Gavin, First thing, in my opinion anyway, you should use a free flowing (thin) epoxy i/s of thickened epoxy to glue rings together so you do not need so much pressure to expell excess epoxy. Secondly, ream the hole until the ring JUST seats with the previous one. You should not have to force the ring. If your rings are too snug you will have to apply much too much pressure to snug the middle
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Randy, Use the FT 907 4pc - not the 8wt. The rod works best with a 9wt inter line or a 10wt floater - I use recoils for running guides and, very important, REC recoil tip-top also.. The 8wt needs a 10wt inter and an 11wt float to load. The 7wt is the sweetest of the FT line. I have them all from 5wt to 10wt. If you want to throw an 8wt with an FT go with the 5wt. The 6wt's tip is too soft
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Buddy, Thanks. During my casting on rods W/O tamers I see no indication that the line is over-taking the second guide or bunching-up before the second guide. I already took off the tamer on the rod I am building now (Dan Craft FT 907) because the Perma Gloss was only 24hrs old and I could still take it off W/O leaving a trace of the PG. I have a number of these blanks - my favorite - and th
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Tom, I saw your comment re tamers not needed on rods that use stiffer lines. Did I hurt performance by inserting tamer on this type of rod - or is it just neutral? Herb Ladenheim
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Mo, When you used thread and PG were you able to feel the individual threads, or was the wrap smooth like epoxy? I apply PG heavy for first coat, allow to penetrate and dry-brush the excess off. The subsequent coat is applied thin. Don't know if this is preferred way or not. Herb
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Tom, Re tamers - I guess that is why I don't see much difference with my earlier rods without tamers and the new with tamers. I use mostly heavier wt lines - 8-10 - and 99% of the time I am using stiff intermediates vs the limper floaters. Herb
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Larry, My opinion: 16, 12 tamer, 12, 10, 7 running, 7 tip top. Herb
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Larry, My opinion: 16, 12 tamer, 12, 10, 7 running, 7 tip top. Herb
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Tony, My question was a hypothetical one. I did not build one rod with recoils and then another rod with ceramics. My Dan CraftFT 907-4 loads perfectly (for me) with a 9wt inter line. I did not attempt to load a twin blank (with ceramics) with a 7wt line - it was only a hyothetical question - IF the blanks loaded as my orig thread stated - would the rod's recovery, and therefore line speed, s
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Todd, I understand that some people believe that ceramics create a more "SLIPPERY" surface for the line to travel over and thereby shoot line more effectively. What I was concerned about is line speed which is another thing. Line speed, unless I misunderstand the concept, is a function of how fast a blank recovers to the neutral position after loading - the time it takes for a full
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Good afternoon, Maybe Tom will weight -in on this. I build saltwater, 9' rods that handle lines from 7wt-11wt. I would love to use my Fuji TiSiC single foot guides - and I have accumulated a lot of them. But every time I install them on a blank they make the rod softer. So I only have them on the rods I use 10-11wt lines. My favorite blank is the Dan Craft FT 9' 4pc 7wt with a 9wt int
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Thanks everyone, I only build 9' rods for the salt. 7wt - 10wt. Normal, no wind or down-wind, casting distance including leader is 70'-90'. reason I brought it up is that in poor light and in error, I missed threading line through the first stripper and went directly to the tamer. With added distance from my stripping basket the line seemed to shoot eaiser. Same primcipal why line casts bet
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Ole, REC has the best I have seen. Get the threaded one. herb
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Have been building my fly rods with first stripper within comfortabe reach - about 18" from forward end of grip. I rarely lose control of line so not too concerned about reaching line at stripper Will I gain casting distance if I move first stripper to 24"-26" , or more? Herb
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Harold, Better bring some 9 or 10wt lines to load that DC FT908. Herb
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Harold, Without a doubt go with the Dan Craft - but not the 8wt. Go with the DC FT 9' 4pc 7wt. I use that rod with a 9wt Wulff int line or a 10 wt Wulff floater. It can throw a big deer hair diver 90 Ft with an unbelievable tight loop. This is Dan's favorite blank of his FT line. I have the FT rods from 5wt-10wt. The 7wt is amazing. I have 4 of them with different guide setups. If you ha
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Jayson, Cut rhe arbor into four. The hole is too small for the reamer so I use a rat-tail file until I can get the reamer in. I have a whole set of the flexcoat bits - don't like them - I use the rat tail i/s. Take one turn with the reamer through the arbor - Then (very important) rotate the reamer BACK with the arbor snug to it (no grinding) just 45 degrees. Then grasp the arbor again and
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Adam, The Dan Craft FT 9' 4pc in 8wt will easily handle a 10wt line and is a very durable blank. If you can get away with a 9wt use the FT 7wt blank - my favorite. If you go with the Dan Craft FT 10wt you will not load it with a 10wt line. Herb
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Rich, I use eva butt caps all the time without coloring in epoxy - no glue line. Maybe you are not cutting the eva square or you are not clamping with enough pressure. You do not want to deform grip - especially the cork. It sounds like you are using too much epoxy and not enough pressure. Hey, are you using thickened epoxy. If so try another that runs thin. I bet that is your prob - thick
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Pat, If you are fishing the surf you are probably using a stripping basket - or you should. You will find that you cannot effectively control more than 60"-70" of line plus leader anyway. The sweet spot on the 7wt (with the Wullf MonoClear 9wt line) is with your line hand at the 40" mark - or, in-other-words with about 30" of line out of the tip of the rod. On a nice day y
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Patrick, My comments were for the 7wt. I use 10wt line on the DC FT 8wt. Herb L
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I have 4 rods made from that blank - dynamite. I do not know re sink tips but I have tried 7,8 and 9 wt Wulff MonoClear wt fd saltwater lines and it performes best with the 9wt line. VERY tight loops, good line speed and does not feel overloaded at all. As far as I an concerned it is a 9wt rod. I used REC recoil for runninf guiges and tip top. Herb L
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Trey, I have a Gatti factory FR 908 - 3pc. I also had a FR 909 - 3pc. that I sold These are saltwater rods and I guess would be among his faster blanks. Not nearly as fast nor as crisp as Dan Craft FT's, which is what I fish exclusively now. The 9wt was too soft for my taste. Too much of a parabolic action. The 8wt is better. The grip shape is strange - kind of straight. If you make your o
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Tim, You may be safe but who knows what chemical reaction there will be between the metal - what ever it is - and the PG. I chose to use small inexpensive glass or crystal beads purchased at any local bead shop. Go online and find locations or buy from on-line stores. Make sure they fit through the bottle mouth. Herb Ladenheim
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Tim is not speaking about line twist, he is speaking about the lure spinning in the air during the cast. This, I have found, is a function of lure design and energy imparted to the cast. I only use casting rods, not spinning, and I get this alot with Berkley Baits and jig heads. If I use a slower, smoother casting stroke instead of an explosive stroke it goes away. So does my distance, however.
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Mike, Try disabling your computer security system. Are you using Zone Alarm by any chance. Tha's the message I get when I try to some of those things. Herb Ladenheim
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Deffinately not ceramics. Even with Ti frames. Herb Ladenheim
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Perhaps the instructor feels he, the instructor, can cast better with the 5wt and dosen't wish to look inadequate during the lesson. Herb Ladenheim
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Steven, I have a Dan Craft FTL 906-6 for sale on this site with REC bushing epoxied to butt. Take a look. I will ship to your client for a look-see. If not happy ship back. Herb
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John, Have built 10 rods, 6wt - 10wt, with either REC recoils or Fuji TI SiC as strippers. The balance of running guides are REC SF heavy weight recoils. They will "sing" when your line is both dry and dirty. If you keep line dressed or wet they are as silent as any other. Loomis uses the REC recoils all the way on their GLX CrossCurrent. When I heard that they are noisy I spoke t
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