I'm with Roger and Phil, they can take a bit of practice to get them just right. I would also try some Silk, especially if you are doing Black ones, 00 Silk is what I have my best results with for trim bands. I'd experiment. The Candy Apple Reds also come out very nice.
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I agree with the advise on Snake Brand Guides, they come in both Bright Nickel and Black Nickel, Snake Brand also sells Reel Seats, which are made by Joel Lemke, real nice stuff and the wood inserts are top shelf if you are not turning your own. REC also offers very nice reel seat and inserts, while I am not a fan of the Recoil Guides, they are high quality and they do come in Black, if your go
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Size 10 for the Stripper, I am not a fan of single foots, but to each his own. I am a big fan of Snake Brand Universals or REC Recoils, both are the best guides on the market in my opinion. No reason to use a second running guide a size smaller of the same style as your stripper, just adds unnecessary weight, follow it out with the least amount of changes in guide sizes, example: 10, 2, 1, then r
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You won't see much if any. CTS does not advertise anywhere as much as the big name outfits in the USA. I do have a decent amount of experience building out CTS blanks for customers, in most cases an Affinity X blank is lighter and more sensitive than its respective popular counterpart that is mass marketed here in the USA, this is in part from my own experience and the feedback I have gotten from
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I am another that will recommend the CTS Quartz 7-6 3wt for small stream trout fishing, its tough to beat Glass. They load in close, 10ft, and they still reach out to 30 to 40ft or farther if needed. That CTS is not going to break your bank as far as cost goes and it will provide a lifetime of good fishing. If you want a shorter than 7-6 length, CTS does make a 7ft 3wt also.
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Mel, Check with Herb and see if CTS still offers the Vintage, those blanks in 4 and 5 wt, 8-6 length are excellent trout blanks, they were the "slowest" or "deepest flexing" Carbon blanks CTS offered. If they do not offer that, the M or MX are good options to.
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CTS could make one in that many pieces, would be pretty pricey unfortunately. Their Quartz glass is rather nice, and Fiberglass in my opinion is superior to Carbon for small stream fishing. Epic does have a "Pack Light" 5pc blank in 7-6, not a big fan of the color, but I have built out several for customers, nice casting blank. I share the same opinion as the other gents above, a 4
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My Jet is very similar to yours, mine is older and does not have a couple of the newer options you have, like the variable speed control. So, bought a Collet set from Penn State, while it does come with some collets that you may not use (the bigger ones) it never pays to be without the right tool in a time of need. They will attach to the headstock and they do hold a Mandrel quite well.
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Mine are tool steel, and they threaded just fine, not as easy as mild steel, but I was able to do it, you need to use a quality made die.
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Phil, Its easy enough to thread a Mandrel, I've done it with a set that I made for turning wood inserts for fly rod seats. I took a standard 18" 3/8 Mandrel that came with 60 degree tapers in each end. I cut it in half. Using a 3/8 by 24NF Die, I cut a 3/4" long thread on the end that has the 60 degree live center taper. I have a locking collet and a couple of 3/8 brass bushings a
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I don't see why not, I'd second Spencer's recommendation, Lemke and REC make some nice skeletons that have an OD of .705 or larger.
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John Another resource for Glass, a guy named Vic Johnson has done a couple of books on Fiberglass Fly Rods, there are 3 in the series. The first is about Vintage glass, real nice history book on all the makers. It is out of print, but you can find used copies now and then showing up for sale. The second 2 books in the series are about modern Glass, custom builders, blank rolling manufactures
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John, If you do not find someone on this forum that can help you out, there is another forum that is all about Fiberglass, both the vintage and new stuff. I know there are several active members that know about the Browning Silaflex rods. The forum is fiberglassflyrodders.com. They also have a pretty easy way to load up photo's in a post. Good luck with the repair, those Silaflex rods a
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These would be the latest generation of Diamondback, about 2-4 years old. Cortland sold off the "Diamondback Brand" to a former employee/investors, they tried to make a go at it. Rods/Blanks were manufactured overseas. Other than the name, no affiliation to the old Vermont Diamondback Company. I did test cast some of the Glass offerings, decent stuff. The rumor mill was that they had th
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Why not a Down Locking Seat? Several companies still sell USA made down lock seats. I probably install a down lock seat on 25% of my "trout" sized fly rod builds, its customer driven option. The ones I use come with a cork check and you can make a nice transition from skeleton to cork.
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Rick, I might be able to help you out, have a couple catalogs on Diamondback. The "no markings" thing kinda surprises me, Diamondback did mark their blanks that were for sold as blanks, but they did do "third party" work to, some even had the "Diamond Weave" pattern, LL Bean was a customer at one time, Cabela's also had blanks made for them by Diamondback to na
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I'll second the CTS Affinity X if your looking for a Carbon Blank, between that and the Affinity M, best casting fly rod blanks going in my opinion.
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Don't apply your finish with the rod locked into and turning under power. Lots of us let the dryer "free wheel", spin the rod by hand and apply your finish. Once finish is done, lock it into the dryer and walk away.
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CTS Affinity X. I've done several for customers from 10ft to 11ft, 2 and 3wts. Its a very sensitive blank, not overly stiff for a "fast action" blank. All the customers that I have built them for love them. Get a hold of Herb at HNL Rod Blanks.
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I talked with Andy at length the other night about this new product, I'm pretty enthused to try it out and I should have a sample in the next couple of weeks. The short version of what we chatted about, If you like Threadmaster finish, you'll like this better. Longer working time (pot life) than Threadmaster Lite, better bubble release, and short cure time, shorter than Regular Threadmaster and a
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That should be up to him as to what type of grip to make. Have him try out several different styles and see which one he would find most comfortable If you don't have several models of grip lying around as samples, send him to a fly shop. Fly Rod grip styles are pretty much all over the map, I know what I like in a grip and that also depends on what type of fly rod I am using for myself. I
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Straightest axis, like Tom K does. Couple of years ago I took two identical Fiberglass 8'-6" 3pc 5wts, built out with the same components, twins, except, one on Straightest Axis, the other on the Spine. You could not tell a difference, they both cast the same. Had a few "expert builders" cast them as well, they could not pick out which one was which and they also could not see a
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Several of the sponsors sell skeletons hardware for those that want to turn their own inserts. REC has really nice Hardware, Anglers Workshop and several others on the left do to.
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The thing about Lathes, think of what the "heaviest or biggest" thing you'll want to turn and bore, then make your decision on what to buy. A lot of the "pen turning lathes" might be a bit light in power to do what a lot of rod builders might want to do. The online or paper classifieds are great places to find used lathes. I found my two lathes that way and they came with
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Lynco Grinding, been in business for years.
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That epoxy is not tinted. Any one of the 2 Part Thread finishes will work. To get that look is very easy, use a shade of thread that is slightly lighter than the base color of your blank. Regular Nylon (not NCP Thread) will work fine and do not use color preserver. Even with a natural carbon blank, you can get that look with colors like red, orange, ect. Solid color blanks won't look like
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Some S2 Glass Pre Peg can be purchased colored, I believe the cloth is dyed prior to the resins being added. If you "sand down" a blank like a Steffen Brothers brown colored or McFarland Black S2 Glass, it just dulls the color and will darken when wet. But many companies due use the off white colored S2 Glass and paint it. You could still have a Carbon blank, the sanding residue wil
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Fiberglass Blanks Rolled in the USA: McFarland Rod Co (Anglers Workshop carries them), Steffen Brothers, Tom Morgan Rodsmiths. The Epic blanks used to be rolled by CTS, now they are done in South Korea CTS Quartz, New Zealand. Kabuto Japan. All of these folks make top shelf blanks.
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Personally, I'd spend a bit more, CTS has a stellar 7'-6" 3 or 4wt in their Quartz Glass. There are other brands in the same price range as theirs for that size and line weight, but that CTS taper is spot on in my book. HNL Rod Blanks can give you a price on one.
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Couple of options depending on how "translucent" of a look you are trying to get. Those St Croix rods are using regular nylon, I am familiar with the look they have. Depending on the base color of the blank, they are using a thread color that is slightly lighter in shade than the blank. You will have to experiment a bit. Get a couple of colors that are lighter and up to the color of yo
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