCh listed. Which of their Minima guides use TiCH and how do they name the finish? Thanks.
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I have some guides in the TiCH finish. What exactly is TiCH again? Memory tells me that is Titanium Nitride equivalent which is very hard. Thanks in advance for any help.
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This is interesting. I see quite a few builds on this and wonder why Anglers Resource discontinued it. Perhaps low demand relative to their other guides but still..... Thanks.
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