I got one of the samples and refinished an old Montague fiberglass fly rod with it. Totally killer finish. looks better than new and really easy to work with. Love the fact that it's low odor. Now the canary doesn't get stoned when I open the bottle.
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Like Tom said. don't get hung up on color. I build fly rods exclusively and have built on both the Batson Rx6 aand rx7. The Rx 6 comes in a very dark blue and the Rx7 in a dark green. the RX 7 is a little faster. also the American Tackle Matrix series has a 7'9" 3 wt. Haven't built on one yet but have heard good things. I'm thinking of picking up one of their 8 wts
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many of the wood carving and knife kit catalogs I get have checkering tools and instructions. I'm just not going to try going down that road. too many other bad hobbies.
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When Heddon was still making bamboo rods they used to do it on their top of the line model 60. I heard stories that the walnut for the grips and the checkering was done by Winchester. I've seen several of them, and the entire grip is not checkered Just two diamonds on each side of the grip. I don't have a picture handy or I would post it.
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I've never had a problem with using alcohol. It evaporates fast enough. any drying will be replaced by the oils in the varnish. i pretty much quit using chemical strippers because I worried about their reaction on glues. Especially on older rods with hide glue. The amount of water needed to neutralize the chemicals effected a rod I was working on just once and that was enough
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There's a few ways to tdo remove the finish. 1. use a mild chemical stripper like Citri strip. Do not get it on any lettering/decals. This is not my favorite method. 2. Gently scrape the finish off. use a stiff scraper. some guys use a box cutter blade held almost 90 degrees to the blank and scrape the length of the blank. A small metal ruler also works. If you scrape do
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Titebond III also. Instead of waxing the mandreals I wrap with teflon plumbers tape.
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try here,
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spar is the way to go. the best thing is to start from bare blank. Measure the location of the guide then strip them and the old varnish off, saving the markings/decal. When it comes to varnishing there are two schools of thought. one is varnish first then wrap. the other is wrap then varnish everything. Since it's only one rod you are doing I would think you would brush varn
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I haven't tried Al's on feathers. I'm sure it would work fine. Are you really sure you want your first experience with silk to be with gossamer? All I can say is to get extra and practice first. Also remember those spools are much smaller that regular sized. and it takes more thread to cover when using the smaller diameter. I've come close to running out when doing a 9' rod. It'
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The reason I do 12 hrs is just a time thing. I can coat in the morning. go to work. coat in the evening, sleep. repeat.
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ditto on using Al's color rite There is also a new product from Mike Sinclear that is made for silk. I've seen the pictures and it looks good Either way i usually use at least 4 coats of Al's with 12 hr's between
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for comparison, point out that most customers wold not want a big glob of football shaped finish on a $2000 cane fly rod why would they accept it on a graphite rod? I would use Lumiseal on cane and have on fiberglass/graphite. but i would never use epoxy on a cane rod. My customers would scream! So my take is that if it's good enough for those expensive rods why not your cu
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Bad part is, this wasn't a production rod. Rod was donated by a local builder.
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A friend brought over a rod he won in a silent @#$%&. Nice rod and decent workmanship from the builder. however, all the wraps are covered with a ton of epoxy that is now footballed. My friend asked what causes this and I said too much finish. but then he asked why it was so even. i said use of a dryer. Are ther other reasons why the finish would football? Why would someone want th
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I've done several fly reel seats in pink ivory. it's a light red but by the time you add a finish it darkens only slightly and stays more red than other woods.
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Mine came in yesterday. Out of the four I ordered only one had a noticeable slight bend. but still usable.
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Steve, I only do fly rods. If you need help shoot me a line. i had a customer come in yesterday who has nerve damage to his wrist. we spent over an hour just getting the grip specs. down. he's coming back next weekend to look at blanks. I'm actually looking forward to this build as it will get him back on the river after his accident. You will probably end up building more than
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I order several of the blanks on Friday. I actually called late Thursday after they closed and left a message. I called back Friday morning and Carol did say that they had been swamped with calls and messages and they were trying to get caught up. My order was already pulled and getting ready for shipping. Carol did say I had 2 hours if i still wanted to add something. She did also co
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does anyone have a form they use when a customer orders a new rod that they would be willing to share? I've got one I did for repair work but I'm trying to save time and reinventing the wheel. Thanks
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It that really a Helios blank or just a Zero G and where are you seeing this Helios blank? PM me if necessary
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The reason I ask is that I've got a spot a a fly show coming up next month. There is a local guide who will also be there, who in the past has not talked kindly of custom builders and is an "off the shelf" guy. I think part of that is because he is sponsored by one of the rod companies. I found out what rod he likes, and it's a nice rod, i'm thinking of getting the same make
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A customer walks into your shop and says. "Tell me why a custom built fly rod is better than the same off the shelf model?" How would you answer?
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My wife custom makes them. she can even embroider names etc on them. let me know if you need one.
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They are nice little sticks. I've built the 9'5wt and the 8' 4wt and kept them full size. this was an extra. I live about 20 min from one of their stores and thses were in the "bargain" room along with the matching tubes. the price was like they were giving them away.
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Thanks Ted, That's exactly the blank I'm using and using it as a 6 wt is perfect for this guy.
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Actually slowing the action down could be a benefit. this guy usually fishes bamboo with a passion for the more parabolic tapers. the graphite blank is actually rather fast so this may be a good deal.
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Here's the deal. I've got a 9' 7 pc 5 wt. blank One of my regular customers likes the fact that it breaks down to 17" but not the fact that it's 9'. I'm thinking about dropping the last section which should take it down to about 7.5'. I've heard guys doing this. Anything i should be aware of? Thanks
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I'm guessing that the front bench is his since the cable remote is on top it.
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more switch rod blanks. I know there are very few out there right now but they have been my biggest requested item. My customers like the TFO switch rod but I don't think that blank is available yet. If it were I could probably sell 6 of them overnight. Also some less expensive 8' 2 pc 5 wt fly blanks for beginners rods. And while we are at it. nickle silver fly reel seats withou
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