Bob, Absolutely correct. The rod that I am building right now is certainly a top notch blank that will work very very well for the puprose for which it was designed. Thanks again for the great blanks. Roger
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Rick, The last time that I left "the mudhole" I had to take it to a steam cleaner to get the 1000 lbs of mud off the bottom of the vehicle that had been stuck to the undercarriage. However, I hear you. Mudhole has always been a great distributor, with great products and staff. Roger
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Tom, I certainly agree with your last comment. Too many folks really get bent out of shape with respect to saving a gram or fraction of gram there. Then they put a 20 oz reel on the light blank and don't think that they have what they want. Yes, I certainly agree that it is generally in the interest of the rod builder and client to have a rod that is built with light weight componen
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Terry, It sounds like you are looking for the very same blank that I am. Actually, I really can't recommend any of the st. croix blanks in the SCV and the SCVI that I have looked at for the lighter power range. I will say that the new St. croix Avid 6'10" casting blank is very fast, marked medium light and is just starting to get to the lighter range that I would like. The thing
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Yes, Clean the blank of the wraps, start over and you will be good to go. Roger
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Tony, This 3 inch grinder from harbor freight uses a univeral brush style motor, and it comes with a speed control. It is a pretty weak grinder for general purpose but it certainly has plenty of power for grinding guide feet. It also comes with a flex cable for remote grinding use. Roger
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Also, As one of the other posters suggested, you can simply flip the motor from end to end, with a newly made monting bracket for the motor and it will do the same thing. Roger
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terry, With respect to a blank with an extra fast tip, St. Croix has come out with some new models this year, that are exactly that - i.e. very fast tips. Nice rods. You might want to check them out. Roger
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Terry, I have just picked up the FW702-1 - like the one that you have. After getting the handle on and shaped, I have done some comparisons to a bunch of other rods that I have on hand. I would say, that the NFC 702-1 - is virtually identical to the Rogue SP702 that I have as a finished rod. This rod is feather light, perfectly balanced and will make a wonderful light jig / bait fishing r
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Of course the simplest thing to do, is to simply reverse the orientation of the wrapper. Then, as far as you, the wrapper is concerned, the wrapper will be going the opposite direction. Good luck Roger
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Batson has some nice solid glass rods that I have used a lot. the only thing is that the longest one is 6 foot or so. Depending on the handle arrangement, you could always push the blank out to a longer length if desired. Roger
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Here is a picture of the wiring changes required that was posted some time ago - in the picture section: If you don't want to make the motor reverse direction at the flip of a switch, simply swap the wires and leave the switch out of the changes. Roger
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Here are the handle wraps, and you have your choice of colors: Roger
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David, You could wrap your grip in black electrical tape. There are actually quite a few bass fishermen that do exactly that for what every reason. It does make it very easy to keep clean. Also, there are some commercial handle wraps available, that are also quite popular on the pro bass circuit. I personally think that they are quite ugly, but they do work. Another option is to remo
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Matt, This has happened to me on an occasion, and I simply did a continuous thread wrap from the butt grip to the rear handle. Normally, this is only a few inches, and the slight added weight normally helps to better balance the rod. Plus, you can do a nice wrap, or weave in that area to dress up the rod, and completely cover the blank. Take care Roger
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If you like you can use any type glue that you want. Over the years, virtually every type and style of glue that you can imagine have been used, at one time or another to glue fishing rods together. Some of the glues worked out well, and some were a disaster. Certainly nothing wrong with using standard hardware type glue - whether it is wood glue, white glue, poly glue, 5 minute epoxy, 10 min
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Tony, Actually, I have to respectfully disagree with Joe on this one. He is right in that the speed control works very well with brush style motors. Unfortunately, neither of these motors are of the brush style universal motors. Rather they are fixed rpm, induction style ac motors. Their speed is dependent on the frequency of the ac supply that is driving them. If you wanted to buy an e
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Gabe, To reverse the motor electrically, you need to take the motor apart, and swap the two wires going to the brushes. Depending on the motor, this may be an easy job or a next to impossible job - depending on the internal layout of the motor and the wiring connections to the brushes. Another option - if you don't want to tear into the motor, is to replace the motor with one that runs
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I agree with Phillip's method. For tye tpicaly guide I will use black permenant marker if it s black guide. If it is a chrome or gold guide I will leave it alone after prepping. Roger
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St. Croix and Thorne Brothers have some excellent blanks for Muskies. Take care Roger
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Even though these are tall M guides, and using light line, I personally wouldn't go any smaller than a size 16 and likely a size 20 for the first guide. I just don't like to see any heavy angle changes on a guide when I am reeling up line. Good luck Roger
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Kyle, Essentially any of the rod blanks and rods that are sold for catfish will work very well for big carp. A glass rod is a wonderful type rod for this fishing. The soft tip and gentle action of a good glass rod is great for the style bites that Carp have. Good luck Roger
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Bill, What ever works is great. I generally do two to three rods on a batch, including the butt wraps. I start at the butt, go to the tip. Get finish on everthing needed. Then, use the heater to thin and let the finish flow out and transfer to the dryer. Go to the next rod and repeat. Generally 2-4 minutes per rod. Apply at 0-50 rpm and let dry at 10-15 rpm. Take care Roger
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Mike, A very simple way to do it is to simply build the rod as a fly rod, making sure that the first guide is of good size. When you want to use it as a spinning rod, simply take off the fly reel, put on the spinning reel and you will be good to go. It will be a bit tip heavy, and with the guide setup won't cast as well as a fully dedicated spinning rod, but for now and then use, it wi
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After getting the finish on the blank about the way that you want it, increase the spinning speed of the blank and use a touch of heat to thin the finish. Speed up the rod to somewhere between 20 and 50 rpm for best results. The result will be a very clean line with no need to brush or level. The spinning rod with the thin finish will give you a very nice clean straight line. Good luck
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Terry, As the other posters have suggested, the blank and tip diameters do not mean that blanks match. However, I will often use the blank and tip diameter to get me in the range of what I am lookng for, and then look at those particular blanks with an eye for the matching details. Good luck Roger
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John, Great information. Roger
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As Tom and Matt pointed out, use the right guide for the right application. Micros are wonderful guides for some applications, but they certainly are not to be used on every rod. Many rods - due - either to thier design, their line, and or prey requirements simply should not use micro guides. But if you have the right rod, for the right application the use of micros can really enhance your
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Ken and John, I think you are right. The one difference is that the steady rest wheel and bearings are different. However, the seller does have the same wheels on his @#$%& store. So, it is likely the same thing. Thanks for the heads up. Roger
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I ran across this hand wrapper that had been made in a home workshp using hardware store threaded rod and aluminum stock: It is currently listed on the big @#$%& site. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the construction details, using threaded rod, aluminum stock, wheel nuts and roller board bearings and wheels. Take care Roger
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