I ream my EVA grips. I don’t build a large number of rods, so the time spent on fitting each component is part of the enjoyment of the craft. I also like to dry fit and mock up the handle before gluing it all up. EVA will easily stretch to about 1.5x it’s ID. If you have a rough time keeping the reaming straight, drilling them out with a pilot hole bit from Flex Coat can get you close enough
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I recently put a set of LZR's on an FP885, 6, 5, 4's to a 5 tip top. Your sizes will work just fine. The LZR's are really nice guides.
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I've been a two-handed caster pretty much all my life. Sure there are techniques and situations where I opt for single-handed casting, but the majority of the time I'll have both hands on the rod. When it comes to handle length, my disdain for long handles has nothing to do with casting. It's when I'm working a lure or fighting a fish that long handles get in the way.
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Most of my personal rods over the last 5 years or so have only had a couple coats of CP on the guides, much like Ben. I found that tall frame spinning guides don’t hold nearly as well as casting guides, but with a locking wrap they will stay put quite well. Definitely not as reliable as finishing with epoxy, but I’ve only had to rewrap a few guides, none of which had locking wraps. It’s a gr
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The smaller 5cm shad raps are easier to cast than the 7cm shad raps. That size just doesn't like to fly all that well due to the big cross section when it starts to tumble, though I haven't had that many issues with casting them. To cast them well, you want the shad rap to be in the upper range of your rods casting range. Something like a popping blank with a 1/8-3/8oz lure rating should give
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Trimming any blank will affect its action. The result is always a slower action rod. Because action is tied to the length of the rod, both in the traditional sense of the percentage of length of the blank that initially flexes and in the CCS measurements in which action angle is determined by vertically deflecting the tip a prescribed percentage of the overall length, you are altering where the
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One trick I've done in the past when using an EVA grip with a 5/8" ID was to use reel seat arbors to support the grip section on a small diameter rod blank. The same thing could be done here. If using a reamer to bore out the ID, you may need to cut the core into 2 or 3 sections so the taper of the hole doesn't become a significant issue. The core material works easily enough to sand to s
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If I recall correctly, placing a taller guide 6"-10" in front of the reel is one of the many things introduced to bass rods by Rich Forhan, and as mentioned is placed there to help control the line and keep it away from hook keepers, reel handles, etc. It seems like a great modification to dedicated flipping rod. I'm not sure what the impact is if you decided to pitch and/or cast wit
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The weaving or mini strips, as you say, are the top layer of graphite fabric used on that blank. Most blanks are created using layers of fabric with the fibers oriented in different directions and sometimes woven. On the pattern you are referencing, the woven fabrics can help with hoop strength but also provide a unique decorative element. Most multi piece blanks are created with the sections
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Jim, between your comment and the other RV vs. LRV thread cleared up a couple things for me, particularly the additional height which can be beneficial for some builds. Given the K-series angle of RV guide, I would not turn it around. There's a lot to like in the full line of Fuji guides. Thanks!
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I echo the majority of the comments above. I use a lot of stainless guides with aluminum oxide inserts. I've settled on 4mm guides as being the optimal size for my bass rods. The guide trains with steel guides that small are light enough that I can't tell a practical difference between steel and Ti frames when in use. When it comes to 6mm guides as the smallest, the difference between steel a
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6 & 8mm ceramic rings with tubes down to 2.5/64". 1.1mm would use a 3/64" tube.
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Spin up the EVA on your lathe, drill, etc. Grab a piece of braided fishing line (I've even used mono). DO NOT WRAP THE LINE AROUND YOUR FINGERS if you like having skin on your fingers. Holding one end of the line in each hand, press it down into the EVA and it will make a very smooth cut. You can cut the EVA thinner than you might expect. I've cut 1/8" down to 1/16" thick rings with
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Ben, The taper is an optical illusion from the angle of the photograph. That grip section is (roughly) uniform OD. Although, I kind of like the idea of introducing a little bit of a taper for use with braid. The guide train on that rod is a set of microwave guides.
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At a little closer to 7' is the SCV610MXF. It's right in line with my favorite, the no longer produced Rainshadow RX8+S823. This is how I build my TN handles: If the full 7' is important to you, I would use a handle made from woven graphite tubing, as you can extend it 2" beyond the butt of the blank and not have to worry about it failing. The woven graphite section in the imag
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In the MagXF line, MHX has the MB752XF and MB753XF that look like very good options as well. I find my lighter power XF rods to be incredibly versatile, though most are in the 6'9"-6'10" range. I do have a little 5'8" ML XF spinning rod built on a long discontinued Cabela's XML blank that is great for light plastics and light lures. With the lighter powers a quarter ounce of lea
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Robert, I just mounted a G2 adjustable length rear casting grip last week on an MHX FP885 cut down to 7'. I assumed the arbor material was polyurethane by the look, but it's more of a rubber. When you ream, the bits have a texture like pencil eraser bits. The arbors are about 1"-1.25" long, and aren't too terribly hard to ream. You'll find it way easier to ream than a full length
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I'm young enough that I never had the pleasure of properly learning to use a slide rule. I use one of the digital ones from Harbor Freight. I have a number of the same design from a different brand in the lab at work that we pull out for the students to use several times a year. They've likely been there for the better part of 20 years and have stood up just fine to the use and abuse of stud
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The foam core grips are far more rigid than cork, which has been used effectively for decades on Tennessee handles. You have nothing to worry about with the arbors deforming. The one thing of concern is the graphite slip rings. Because the foam core grips are more rigid, they won't compress like cork does when the graphite rings are slipped into place. Because of that the rings alone may no
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For high match type frames with a more robust frame, look at the Fuji K series and Kigan ZH series guides. Their frames are cut and shaped so the widest part of the frame runs parallel to the blank to help reduce bending. Otherwise, I find the Y-frame 20-10-5 reduction train will get the job done and those frames are a bit more durable than the M-frames.
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Extra supports are helpful. I've made them using cheap pine from the lumber yard. Cut a v notch in one end of a piece and screw it into a base board with a couple screws. For years I wrapped at a table. When I was working near the tip and the butt of the rod got too far off the end of the table for my supports, I would just lay it on the back of a chair. Another little trick I'll do is to
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Physics: Static Equilibrium occurs when the sum of the forces and the sum of the torques on the system is equal to 0. It does not require an absence of force or torque. In the case of static testing a fishing rod, a force (load) is applied to the tip of the rod, and the rod will deflect until the elastic restoring force in the rod exactly balances the force applied to the tip. At this poin
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Kent, Good stuff. I do much the same with my tags. I'll clarify a bit. I agree, it is tough to spot where the tag end tucks under a wrap, but with close examination it can be found. My tags are well hidden as well. The issue becomes more readily visible when doing inlays and other decorative bits. A lot of times if a rod is going to a family member or friend I'll dress up my wraps a bit w
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I think the most important part is to be consistent in where you start and stop wraps. If you start and stop every wrap and inlay at a different place, it shows a lack of attention to detail. I put mine 180? from the guide foot. My line of thought is that when someone is looking at a guide wrap close enough to spot the dirty side with the naked eye, they are usually looking at the guide itse
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For me, it's the things that lie just outside of that 10 year mark, and things that came around at the time I started building. 1. Steve Gardner pushing Batson to bring the original MK minis to the US market. Over the last 10 years, the evolution of the micro guides and tip tops that have come to market have been phenomenal. 2. Tom's sleeved grips, definitely changed the game and significa
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Aaron, I would likely add a guide or two to your guide train and static test again. If I recall, when doing a simple spiral it works best when the distance between the butt guide and the first 180 guide is in the range of 8"-10" putting a 4"-5" spacing between the butt and bumper and bumper and first 180. In your configuration, I think you may be forcing the transition to
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For anything from Batson, Utmost Enterprises is about the best place to purchase. They offer very fair discounts off of MSRP for retail customers and have top notch service. I believe their page lists the price you pay for the wrappers, so I don't think you get a discount off of that number, but it compares favorably with others on the market. I use a CRB hand wrapper with the extruded track
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I have no idea if Shimano has changed the action and power of the rods after fully taking over, but you can get blanks designed by Gary Loomis from North Fork Composites: Also, when the MHX line originally launched at Mud Hole, a number of their blank designs were listed as replacements for Loomis powers and actions including the MB843. While I've never fished the Loomis version, I do hav
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I've found that one of the most important things regardless of the tip top is to make sure the the adhesive goes inside the tip top. Whether you use a piece of hot melt inside the tube or a pick to fill a tube with epoxy, regardless of how it gets there, you know you did it right when a little epoxy squeezed out of the top of the tube toward the ring. I like Flex Coat's 'How We Do It' videos.
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I use the arbors myself, and on the heavier freshwater rods, you should be just fine. I believe I've seen posts where the white polyurethane arbors will compress and have the opening stretch out on the end of the arbor toward the tip when powerful rods are flexed all the way into the handle. Given the choice between the two, for heavier applications I would lean toward the graphite colored arbo
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