I only build fly rods. I like the recoil guides, particularly near the top of a rod. and the tip tops are real light. the recoil fly rod guides are actually pretty darn cheap for what you get.
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Second the motion for Anchorseal. That is what it is specifically made for. It is a water based wax emulsion. Easy to work with and clean up. Just slap it on with a big brush. Yes, almost anything else will work also. And it needs to be done quickly after cutting. Within a couple of days or less. And anything you put on it will be better than nothing. The blanks should not be in th
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seems like if it was sanded to a oval shape that would have been apparant right after sanding. I have made 2 grips with Andy's burl cork and have another 3 dozen or so rings loose in a bag and scattered around in a couple of shop rooms and I have see no indication of a change in shape from moisture change. Even if you use a file on a tool rest, you can oval the stock. Tom's suggestion of turni
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I have put the stripper guide off center. I have no use for that setup and see no reason why it would or should help anything. The guide is round, so it does not matter if the line comes in from the side or the bottom in relation to how the ring is mounted. And it drives me up the wall when fishing with the rod. I just keep wondering why am I holding it wrong. I messed up working on a bam
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One point is that you are not going to find an alcohol that is free of water. Alcohol molecules really grab on to water and it is very difficult to get "dry alcohol". I would stick to the Acetone.
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I actually think I get less stuff from the brush from a well cleaned brush than I do a new one.
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I have never gotten a bubble in he left over epoxy that hardens on the foil. What I used to think were bubbles in the epoxy on the thread wraps generaly turn out to be defects in the thread work. A tag end not clipped, or fuzz from the thread. So I have quit heating flex coat. And now it comes out flatter and better. I do use 2 or 3 coats, so that I get a chance to fix some of the defects br
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Personally, on a heavy rod like a 9 wt, I just go with the ceramics all the way I use the combination for light rods. Basically, we are splitting hairs here anyway. you can make a good casting rod with ceramic, recoil, alconite, and even wire snakes. But I do like my new 2/3 wt with the combination mentioned above. I can shoot a 3 wt pretty well with it.
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Personally, I use both on the same rod. I use the Ti Sic's up to the top section, then the rec for the first 3 or so guides back from the top, and the REC top. I feel like I have the best features of both sets of guides this way. The REC up where light weight counts and there is almost no load on the guides, and the SIC back to tame the line for shooting and carry the heavy work of fish fighti
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Best way for me is to get them about where I want them and then just do a quick dry wrap with nylon thread. That or thin strips of masking tape that really does not hold them well, but will do for a "first look".
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I wholeheartly agree. Custom Tackle is very good.
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I did buy the slower speed grinder. Under $100 for the grinder with 2 of the white wheels. The wheels are fairly expensive if you buy them seperately for your present grinder , so the grinder itself does not add but about $60 of cost. The slower grinder also seems to vibrate less. And yeah, I already had 2 high speed grinders. One is sitting around in case I need to do some fast, rough grind
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I have built 3 rods with REC cap and ring seats. One nickel silver and 2 aluminum. They hold fine. I used wood inserts. The only problem I have had is that sometimes when I get the rod dunked the maple seat swells enough so that it is hard to get the reel off at the end of the day. I like the pewter finish from REC. If the insert is a little loose on the cap I like to tip the cap just a lit
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The really good thing about rod building is that it has cut into my work time. In fact, here I sit looking at the rod building board instead of finishing my report. Priceless.......
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Yeah, if you are going to use wood on a salt water rod it ought to be stabalized. Salt water rods generally take a drenching. As much as I like fancy turned wood inserts I just go with the graphite on my personal salt water rigs. If I was building for sale I would use the stabalized. What does salt water do to Tru-oil? Maybe nothing, but it shrinks and swells the wood under the Tru-oil and
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I have the wolverine jig and one of the cheap, low speed grinders with the white friable wheels from woodcraft. Nice setup that does a good job. But overall I like it. I am a sorta 'grind it and go" type of turner and this tool is great for that. You can leave the jig set up and just touch the tool to it every once in a while and go right back to turning with a sharp tool. Takes about
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I have several on my rods. They work great! No load on a hook keeper that I can see.
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Personally I would like to see people post on the correct page. Why post trades or wanted to buy on the sell page when there are pages for the other 2 functions? Big deal, no. Pushier than I think you need to be to get what you want, yes.
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I bent the first guide to make it straight down from the rod and to increase the distance from the rod a little. I taped it on and tried it. It did not cast any better and it looked awful. I bent it back. I think they know what they are doing with the angled guides.
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For the Pac-bay type seats that have a mortise with square edges, I do it with a router sled on the lathe. I built a little plywood sled that holds a dremel too parallel to the lathe bed and at right angles to the work, so that the tip of the bit can cut a grove in the seat. I use a 1/8" router bit. My lathe does not have a spindel latch or an index wheel, so I use some wedges behing the c
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I am "getting up in age" also. Plus a sore shoulder. I do not think longer is the way to go. I like a 9' rod with a uplock reel seat that makes it feel a little shorter. Going up a weight or so in line will make the rod load more, but it also loads the caster more also. I think your idea of a little softer, slower rod is a good one. Just to be quite frank about it, if he is having
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I have had good luck with Highland Hardware (http://www.tools-for-woodworking.com/index.asp) and Woodcraft.(we have a local store about 1 mile from my house so I don't look at the catalogs much). Lee-Valley-Vertias certainly sells good tools. You might check Lie-Nielson tools from both suppliers. Small local carving supply store in Towsend gives good service . Smokey Mountain Carvers Su
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I build rods to save money. So that means the more rods I build that I give away or put in the closet the more money I save, correct? I don't really know why I like it. One thing is meeting other people at the shows and dealing with quality folks. Part of it is to be able to try different rods and different setups. I fly fish too. I doubt seriously if I would have glass, bamboo, and graphit
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I got a crooked blank from St. Crox onece. I sent it back and they replaced it. I think that is what you ought to do. A slight curve would be acceptable to me, but a sharp turn anywhere on the blank would not.
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Personally I just don't bother with filling it. It does not seem to be a problem open. Once the ferrule is seated together it seems to me that the male part of the ferrlue is held round by the outside part pressing on it anyway.
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I would use a high frame stripper. I also like the extra choke guide up 4". May not be necessary on a 4 wt, but I put it on 9', 4 wt. Maybe a high frame 12, a high frame 10 and a #8 transition to the snakes.
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I used Tru-oil and it works fine. But there is a finish that I would like to try that is probably better. Brownells sells a polyurthane based, wipe on finish called Pro Custom Gunstock Finish. It is reported to be a superior finish, hard and good water resistance.
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I started rod building from Garcia's book. I built a few rods and used "oversized" guides. Usually a #2 near the top. Now I find myself occasionally taking them off and putting on smaller guides on those older rods. (But not a lot smaller. Hard to quit a habit cold turkey). One thing is that the lines seem so much better now than they were 20 years ago. The lines are so slick and
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Sometimes it works, sometimes not. On a new commercial I bet it will work. So what if it does not work if you hate the cork and seat anyway. I jut take a dremel or a belt grinder and cut the seat down one side and pry it open with a screwdriver. I use a sharp pocket knife on old cork.
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Have not built on that blank. I have built green blanks. I would prefer a downlocking seat on a 9', 4 wt but I am pretty much in the minority, I think. My preference in an aluminum seat would be pewter or champagne colored. I think you can find a uplocking with a upper hood that does not have to be inletted under the cork, but off hand I am not sure where.
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