I just use a couple of coats of Watco Danish Oil. It penetrates and leaves a varish-like seal that hardens in the wood. It's a much quicker protection appliction than using CA and a lot less of a mess. And, It's much more durable than using a cork seal. Speaking of which, I now have some cork sealant to get rid of!
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That's strange. I guess I've alway thought of graphite as replicable carbon chain that's very durable. Guess that doesn't mean as much when the resins are fatiguing. Are the resins the weak link here or do we have the resin to thank for being more of a shock absorber? I've always thought that fatiuing is only something to worry about with bamboo - which actually takes a visible set - which ca
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I would love fish with that 9" 9wt. 1 piece fly rod blank, but I'm having difficulties trying to figure out how to handle setting up equipment and space that would allow me to build on a 1 piece blank of that length. Could it have enough performance increase to outweigh the headache of wrangling a 1 piece blank? I realize it would likely be best suited to place in a boat where it will stay
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Good Luck indeed! I'm still trying to get my mind around how you're going to manage controlling a 15' leader with a rod powered to deliver a 3 or 4 wt. fly line. I can barely control a 10' to 12' leader on a rod powered to optimally deliver a 5 wt. flyline and size 16-6 flies. But then, we grow ALOT of wind in my part of the country.
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If you build it so there is no exposed thread, like if you use the Fuji KDPS, it won't make a difference which way you mount it - especially if you build the fore and butt grips to match each other.
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I like the use of ceramic "style" guides because of the benefit of the shape of their guide feet. When using guides with the old "coke bottle" profile guide feet, Forhan locking wraps come into use by reducing (an almost eliminating) the likelihood of guide pullout. Forhan locking wraps used with single foot snakes is a virtual waste of time, since their "straight legge
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I use Minima 4's in a size 4 for fly rods casting up to a 6 weight line. I will NEVER use snake guides again. Minima's are NOT ceramic and weigh no more than wire guides. I use nail knot connections for flyline to leader. I always wind on a size 5 minima, rather than use a tubed tip top. Lefty's concept is a bit "out-dated". A larger butt guide does not "cut friction" an
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I've painted wheels and skid plates on my trucks. I'd definately remove ALL of the existing finish then wipe down THOROUGHLY with acetone before priming and painting - make sure you get down to the BARE metal. For Aluminum, I'd use Self Etching Primer first, as it tends to hold onto the paint better. You'll also want to clear coat as a final application. For me, doing ALL of these steps has r
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NCP does not darken without CP. I often use regular nylon for my main wraps and trim with one or two bands of NCP. I apply finish to my wraps without CP and the nylon transluces, while the NCP stays the original color.
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If they're chasing the "big boys" in the White or the Little Red Rivers, a 5 wt. might be under powered. Remember, the current and two previous World Record Brown Trout were caught in these two river systems. Most who chase these goliaths, fish at night with 7 or 8 weight rods. If they're after the typical 22" and under - trout, a 9' 4 or 5 weight would be about the best all aro
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I hope he's getting advertizing commission.
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That's an even better idea, Bob.
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Cork, without being proceded by the word "burl", is just a dirty word to me. If it were me, I'd clean in thoroughly with Denatured alcohol, give it a light sanding and then top it with Rattan. There's a good tutorial or two on how to do this over at rodbuildingtutorials.com.
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I guess I've always wondered why, if it's a custom rod, anyone would want to put the OEM decal on the rod anyway. The blank manufacturer only made the blank. Do you put decals on there for all of the components? That would make for an advertizing "billboard" for everyone but you. Give yourself the credit for building the rod! I save the original decal, submit it to my customers an
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I'm a bit surprised that you notice their waterslide being better than their Peel -n- Stick. I first tried their Peel-n-Stick the last time I tried to order a waterslide when they were out, and I'll never use a waterslide again. I simply cannot see the edge of the Peel-n-Stick any more than I could see the edge of their waterslide version, and the Peel-n-Stick is a lot more user friendly (for m
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I find that more people who want fly rods want an absolutely minimal visual "billboard". When I build, I tend to use a certain specific type of grip material (anymore) and certain specific threads, components and decor for my rods, I don't feel the need to include a large logo to advertize - and my customers like it that way. (You almost have to squint to see my decals). Also, I re
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I like the Minimas the best because you can get the benefit of a uniformly round inner ring without the added weight of a ceramic. Plus you can use a considerably smaller (and lighter) guide, i.e. a size 4 minima has about the same opening size as a lot of size 6 ceramic ring guides. Also the frames on the minimas allow for a better security wrap than the wire framed guides - particularly when
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REC makes a Titanium Smoke Anodized Aluminum winding check, but it's only available up to 30/64 (.469) in.
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"some folks call it a kaiser blade, mmmmm hmmmm."
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Personally, I quit "giving" info because what I was submitting was no longer being posted. And that was almost a year ago. I can certainly see not wanting to pay for it if you can no longer incur the cost, but I couldn't possibly be the only one trying to provide data.
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So far so good for me too, Mike. Good to hear someone else has discovered using this "different technique". And most importantly for me, I haven't had to do further repairs for my "Samsonite Gorilla" friend.
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Rolly, As Bill Stated "The pull out security of the Forhan wrap on micro guides is controlled by the design of the frame." Where you put the locking wrap is what I've discovered is most important. Many of the guides we use have frames that gradually swell outward where the foot turns up towords the guide ring, so a locking wrap is almost useless there. I've "gone through
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Bill, If you put the figure eight at the narrowest point of the guide foot (waistline), this provides a virtually "fail-safe" LOCK. On some guides, this is right in the middle of the guide foot (i.e- Minima #5F). I start by wrapping 5-6 wraps of thread, THEN introduce the guide so that the END of the guide foot is on top of these first 5-6 wraps (where it will remain exposed)
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This is why casting competitions should be done with one rod and line only. It puts everyone in the same playing field. A Sage TCR #5 is more like alot of other manufacturers 6 or 7 weights. Already an advantage there. Since you are in Australia, I'd recommend using your New Zealand Neighbor's CTS Affinity X. I've CC'ed their 9' 4wt. 4 pc. to about 5.35 ERN/75 AA. If their designated 5
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Candidate for Rattan.
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Call me over-critical, but I see a durability issue. Would make for a good "wall hanger" though.
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It's not just the weight of a set of double foot snake guides vs. the weight of a set of Minimas. You have to account for that additional weight of thread and thread finish as well. Though it may not be very much actual weight, where the weight is at is what accounts for the difference. I've had two rods given to me for repair where the butt-end foot of a snake guide was ripped out from un
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I still don't see how double foot guides vs. single foot guides have any difference in wear rate on a flyline when the guide materials are identical. Under a HEAVY load, double foot snake guides have contact with the line at the point furthest away from the blank, which IS perpendicular to the lines "outbound" path. It's also been my understanding that many manufacturers were usin
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Eugene Moore Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Larry, > Single foot guides should be fine in the tip area > of the rod. Maybe the top 2-3. > They are much more abusive to the fly line than a > double foot when fighting fish. > With the potential for heavy tippets and large > fish I'd recommend the double foot after moving > away from
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It's been my experience that people looking to fly cast great distances are generally "shooting" line on the last outbound forward haul. Under this circumstance I believe that you would benefit more by taming the shooting line with a line-tamer guide rather than a surplus of running guides. This will keep the tip weight of the rod down substantially, since only one more guide than nor
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