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4 years ago
Bill Hickey
I fish several short rods, all are Fiberglass, and range in lengths from 6' to 7'-3", 2/3wts to 5wts. Where I use them depends on water flows, size of patterns I am going to use, and size of the stream. Most of the time its Brook Trout water in NY and VT.
A 6'-6" to 7' 2/3wt Glass is a lot of fun on smaller creeks, Fiberglass with its deep flexing action will load up much easier tha
Forum: rodboard 4 years ago
Bill Hickey
Without seeing pictures of the blank , specifically the ferrule, I'd guess it might be a J Kennedy Fisher or a Dale Clements blank, if it is Fiberglass.
Forum: rodboard 4 years ago
Bill Hickey
CTS Affinity X, in my opinion, best option out there.
Contact HNL Rod Blanks.
Forum: rodboard 4 years ago
Bill Hickey
I do the same thing as Don recommended. Graphite can be used also (keeps the weight down).
One company, Tom Morgan Rodsmiths, they send you a graphite stent to be used with their glass blanks, as most have rather large diameter butt sections (truck axle size).
Forum: rodboard 4 years ago
Bill Hickey
I'd spend a bit more and get a CTS Affinity X. I own a 10wt in that model, quite nice.
Contact Herb at HNL Rod Blanks. He is pretty well versed in blanks for Strippers.
Forum: rodboard 4 years ago
Bill Hickey
CTS Affinity X, I have also built out a couple of MHX 4wts for customers, good blank, but the CTS Affinity X is better in my opinion.
Rod Geeks also has a decent 904-4, kinda stiff for my taste, but it will work and is affordable.
Don't rule out fishing with an Indicator or dry/dropper rigs depending on what time of year you are going to be out there.
Forum: rodboard 4 years ago
Bill Hickey
Thanks for the tips, I am going to go with a contact cement, took a look at that video and that looks like the way to go. I was figuring that an epoxy would be subject to heat and failure.
Forum: rodboard 4 years ago
Bill Hickey
Hey Folks,
I have a Batson Dream Reamer kit and on one of my reamers, I need to replace the sanding strip on it. The kit does come with replacement paper, but my question is, What is the best glue or epoxy to bind the sanding paper to the tapered reamer?
Thanks.
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
According to a book I have on Fiberglass Fly Rods, Russ Peak did his fiberglass blanks at Conolon and Sila-flex. The book does not state where his Graphite came from, maybe try contacting Kerry Burkheimer, like Tom K said, he did wind up with the Peak equipment and they were friends, with Peak teaching Kerry about blank rolling and rod building. If anyone would know where the graphite came from,
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Getting bubbles in your finish, that is an issue with how you are mixing it, does not matter the brand, if you mix the wrong way, you'll get bubbles.
Be gentle when you mix, circular motion for at least 3 min. If you try to "slap" the mix around, bubbles will form, its happened to all of us. Also, if you do get a few bubbles in the mix, having a small diameter piece of tubing handy,
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
I would recommend a CTS Affinity MX 8'-6" 4wt 4pc based on what you are looking to do with it. I have built several for customers, and I did fish one myself for several seasons. Its a great blank for fishing dries, along with dry/dropper rigs. When I had mine, it did work very well with several different lines, both WF and DT.
Contact Herb and he'll get you the blank.
If your looki
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Ian,
Like the others have stated, underwraps are not needed, Epic blanks are made with "reinforcement" material at the ferrule stations, as are many other modern manufactured fly rod blanks. All you will do is add unnecessary weight to the blank.
As for guide placement, Epic should have provided a guide placement chart with the blank, I usually use this as a start point, then
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Seth, here are my opinions:
For that 400 acre pond: An 8-6 to 9ft blank, 4pc in a 4 or 5wt, CTS would get my vote, the Affinity X or MX. If your going to use small floating poppers or sinking nymphs, a floating line will work just fine. I'm one that prefers Double Taper lines, but the Wulff Triangle Tapers are also very good lines.
That Rainbow Lake, same rod, either 4 or 5wt, but
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Josh,
I am going to recommend a Fiberglass blank, there are plenty of manufacturers that make blanks from 6', 6-6" and 7' in 2 to 4wt. You can find price point blanks to higher end in what you are looking for. My personal go to rod for the type of water you are fishing is a Steffen Brothers 6' 2/3wt 2pc. I like it with a DT3 line, it does work just fine with a DT2 also, I fish dries
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
195. Re: threadmaster one
Like Herb, I've built a couple rods on "white" blanks as well as "clear white" fiberglass, used Threadmaster Lite on all of them, so far, no yellowing. The ones that own the painted white blanks, they will message me now and then saying the epoxy is still glass clear.
I have a couple of clear glass fly rods as personal builds, no yellowing on them either, and they are out
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
I have 4 blanks, J Kennedy Fisher Glass, that need a new top coat, either Permagloss or some equivalent. I am willing to ship these blanks to someone that knows what they are doing and could do a professional job on putting a new top coat on the blanks.
While I consider myself to be a competent builder, doing this type of work myself is something that I would rather have done by someone that
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
197. Re: Short 5wt
I agree with Phil's post above. I would research spinning blanks that will cast a 1/3 ounce lure should work and what would be the big deal if you had to go a line weight heavier if it under loaded with a 5wt line?
Another option would be to have CTS make you a blank, they have done Fiberglass for me in that short and that line weight. I don't see why they could not make one in Graphite. I kn
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
There are 2 Lemke seats that I would use:
LC-14 or LC-16 Slide Band style or the LC-2 Threaded Barrel. I have used them plenty of times on small light line fly rods. Joel Lemke used to work for Struble, now he is off on his own, catering to hobby builders and many pro builders.
I think the Lemke offerings are nicest looking hardware out there these days. REC also has some nice stuff
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Darin,
I own two CTS Affinity X's in 9'-6", one is a 5wt and the other a 6wt. I use them for indicator nymphing, the longer length is ideal for line mending. Both of these blanks are awesome casting, while labeled as a "fast" action, they are not very tip stiff, rather an even loading powerful blank.
I also do some of the same style fishing as you, out of float tubes
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Don is giving you some valid insight on stripper guide sizing. Agates and it is going to depend on the brand and are sized by the builder by their ring size. I'll give you an example: Joe Arguello Agates have a smaller ring and frame vs a Struble Agate. Both are very high quality stripping guides and I tend to use more of the Arguello agates than any other brand, his frames seem to be a bit more
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Like Don stated, Swift does give you a location guide for spacing and sizes on their website. While I don't agree with the amount of different sizes listed, their spacing chart is usually very close.
A size 8 Stripper, followed by a #1, then 1/0 snakes for the rest. On a personal note, I do not like single foot guides, Snake Brand Universals is the way to go in my book. I have built out a gan
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
I have a St Croix Legend Surf in for a simple repair. Model LSS90MM2. The guy who owns it bought it second hand and the first guide has been knocked out of alignment with the rest of the guides, thread and wrap damage, but no damage to the guide.
My question, thread color to match factory wraps, does anybody know what St Croix used on this rod, it is very close but darker to Pro Wrap 407 Cool
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
My shop consists of 3 areas:
The "dirty place", wood working/cork turning equipment; I am going to use the 4ft LED Shop style lights over each piece of equipment and the work bench.
Next I have a "clean area", small long room with several shelves with my rod turners where I apply my finish, again the 4ft LED Shop Lights.
My other area is where I wrap rods, tie flie
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Thanks for the Tips!
Roger, I tried a couple of the "Daylight LED" bulbs before posting my question, I liked the result, and sure enough your reply and tips confirmed my thoughts.
Much appreciated on the replies.
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
What type of lighting do you folks prefer to work under in your rod building area, primarily when your wrapping and finishing rods?
I'm in the process of renovating one part of my shop area and I am looking for tips on the type of lighting you like to work under.
Area is in my basement, so natural lighting will not be a factor.
Thanks
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
CTS Affinity X would be my choice. I have built several of them, from 2wts to 4wts for Euro style nymphing. On the expensive side, but well worth the money. Contact Herb, HNL Rod Blanks.
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Diamondback, the original Vermont based company did roll blanks for Payne for a very short period of time. They did "third party" work for a number of companies, LL Bean, Cabelas, HL Leonard and Cortland to name a few. In some cases they built out the rods or they just rolled the blanks. Once Cortland Line Company bought Diamondback, they still did a small amount of this "third par
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Here are a couple more options, CTS, they can make a 2 wt in just about any length and number of pieces (there will be some limits). Steffen Brothers does make some 2/3wt blanks in shorter lengths. Like some of the other gents have stated above, J Green does make some nice 2wt blanks also.
My question would be why a 2wt, what length, and what are you going to target with it? Example, if your
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
209. Re: Lathe
Lots of good advice above, one thing to keep in mind. You and your son stand the chance of getting bit by the bug of turning, grips might only be the start. Keep that in mind when you choose a lathe, some of the small ones and not so expensive ones are fine for turning grips and other small items. If you move into turning wood grips, reel seat inserts, ect, you are going to want something with a
Forum: rodboard 5 years ago
Bill Hickey
Glass works just fine for dries, as well as streamers. Yes, wets are their hallmark. I am guessing that this rod is meant for small stream streamer fishing. It is a specialized configuration, but it is more popular than you think.
Forum: rodboard |