I have sanded and painted several unsanded rod blanks with good success. I had problems with thread digging into the paint and I found that if I let the paint cure for a week or so, it would harden up and the thread would not dig in to the paint. Letting it cure longer may help what you are having problems with too. I am guessing that the spray paints off the shelf take a bit longer to cure
Forum: rodboard

There is an outfit here in MN that sells all sorts of 2nds and scrap butt ends and such, pretty cheap too. It is called Wild River Distributing and it is in a town called Marine on the St Croix. I don't know if it kosher to give all the contact info so I won't, but a dexonline search for it should give you a phone number and address. Scott
Forum: rodboard

I have fished the North Shore of Lake Superior streams for Steelhead and Salmon for about 20 years, and the standard rig is a 7 to 9 weight fly rod and a fly reel filled with mono. Most people use this rig to drift a yarn fly or spawn. It can be setup as a snag rig, but you can tell a snagger from a legal drifter in a couple of ways. Drifters use a lot less weight (allows for an actual drift)
Forum: rodboard

I used to use an ultra lite for Walleye and still do if I am fishing shallow enough or using slip bobbers. There are two problems that I see with the typical ultra lite. 1 they are usually a moderate to slow action rod and don't transmit the bite very well. 2 they don't have enough back bone to set the hook if you are using anything over a size six hook(lost quite a few fish caused some seriou
Forum: rodboard

That used to drive me nuts until I started doing what Tom suggested.
Forum: rodboard

If you click on the buy/sell button above the next screen will have a button for photos. There a lot of peoples work out there and most of it is very good. I have got some pretty good ideas there myself. Scott
Forum: rodboard

Jim, If you are looking for some beginner type of stuff, check the local community colleges or any other adult education programs in the area. Quite often someone will be putting on something of that nature. Heck we even have it every now and then up here on Da Range(Chisholm) : -) (ya gotta be from the Minnesota to understand the Da Range or even De Ranged). Scott
Forum: rodboard

What does it take to get started? 1. Patience. 2. Tolerance for frustration. 3. Attenetion to detail. 4. Get a book on the basics. 5. Read lots on this forum. 6. Go to the photos page and browse around. 7. Buy a blank, guides, handle assembly, thread, etc, and go at it. 8. Be prepared to become addicted and have way more rods around the house than you could possibly need and then try
Forum: rodboard

Ok, I admit this is as cheesy as it gets, but for some real simple spacing for like diamonds or chevrons, I have taken a ruler and made a straight line down the middle of the paper and then marked off the desired spacing on the paper. Then I folded it along the line and cut very tiny holes in the paper. Then you lay this out still kinda in a v along the rod where you want to mark you cross over
Forum: rodboard

Ok, I admit this is as cheesy as it gets, but for some real simple spacing for like diamonds or chevrons, I have taken a ruler and made a straight line down the middle of the paper and then marked off the desired spacing on the paper. Then I folded it along the line and cut very tiny holes in the paper. Then you lay this out still kinda in a v along the rod where you want to mark you cross over
Forum: rodboard

If you are planning to do much ice fishing outside(not in ice house) you will probably want to use guides and tip top with a larger than normal ring size(ruduces how often you will need to suck the ice out your guides). In an ice house you can use what you normally would. Scott
Forum: rodboard