Alex, Point well said, I have simply found that I have had issues with a bit of casting distance, if I have the first guide either too low, or too small. Make either one incorrect and have a bit of casting restriction. I think that there is plenty of line control with the guides further up the rod. I would love to come down and catch some big reds. I agree, when the fight is on - one d
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Mike, For all of my rods using a Tennesse handle, I simply keep a roll of electrical tape in my tackle box. About two wraps of tape on the front reel foot and the back reel foot and you are set. If the tape every gets loose, and or dirty, take it off and put on a fresh wrap. Simple effective and looks essentially the same as the heat shrink. Roger
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I generally use a 2 footed guide for my first two guides. The primary reason for using the two footed taller first two guides is simply toughness. The taller guides are more easily bent and if you happen to have rod lockers, tend to catch more easily on the sides of the lockers. A one footed guide will handle the load, fine, I just prefer the two footed guides for durability. I also like to u
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Kevin, This blank like all blanks is pretty easy to position guides. Have a roll of 1/4 inch wide tape on hand. Take a scissor and cut a bunch of 1-2 inch strips and have them ready to use. After you have the butt, reel seat and fore grip in place with the glue dried do some rod flexing to position the blank. Put the butt of the rod on a capeted floor to keep the butt from sliding.
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Daniel, I just use an aligator clip to clip into the butt of the rod. I then hang the rod from the rafters and spray the rod. As with any spray finish, two or three very thin misted on coats does a much better job than a single heavy coat. Do a light mist coat to tack up the rod, then mist on a slightly heavier coat to began to fill the finish. Let it set up and repeat two more times. No
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Garrett, I think that there is enough bling in the guides without any contrasting wraps. All of the pink rods that I have made have used matching pink thread. The guide wraps melt into the blank. A nice contrast with pink is gold. Many of the pink rods that I have made, use gold guides, with matching gold reel seat. Lots of options. I don't think that "pretty" necessari
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Joe, Right on. Another thing to reduce line tangles when you are storing multiple rods in a close space, with a leader and or bait on the rod hooked to the hook keeper is to twist the line. Take the line that is running down the rod to the hook keeper and wrap it around the rod a few times. Use the guides to latch the line as you loop it around the rod. It is remarkable how much better t
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I had a long talk with the chemist who holds the patent on Syncork. All of the comments listed above are right on. The material has been made in many different colors, but right now it is mainly commercially available in only black. The folks found that any other color was very difficult to keep clean. So, they settled on black as being the best color for long term use. This material works be
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Chuck, Right on - it is a myth. It is very seldom that if you buid a rod with the identical components as the commercial rod, that you will end up saving any money by the time you consider shipping etc. If, on the other hand, you have your dealers license and can buy wholesale, you can then save a few $$. Don't build rods to save money - over time and effort it isn't going to happen
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Marc, I think it would be a waste of time. Bottom line, you need something more rigid for an arbor. Roger
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Tim, Have you wrapped and finished your guides on the rod yet? If not, it might make sense to build up the rod temporarily with a few number of guides, test cast, and then load it up with the guides you have now. Verify any difference. You may or may not see a difference. If so, let us know your results. Good luck Roger
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Dan, Many folks who are building split grip rods, put a conventional hook keeper just in front of the butt cap. Out of the way, and allows the use of a longer leader. Take care Roger
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Tim, Is this a spinning rod, or a bait casting rod? Are the guides on the top of the rod, the boattom of the rod or spiral wrapped? Roger
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John, A bad idea. I few years ago, I finished a bird feeder with Poly and after about 3 years in the sun, the finish had completely burned off due to the UV rays of the sun. If you want an exterior finish, use spar varnish. But, epoxy guide finish has been specifically tailored for use on the special needs of fishing rods. That is, excellent adhesion, smooth flow out, excellent reistan
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Alan, With respect to guides: Actually simple snake guides work very well for this project and are just a fraction of the price of Recoil guides. Unless you want to, no reason to go that expensive on the reel seat. Especially, since this is your first project, it may not be the best idea to spend a lot of money for components. When finished, it will be nice to say that this was my fir
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Johnathan, Remember, today we have a world economy. There are few components that are specifically made in any particular country. A nut is made here, a bolt is made there, and a handle is made across the ocean. The important this is not where it is made, but if it is made of the quality that you want, and if the price is satisafctory for you. Roger
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Chuck, An easy way to finish the rod, is to obtain a piece of pvc tubing that is just a bit larger than the handle of the rod. Partially fill it with finish. Dip the rod handle into the pvc tube. As the handle is inserted, the handle will displace the finish causing the finish to rise higher on the rod. Adjust the amount of finish in the pvc tube so that when fully inserted into the pvc tube,
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Hank, I have tried both. I never liked the time it took, nor the results that I obtained from the use of a spatula. After cleaning brushes for a while, I tried some inexpensive - 5 cents a brush in large quantities - brushes and I haven't looked back. I use one brush per rod, and when finished, throw the brush away. Never any cleaning, or having to worry about the brush. Quick applicatio
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Gabe, You might give Goof Off a try. This cleaner works quite well for problems of this sort. Roger
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Peter, Generally speaking you don't want to use polyurethene varnish on items that are subject to UV sunlight rays. There are a few poly varnishes that are better at UV resistant but not generally. On the other hand, the marine and other exterior spar varnishes do an excellent job with UV resistance. Good luck Roger
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Walt, Fortunately, about a year ago a plastic to plastic epoxy has come on the market. This epoxy uses a catalyst during the mix and it really does work very well. This is about the first plastic to plastic adhesive that I have used, and it actually works very well. #
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Duane, Here is a picture of some aero reel seats and the mods that I made to some older Fugi fore grips that I had found. I am not sure if these particular fore grips are still available: By the way, I just finished up a batch of 4 identical rods using the aero reel seat. When I put the rod together, I just turned the butt grip, until the grip fit nicely inside the reel seat. Then,
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Lou, To make a pvc chuck, all that you need are some pvc end caps, a piece of pvc pipe that will fit over the end caps withabout .030 clearance and a piece of 1/16th thick neoprene. Put the pvc cap into the lathe and use the lathe and tools to shape the end of the pvc cap to allow for the pipe clearance to act as a clamp for the neoprene. While the cap is in the lathe, put a 1/4 inch bit in
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Ron, If your dryer motors get hot, it is not a bad idea to have a few small fans and put a fan next to each motor to keep it cool. There is a big difference in the temperature of the motor if there is no fan, compared to having a fan to keep it cool. Roger You could buy a few of these 12 volt fans for $1.50 each and than a 12 volt transformer to power them for $1.50 each.
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Sanford, Start with the same size guides and placement as if you were doing a conventional rod. Then, after doing the spiral, tweak the size and or placement or number of guildes to accomodate the spiral. Good luck Roger
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Rich, I turn on the dryer and generally leave it on for about 8 hours. Roger
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Hank, Just consider this to be a two piece rod. I have done a couple of rods like this where the rod was broken midships, but the client did not want to show any signs of repair. So, I picked up another blank and trimmed the blank so that the 6 inches that I left sticking out of the foregrip would be a nice tight fit on the inside of the new blank extension. All that I did was to get a ni
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Kevin, It is really your choice. There is really not much difference in the overall weight, the overall strength, or the overall appearance of the rod, whether you do the finish on the underwrap first or all in one. Some folks like to do the finish first, because they feel that they get a better finish, or an easier overwrap. But it is really up to you to do the thing that works best for your p
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Jay, Another thing that I like to use the belt sander is to use relatively coarse sanding belt - like 150 grit. Then, when I sand the guide feet, I hold the guide foot at 90 degrees to the belt. The result is that the sandpaper puts fine grooves across the face of the guide foot. The nice thing about this, especially with smaller guides with short feet, is that the perpendicular grooves in
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Jay, I use the belt sander all fo the time for all of the guides, The sander is always set up, so is handy. For dressing small guides, I have taken an 8x32 long bolt. This size bolt just fits inside some of the smaller guides. I have then ground the head so it is nearly flat. I then have taken the long bolt, slipped a guide on the bolt, and then taken a piece of rod blank that just fits o
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