Dave, Check out light action steel head blanks. They make wonderful crappie rods. If you look for the ones that are labeled float rods, they have just the right tip action for crappies. Take care REW
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It would be interesting to see if manufacturers would have any interest in changing the way that they label rod guides so that all manufacturers would display guide data the same way. i.e. in the world of rod building, the thing that matters to the line is the inside diameter of the rod guide. Wouldn't it be nice if manufacturers sold rod guides - labeled with the inside diamter of the guid
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In addition to Toms comments -- with which I agree -- be sure to let the rod dry very very well after washing it with soap and water. I would suggest that even after drying with a towel etc. that you let the rod dry well for at least a day to be 100% sure that all of the moisture is gone. Of course, following the soap and water wash with alcohol is very good because alcohol will absorb water t
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Greg, Get the thin masking tape at auto supply stores that have a body painting section. The 1/4 inch and the 1/8th inch tape are used every day to stripe cars during the body painting process. I agree with the other posters. If you are test casting use the 1/4 inch wide tape for a secure hold. Then, for wrapping, use either 1/8th wide masking tape or thin elastic binders. These thin bin
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Reply, No reason to NOT claim it. If you put in a claim for an amount to cover your time and trouble to fix the rod - plus shipping both ways, that should be a reasonable amount. I assume that you put a few $$$ insurance on it when you shipped it? Take care Roger
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Brad, If this was a rod that you built, it should only take a few minutes to strip off the guide, tape on a new one, wrap and finish it. Take care Roger
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Brad, You are fortunate that only the ceramic was broken on the rod. My guess is that UPS discovered that the container was damaged in shipment and wanted to acess the damage to the rod - to computer their liablity. Or, it may be possible that the end cap had simply worked loose and needed a replacement. If the cap had come loose, it is possible that the rod had worked its way out of the
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Jay, Measure the location - where the exposed part of the reel seat will be located. This is normally the smallest part of the reel seat that you want to fit tightly on the rod. If the seat is only available in a size that is a bit larger or a bit smaller than this location, purchase the one that is a touch smaller. then, simply ream the reel seat as needed for a perfect fit. Take care
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Neil, I couldn't agree more. I think that the entire ides of "sensitivity" with respect to exposed compared to non exposed reel seats is way over rated. Is there a difference in feel? Maybe? Is it subjective - you bet. Then, you bring in things like modulus of rigidity, how stiff the reel seat is, how stiff the reel seat arbors are, do you get a reflection effect from a particul
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Larry, I use testers model paint all of the time for lettering my rods. I let the paint dry for at least 30 minutes. In some cases, I let it dry for 15 minutes and it also worked just fine. The key about applying any sort of finish that has been painted with testors paint is to NOT brush the area, and to not let the finish flow very much. i.e. apply the finish just above the writing, have
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Mike, Cork as we know it is the bark of the cork tree. There is virtually no cork available that is much thicker than about 1/2-3/4 inch. This is simply because that is how thick the cork bark is as it is harvested. Having said that, you can go to the portugal suppliers and buy cork planks that have been flattened and dried. Then, if you want to turn a block, you simply take the plank
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I agree with Jay and Matt. I think that the shape of the exposed grip reel seat and the reduced diameter in the area of the fingers make this style reel seat much more comfortable to fish. Whether, there is a different feel with an exposed grip or not - that is up to the particular user of the reel seat. Take care Roger
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Tom, If you have a flush tip end of your rear grip and have an inset space in your rod grip you have three choices. 1. Simply take the rear grip, butt it up to the reel seat and glue it in place. 2. Put the rear grip on a lathe, and cut a tenon into the current grip so that it is a perfect stable fit on the inside of the grip. 3. Take another piece of material, arbor, cork ring or s
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I am with Rusty on this one. I use conventional pen and nibbs by scripto. These nibs are readily available at most art supply stores, many of the box stores as well as craft stores. I have tried many many different india inks, other inks, acrylic inks etc. I have really found none of them to work as well as the use of Testors Metallic paints. The use of these paints work very very well
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Jeff, If you happen to have a couple sets of larger chuck jaws and need them to open further, you can always use an abrasive disk to cut off a portion of each jaw, if you don't have a need to close up the jaws. Often, this is an expedient way to take care of special - but often used needs. Of course, if you need to be able to use the jaws, as they are currently c onfigured; you wouldn't w
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p.s. Actually, this was one of the main reasons that I purchased a new small lathe. i.e. just to shape butt caps from various materials. The other lathes that I had in the shop were not suitable for this specific task. Take care Roger
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Mark, Slip some composite cork rings into your lathe and shape them in a few minutes. Take care Roger
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Chuck, After rereading your post, I realized that I have some cork and some handles made of the exact material of which you speak. Although quite uniform, I found after making a couple of handles from the cork, it was really not the best product. I had found that it seemed to chip out much more easily than conventional, burled or rubberized cork. As a result, I stopped using the product
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Jeff, One thing that is very very useful when you are doing these jobs is a set of drill bits of a particular size - say 1/4 inch that are of different lengths. It is nice to have some very short stubby bits, that can be chucked into the tail stock to do the initial drilling. By having only a very short (say 1 inch) drill coming from the tail stock, the point of the drill will be very very
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Richard, I have made many many things with Balsa over the years, and if you pick the right density wood, it would work just fine. Balsa comes in many many different densities- all of the way from punk soft to nearly as hard a pine. Depending on the density of the wood selected, it will be easy or difficult to carve. I would think that - if the right density is selected, it would work ve
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Bee, These power wrappers simply use an ac/dc series wound motor. Virtually any controller that will speed control an ac/dc motor will work fine. As Barry suggested, the sponsores on the left will likley have access to a foot pedal. Otherwise, you can go out into the open market and simply pick up any universal - rheostat type or electronic type foot pedal. My personal preference is f
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Larry, What happens to handles when they get used? They get dirty. Yes, they can be washed, but the advantage of using black eva for grips is that it is the same color as the dirt that gets on them and thus shows little dirt. Virtually colors are going to fade as well. It is a matter of degrees. If grips are kept out of the sun and weather, the fading will be minimal and will look great after
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Chuck, Grips 1. regular cork - composed of unbroken pieces of bark from cork trees, cut into tings and glued together to form rings. 2. broken bits of cork glued together and turned to form handles - burled cork. 3. ground up cork into tiny even particles and glued into a material and grips are formed - rubberized cork. This is also the order of weight. i.e. regular cork is lightest,
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Chris, I have gone over to Good will or salvation army and picked through their bins. You can typically find several rods for $1 total. Then, simply chop and grind as needed for blank extensions. It only takes a few minutes with a chop saw and razor blade to clean up a blank to use as an extension. Typically cost about 10 cents per extension. Roger
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Kevin, Doing it "Right" means putting a reliable motor on your dryer. A reliable motor may be obtained from many many world wide sources. Obtain the drying motor from the source that makes the most sense to you to do the job that is needed. Virtually every product that is used in rod building - has a use some where else in the industrial world and typically has multiple suppli
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Tom, I couldn't agree more - with the caution on overheating. That is the reason, that I suggested that the user get some experience on a piece of scrap blank and cured epoxy to get a good feel for - and experience in executing the procedure. Take care Roger
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Dave, Has the grip been glued in place? If it were my rod, I would likely cut off the rear grip, if it had been glued in place, and glue on a new handle that was sized and placed correctly. Roger
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Ken, It sounds like you are about right except for the lower guides as you pointed out. I might just suggest that you go with your 4, 4& 1/18th and 5 inch spacing for the first three guides. Then, try a 6, 7, and 9 inch spacing for a total of 6 guides. ( Or possibly 6, 8, 11 inches - if you need the butt guide closer to the handle. Just tape on the last three in these locations
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Tim, You can mix anything you like, including drinks - shaken - not stirred. But if you mix something that is not necessarily recommeded by the manufacturer, be sure to test the mixed results on something about which you don't care. Let things cure the normal amount of time - for that particular product and see if you like the results. Remember, you may have a different mixing techn
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Dave, Just to a bit of practice on a piece of scrap blank - where you have applied some 5 minute epoxy and let it dry. Use a heat gun. Heat the epoxy until it softens enough to remove. Just keep testing with the scraping stick, until it softens enough to make it removable. Take care Roger
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