I just finished a PacBay quickline 10' 4 wt and it feels great casting a 4 wt line. I don't know if the 10' 5 wt behave similarly. I highly recommend it.
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I don't know a totally easy way. I don't like to see metallic under the guide wrap which happens when you don't use cp. I like to do three turns of metallic. I hold the tie in loop on the blank, wrap three turns over it, and pull through past the starting tag. Slide into place, pull on the tags and you are basically tying a knot that hold enough that you can cut the tags off with a razor.
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Is the VXP same as XP? Anglers Workshop has VXP.
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I have that lathe and nova chuck and it works great. It can do grips up to about 11" without the bed extension.
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You can test the existing rod for CCS data in order to find a similar blank. Sage models change over the years, what model is it?
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Threadmaster is no worse than other epoxy finish when it comes to bubbles. After mixing pour it out onto flat foil and let the bubbles rise, then gently blow through a straw to pop them. Wet your brush first in a corner of the epoxy finish to get all the bubbles out of your brush before you apply. Put a lot of finish on your wraps so you don't have to keep coming back; let it flow off the brush.
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I used a snake skin that my son killed. I just stretched it out and put borax only on the inside. Left it for a couple days and wiped the borax off. When I used it on a rod I wetted the skin with water to soften it so I could wrap it onto the blank and used color preserver to adhere it. Color preserver, then epoxy. If you soak the piece of skin, the scales come off. I did one without scales and o
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Landmark makes nice anodized aluminum, or pvc with a nylon cover. They sell them at Schneiders and Anglers Workshop, and I have bought them straight from Landmark, too. Greg Aptos, CA
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This is how I do it, though it may not be the best way. Greg Aptos, California
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Make sure you get the oil off it with alcohol if you use a new razor blade. Don't want any fish eyes.
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Threadmaster Lite takes longer to cure than regular finish, still tacky after curing overnight if it's cool. I finish the rods out in the garage. I have a radiant heater to heat the workbench space and that will get the finish to cure in several hours.
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I do what Bill does, including heavy coats. I like heavy coats. If too much, scoop off excess (from the bottom), turn, and let it level.
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Get a bug zapper, that's what I did.
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What is the weight of the upper six guides as a percentage of the weight of 30 feet of the line being cast? I would think that is more important figure since the fly line is what is being accelerated by the tip section.
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I find the RX6 blanks enjoyable to fish with in the rods I have built for myself. I have the 6'6" 2 wt, 9' 4 wt and 9' 5 wt, all 4 piece. I also have a RX7 9' 4wt that I is really low in power, a soft 4 wt. The little 2 wt prefers a #3 line. The 4 & 5 weight RX6 has a good belly weight to it (I don't know if there is such a term, I made it up) that casts nicely up to 30' or so but begins
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I bought a Jet used on craigslist and it came with a nova chuck and some chisels and gouges. I can buy additional Nova jaws when I need them. It is a good tool. I also have a Jet table saw and dust collector. Jet is a good brand.
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Well, the decal peeled right off, and the finish epoxy and wraps peeled, scraped, and cut off okay. Funny that the color preserver stuck to the blank better than the epoxy did. Redo this weekend, not the end of the world. Thanks for the encouragement. Greg
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I'll try that when I get back to the shop, that would be best.
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I just finished a rod with two coats of Threadmaster light, the decal is from Decal Connection and they have worked fine before. I skipped a step: because it is a glossy blank I did not epoxy first before applying the decal. Looks like it lifted on one side and the epoxy finish pulled away from that surface so it's not coated. I don't know why I didn't notice it after the first coat but I need
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There is a special auto primer just for the plastic parts. I have never painted a reelseat but I would try that primer. I got it at the auto paint store, ppg or dupont.
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I have tried the heat gun approach and it can get too hot, damaging the blank (oops!). I put reelseat in plastic bag and held in boiling water to soften epoxy and it worked. If you're going to trash the reelseat just cut down the middle and pry off, careful of the blank.
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Janns Netcraft has them
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Mark, I see your point. Also, the longer the rod sits around the higher the chance of something going wrong around the area where you work on it.
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I agree with Billy. If a wrap doesn't turn out well just call it practise, take it off and do it again. And you will have a fishing rod when you're done.
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It has happened to me, from not mixing Flex Coat well enough and waiting longer did not solve it. I added another coat over the tacky one and it was fine. It was really hot here a few weeks ago and regular Threadmaster was hard in a couple hours. Then it got cold and threadmaster light was still tacky 8 hours later so on came the heater and lightbulbs. Five hours later it was fine.
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16-12-#5 snake-#3 snakes to tip. I just finished a nine weight striper rod for myself and used this layout with PacBay DPL strippers. They look like they will take a beating! Works great!
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And fly rod tip tops are regular, large loop, and extra large loop. What size are they?
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Ace Hardware brand works fine.
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Thanks for the recommendation, Bill. I'll have to try out the CTS some day.
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Shellac thinner is denatured alcohol, found at the paint store. Confirm that first, though.
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