I
nternet gathering place for custom rod builders
  • Custom Rod Builders - This message board is provided for your use by the sponsors listed on the left side of the page. Feel free to post any question, answers or topics related in any way to custom building. When purchasing products please remember those who sponsor this board.

  • Manufacturers and Vendors - Only board sponsors are permitted and encouraged to promote and advertise products on the board. You may become a sponsor for a nominal fee. It is the sponsor fees that pay for this message board.

  • Rules - Rod building is a decent and rewarding craft. Those who participate in it are assumed to be civilized individuals who are kind and considerate in their dealings with others. Please respond to others in the same fashion in which you would like to be responded to. Registration IS NOW required in order to post. You must include your actual First and Last name and a correct email address when registering or posting. Posts which are inflammatory, insulting, or that fail to include a proper name and email address will be removed and the persons responsible will be barred from further participation.

    Registration is now required in order to post. You must include your actual First and Last name and a correct email address when registering or posting.
SPONSORS

2024 ICRBE EXPO
CCS Database
Custom Rod Symbol
Common Cents Info
American Grips Piscari
American Tackle
Anglers Rsrc - Fuji
BackCreek Custom Rods
BatsonRainshadowALPS
CRB
Cork4Us
HNL Rod Blanks–CTS
Custom Fly Grips LLC
Decal Connection
Flex Coat Co.
Get Bit Outdoors
HFF Custom Rods
HYDRA
Janns Netcraft
Mudhole Custom Tackle
MHX Rod Blanks
North Fork Composites
Palmarius Rods
REC Components
RodBuilders Warehouse
RodHouse France
RodMaker Magazine
Schneiders Rod Shop
SeaGuide Corp.
Stryker Rods & Blanks
TackleZoom
The Rod Room
The FlySpoke Shop
USAmadefactory.com
Utmost Enterprises
VooDoo Rods


Current Page: 3 of 41
Results 61 - 90 of 1217
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Mo, I admit, I haven't thoroughly read the thread, so I apologize for repeat info. While I don't typically dabble too much in the realm of BFS rods and reels, I'm a fan of lighter powered casting rods (They're the reason I started building). As you have mentioned, the line passes through something like a 4mm guide when leaving the reel. There really is no need to use a larger guide on the
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Thread and finish is my preference for CF TN handles.
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
I just did a little Google search. I've never used this stuff, but it looks like it might be just the ticket. It seems like a powder pigment, similar to those offered by a number of suppliers, that can be mixed into paint, epoxy, and other media.
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Mo, What you feel in the rod is rotational impulse, or change in angular momentum, rather than a wave. The inertia of the rod is the biggest enemy you have to fight in the sensitivity department. Light rigid foam is your best bet, and as Tom mentioned, only a couple relatively short and well placed pieces are required, particularly for your UL applications. If you want want that rigid direc
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
In my opinion, it's the natural frequency, i.e. the reaction and recovery that are most important here. With a lower frequency, the time interval over which forces are applied is lengthened. With a rod that reacts and recovers more slowly, the maximum force during a change in momentum is lower. This helps prevent pulling hooks from loosely hooked fish. It additionally makes it harder for a fi
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
If you are talking about 3/16-5/16oz of lead plus a 4" tube, a 1/4-3/4oz. mag bass blank is in order. When crawling tubes up and over rocks and debris on the bottom of the river takes a good bit of tip power. I'm typically fish lighter powered rods than many bass anglers. For most trips on my local rivers and lakes, my MB 843 is generally the most powerful rod in the boat, but I find it n
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
The length of the blank is 7'8" with specs pretty typical of a ML-M (lure 3 g - 14 g or 1/8 oz - 1/2 oz and line 5-12 lb) powered freshwater bass or walleye blank. The rule of thumb that I use in this case is L in feet + 1 if the smallest guide size used is a 5mm or 6mm, L in feet + 2 if the smallest guide is a 3mm or 4mm guide. Therefore, I would expect that blank to require either 9 or
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
My wooden hammer handles, knife handles, etc. feel slippery too, but I still have no problem using them. The rigid surface generally means that you can use a tool without squeezing as tightly and the tool is more efficient by responding slightly quicker to input forces due to the fact that there is little to no compression taking place between the hand and the tool. The grip may seem like it
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Some time ago, I got an email with new product listings for the 2022 Rainshadow line, and there was a new walleye blank the REVS59L 5'9" L powered blank that could be a winner. I bet if you asked nicely, the folks at Batson may be kind enough to provide some CCS numbers to compare with the SJ720-4, which is a fantastic travel blank, but as you mentioned is quite powerful for its specs, like
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
The technique I use when applying decals is to start at one edge of the decal with just enough backing pulled off to be able to press down and lightly tack that edge to the blank. You will find it easy enough to pivot the decal around that tack point for alignment. I then take a rounded tool, like the handle of my thread pick or burnishing tool and then slowly start rubbing horizontally across
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Flip that spool so the line comes off the top, just like when doing a bait caster. Keep it under tension, and all should be good. It's what I've been doing for the last 20 or so years. When I was a teenager, I started putting the spool between my big toes and used my feet to control tension with the line running through every guide on the rod. It works, and has built up a couple good callouse
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Robert, I have no doubt that the shooter can compensate for quite a bit. However, the grouping analogy makes for a great system to describe the difference between accuracy and precision. My phd work ended in a null result simply because the generation of detector that we had available at the time lacked the precision to make the measurement we were after. When the next generation higher precis
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
There is a lot to unpack in this thread. Accuracy refers to the weighted center of a grouping of data points and that precision refers to the standard deviation of the data points. In Aaron's description, replace consistent with precise. A firearm shoots in the direction that the shooter points it. The shooter is responsible for the accuracy. Just like a good caster can locate casts with g
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
I use a Seeker S-glass BS706 for that application, unless you are throwing really big deep divers, it will get the job done. It handles everything from the Bandit 100's up to Rapala DT14's just fine. I would need a couple graphite blanks to handle that range. Any bigger, and you need to look elsewhere. A Lamiglas MB 841 F glass blank is similar, but has a wee bit more power from tip to butt.
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
A popping blank with a 1/8-3/8 or 1/4-5/8oz lure rating would be just about perfect. I would probably opt for the latter if walleye are the primary target. The moderate fast action is great for crank bait and live bait applications. Open hook jigs are pretty forgiving when it comes to the action of the rod used. The upper limit on the lure weight can be extended when vertical jigging, but not
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
In regard to the partially installed grip, there isn't much you can do other than cut it off and start again. Hopefully it slid far enough that you do not need to clean dried adhesive off of the blank. If you tie some heavy braided line to a couple sections of dowel rod, you will have a 'saw' that will cut through the EVA and not damage the blank underneath. When it comes to EVA, the ID wi
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Ok Phil, you’ve measured a time now in your scenario. That still isn’t a speed. How are you calculating the distance? Because you are deflecting the rod, it’s not quite a segment of a circle that you are looking for. Because of the variation in stiffness of the blank changes along it’s length it isn’t likely to be elliptical, or even hyperbolic if you want a precise calculation. The time me
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Minima 4's will work just fine. They have an opening similar to a 5-6mm ceramic. I built my panfish rods with the intention of throwing small jigs and UL cranks and opted for 3mm ceramics at the time. I don't use floats often, but a nail knot bobber stop that has the tag ends trimmed very close to the knot will pass through 3mm ceramic guides on 6lb mono just fine. I've been fishing them fo
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Here is a trick that might help. I like to wrap my spinning reels onto carbon fiber grips and needed to come up with a way to route the thread between the reel body and the blank. My solution was to wrap a couple of guides onto a piece of 1/4-20 all thread. Then I drilled a hole about inch or so below the bottom of one of the V-blocks on my wrapping jig so I could mount the all thread at wha
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Put the decal on the rod, cover it in a piece of paper and wrap thread over top. Leave it for a day or two, and the decal should be set to the shape of the rod, reducing the chance that the edges will lift. You can also try this before you peel the decal off of the backing to help it take a set before applying the decal. A coat or two of color preserver over the decal or around the edges can
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
I have 3 rods that where I have chosen to cut the blank. 1. Rainshadow IP840 cut down from 7' to 6'8". In my boat with rods 6'10" and longer, I am more inclined to whack the trolling motor when casting. I trimmed this blank to avoid that issue and reduce the chance of high sticking such a low powered blank when landing fish (I'm short, what can I say, dealing with fish on a 7' rod
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
How much more accurate? In feet and inches please. ;-) In fly casting, the fulcrum is most likely the elbow. I've seen guys on tv fight fish using their shoulder as the fulcrum, but not too many casting that way. It might make for a good shoulder workout. For casting and spinning rods, it could be the wrist, the elbow, someplace along the rear grip, or it could be dynamic and move throug
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
By adding mass, you have changed the system. The natural frequency for a cantilever with no load is different than the natural frequency for the same cantilever with a distributed load. The frequency for the cantilever with a distributed load is lower. Whether you conceptualize the effect of the added mass as 'effectively' altering the linear density of the medium (blank/rod) or as a system th
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Mick, Yes, adding components will cause the frequency of the rod to decrease. There are two ways to calculate the frequency of the wave. 1. frequency = waveSpeed / wavelength. 2. frequency = 1/(2*Pi) * SquareRoot(elasticProperty / inertiaProperty). I have not derived the frequency for something like a rod blank (It's not a simple system), but I suspect you should find something like the mod
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Mick, The short answer to your question is YES. As mentioned, the caveat is that you need to be comparing blanks of similar length, action, and power. In the context of comparing different build options on the same blank, the one that results in the highest frequency at the end of the build will have the most "feel the bite sensitivity," as I like to call it.
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Joel, as long as you are keeping the weight at the extreme butt of the rod, you are doing it right. If you can get by with a single weight inside the blank, then that is perfect. If not, then you need to start thinking about the weight inside plus lead tape around the outside of the blank, or lead tape, plus some sort of weighted extension. If you can keep the weight hidden away under the butt
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
Here is one I did for a steelhead rod. In addition to the washers, I sent a lead weight that could be concealed under the butt cap and a piece of cork with instructions on how to glue up the butt cap once he was satisfied. The owner lives in another state, so I wanted to give him some options to tweak the balance to his liking as he wasn't entirely sure whether he wanted a fully balanced
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
For a glass option, take a look at the Rainshadow SPG601 5’ blank. At one point I think it had an even lighter brother in the SPG600 if you want to try to track down one of those.
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
You won’t go wrong with Kent’s method. It’s pretty much the culmination of the direction I was heading with the way I’ve been wrapping mine.
Forum: rodboard
2 years ago
Joe Vanfossen
1. They are all manageable. My first were 90 degree transition spirals. Place the guides where you normally would. Butt guide on top, second at 90 and the rest at 180. They work well and still are the rods that spend the most time in my hand. I’ve since moved on to a slow spiral but don’t feel the need to change my early builds. 2. No, but they certainly don’t hurt anything. 3. I rota
Forum: rodboard
Current Page: 3 of 41

Webmaster