BTW - a number 16 seems large for a "stream fly rod". Herb
Forum: rodboard

George, Are you sure you did not mean LVSG 16 i/s of VLSG16 - which is a single foot guide and is the reason you flattened it. If you want to keep the weight down use the TSVG16 which is the titanium frame version of what Tom mentioned. I use them (now) on all fly rods and am even retrofitting from TNSG. Herb L
Forum: rodboard

Wayne, The recoil tip-tops are not pretty - but they are oh so light. Winston used to put them on all their BIIX rods - my 10wt still has one. They had too many complaints that perspective buyers did not like the way they looked. Failure rate is very low. I have them on all my saltwater rods and have caught hundreds of fish on them - tarpon, stripers, jacks. If they can be used on med - hea
Forum: rodboard

Wayne, I have to come down on the side of REC s/f recoils AND the recoil tip-top. Using the ceramics will rob the blank of life - especially that blank. Herb
Forum: rodboard

Chris, 60-80 grit will cut any cork. But first step is to use a block. I made one by epoxing a strip 4" X 8" 60 grit (or 80) to a piece of perfectly true poplar. You can get it at Home Depot. Weight it while it sets-up so the paper is absolutely flat. I make fly rod grips by gluing 1 1/4" cork rings directly to the blank, not a 1/4" mandrel, so the cork rings are all sl
Forum: rodboard

Bob, Did this also - no luck. Thanks for all the tips. Herb
Forum: rodboard

Hey Jim, I spoke to AW and they do not have size D var thread - I need the D for a SW boat rod. Thanks, Herb
Forum: rodboard

This underwrap and CP thing is getting too complicated - too much CP can cause "rice crispy" noise when rod flexed, etc. I have decided to strip the D thread underwraps and go with A as the underwrap and C or D for the overwraps - whatever I can get in variegated thread in shades of orange. And I will go lightly (2 coats max) on the CP. To make the accent wraps more pronounced in the
Forum: rodboard

Hey Bill, I tried A thread but the contrasting black and orange "two-thread" wrap did not show boldly enough. I would have had to use a double or triple contrasting wrap. So I chose the D thread as the underwrap. The contrasting "two-thread" wrap looks good in D. Thanks for the "flip-rod end-to-end" idea. Re epoxy of underwrap - is that not an option?? Woul
Forum: rodboard

Hi all, I have started to wrap my 1950's rods with size D wnderwraps. The only variegated orange thread is avail in size C. I have 3 coats of CP on the underwraps. If I use the size C as the overwraps will I be able to pack threads, or will the C fall into the coarser D and make it difficult to pack. Should I lightly epoxy the underwraps to fill thread valleys?? Thanks for any advice. He
Forum: rodboard

Tommy, On those 1950's rods I am re-building - I applied 3 coats PG with a cheesecloth - per Tom - but then I "buffed with 2,000 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper WET. That kept 90% of the shine but made a nice smooth finish. Herb
Forum: rodboard

Chris, Another reason you do not awant to spray PG is that you would need somthing close to a HAZ_MAT mask to protect yourself from the mist. Herb
Forum: rodboard

I have actually seen both on a factory rod but I like what Charlie said and that is the way I do it. Herb
Forum: rodboard

I used the mask today for another application of PG. What a difference it made. No odor at all. This time I used the PG outside. Herb
Forum: rodboard

Dale, Which REC seat? What kind of rod? Herb
Forum: rodboard

Hi. The other day I used PG indoors in an application that envolved soaking cheesecloth in PG and wiping on a rod blank. I have used PG many times for guide wraps whithout incidence. But the amount of exposure in this application was excessive. Since my respiratory and cardiac systems are compromised I had no business doing this indoors without a mask. So, just now I pur'd a 3M model 6000 res
Forum: rodboard

Russ, I use West system epoxy to set my reel seat, reel seat bushing and cork rings; which has a "real" pot life of about 1/2 hr. spread thin on a sheet of aluminum foil. The first thing I do is to glue the hood to the seat and the bushing to the blank. Now I have to wait for an hour or so for the epoxy to set. The West system has a pump 5:1 dispenser so I have to make more than I n
Forum: rodboard

Noooooooo. Heat "kicks" off the chemical reaction that starts the epoxy to cure. Heat will thin the epoxy initially - if that is what you need - but will dramatically shorten the pot-life. If I have a 2 part epoxy job - not wraps- I will do the first job and then keep the remaining epoxy in the freezer. When I am ready to do the second part, I heat the "frozen" epoxy gently
Forum: rodboard

I just used Tom's method with cheesecloth on one of the 1950's boat rods. Worked great - but the fumes WOW. Made a mistake and used it in the condo's kitchen. Had to open the sliding glass doors to air it out. Will do the other rod outside on a calm day. Herb
Forum: rodboard

Dave -thank you. Tom, as always, thanks. I will do it. If I am proud of the results I will post pic - if I can figure out how. Herb
Forum: rodboard

First of all let me correct my statement that the blanks were surplus WWII tank antennas. The Conolon Co manuf';d antennas as well as these blanks - sorry. My current prob: Decided I want to wrap in 1950's style using bright colors (orange) with contrasting narrow bands of yellow and black. The blank is honey colored. All of my past work has been with fly rods with small dark wraps, so - I
Forum: rodboard

Rick, Can't agree with use of ceramics for other than strippers. Any added weight towards the tip of the rod- and the ceramics add a tremendus am't of weight - rob the blank of its potential performance. Especially in the weights you are referring to. I build fly rods in the 6-10wt range and find that the ceramics affect the action by the equiv of overlining the rod by 1/2 to a full line spec
Forum: rodboard

Fred, I had same prob with B/S area - BUT it was my fault, not the system. After you submit your ad a strip of black comes-up with the headings "buy sell- trade" etc. In the lower left hand corner of the black border - in dark purple (easiley missed) is a "button" to click-on. Do so and your ad will appear. Herb
Forum: rodboard

CTS from New Zealand has what you want in high-end blanks Go to ctsfishing.com and go to lower right of "home" screen and click on: download specs. Look on the Affinity One and Affinity MX pages. Or, email Stephen@ctsfishing.com for your needs. He can build you anything you want.
Forum: rodboard

My factory XP's have 5- 6mm wraps + a small overlap of epoxy onto blank. I would imagine the Z-Axis is the same. Herb
Forum: rodboard

Use REC's recoil tip-top. I can tell the difference between that and a traditional tip-top in the rod's action. Looks funny because it is crimpted, but I have them on 12 rods no prob. Winston used to use them but people objected to them based on looks. Some say they do not survive rough use but that is remote on a 6wt. I would ditch the wrap. Herb
Forum: rodboard

Hey guys, I only do fly rods (Cork); I stripped the ash handle and fore grip. Both have "burned" highlights on raised checkered areas. I assume they use something like a soldering iron to achieve the look and I can use the same in areas that need touch-up. Question: What do I finish the ash with to achieve a high gloss "see-through" finish with one, two coats max??? He
Forum: rodboard

Tried a citric acid cleaner/remover whose label stated to remove varnish. Did nothing. They may mean varnish caused by - say gasoline deposits. But it did nothing on rod finish. Maybe it is a urathane??? Herb
Forum: rodboard

Thank you everyone. I am not concerned too much re the glass fibers reacting with new solvents as I am with the new solvents in a stripper reacting with the resins used in the orig manuf of the blank. I don't want to anything to affect those agents binding the glass together. Herb
Forum: rodboard

Fred, Paul, Hank, Thanks. Hank, The spiral is the end of the fibreglass fabric as was wrapped to form the blank. - no wire or any other metal in blank. The spiral only goes around the blank about 3 times. It is a hollow blank and quite stiff. The tip measures .175" and the butt is .524" where it enters the wooden fore grip. Good backbone. I'll try to take a close-up picture of
Forum: rodboard