If they one have in the size you want buy a left hand retrieve casting reel. I have fished spinning rods all my life so when I decided I wanted to try Musky fishing I found a left hand retrieve casting reel. Would be a lot easier than converting a rod or even building a new one. I know Abu Garcia makes a few larger ones that may work out pretty well.
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Air temperature can make a huge difference. I have much less problems with bubbles when the temps are in the 80s as compared to winter when the house in is around 67. Winter is the only time I find I need to use a bit of heat to disperse the bubbles in the epoxy. It also helps when it is chilly to make the epoxy flow and smooth out. But as Tom said be careful with the heat you can boil the
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Classic cures pretty fast, faster than Flex Coat IMO. If you don't ding it too much I think you should be good.
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I thought it looked pretty darn good. I always put a coat of CP on before I finish the ends, but I leave off with the CP where I am going to start my end wraps so I don't have to wrap of the CPed thread. Work pretty good and you don't have to worry if you accidently cut your end wrap thread.
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Greg you really are right. There is no real right or wrong way with winding checks or hook keepers. I mean really we are talking custom rods here!! To each his own.
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Unless I can't get a good fit on the foregrip I never use a winding check.
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That is wild looking grip. I have been looking at different barks for a while, ever since Annti posted the birch bark grip but never got past the looking at the bark stage. How is the weight on something like that? I gotta imagine it is pretty darn light.
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I use Mettler polyester quit abit and have not had any problems with it.
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Mick, if I remember correctly on that test didn't you cover everything with CP? Sounds like he is using NCP thread and no CP.
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I work with guy who builds custom bamboo fly rods and he said the typical rod take well over 60 hours to complete and he has made more than just a couple. He also said he winds up have to record all the tapers etc to be sure he can replicate it if need be. Sounds to me you really need to be passionate about the craft.
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I had the emory come unglued on a reamer like that and it was a bit difficult to remove it from the grip, so it is not totally foolproof. And I used 30 minute epoxy to secure the emory cloth.
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A graphite pool cue would be just about right :-)
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Richard, your question is rather vague, but I will try. I have built some ice rods and yes they are usually spinning. Most vendors sell ice rod blanks or you can just get some tip sections from full sized rods. Most of the ones I do are around 28" and are rated as med lite. I have done med, med hvy and ultra lite too. Guides are going to depend on if you plan on in a shelter or out in
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1. I CP everthing 2. I use syringes 3. I will use heat when the room temp is under 70. 4. I don't thin the epoxy. 5. I brush it on lengthwise(especially butt wraps).
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I have been using Mettler thread with good sucess and have used a few pale blue and pinks with no bleed through. I do thin my CP a bit, but also put on 2 coats to be sure I wind up with a glazed donut looking finish after the CP. I am going to go out on a limb and say your thread may not be packed well enough. Works for me.
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I use Brad Point drill bits. Not sure how clean a cut you are looking for tho.
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I have used Rayon and made it work, but if you want it to turn out you need to make sure you pack it very, very, very well and then make sure you CP the living daylights out of it. Because it is so hard to work with I won't use it any more, just not worth the effort.
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I would get a better handle on wrapping rods before I spent money on a power wrapper. If you want nice tight wraps you would need to stop and pack the threads every 6 or so wraps anyway.
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I have several rods that I use that have wooden grips with spar varnish on them and use them all the time. I fish walleye in the spring up here in MN and as you can guess that means wet, I have never experience a slippery handle on any of my rods. You should try something with varnish or true oil on them before you make judgements on how they will perform.
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Mike, Tom, I had let my CP get a little thick and when I used it like that I had some problems with bleed though and blotches. I thinned it out and the problem went away even with the same threads. If you take a close look at nylon or polyester thread it is not 1 single strand it is multiple threads twisted together, usually 2. What I want is for the CP to be able to sink down in between
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I know when I have enough solids to seal my threads with the CP when it dries and there is a glossy film on the top. I would rather put 3 thin coats on that seal all the way to the blank than chance not sealing all the way through. Just my way of doing things. If you have bubbles in your CP you are playing with it too much, just wet the brush and spin the blank.
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Wow that must be thick. I am not sure if there is a shelf life. When mine gets a little thick looking I thin it out a bit, too thick and it just sits on the threads and doesn't soak the way through. Found that out the hard way, wound up with some nasty blotches on some lighter threads. I would try thinning it out before you toss it.
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I have seen a few companies that advertise themselves as custom rodbuilders and you go to their website and they have a few styles of rod you can order for differing species on several different blanks. Not what I would call a true custom rod.
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Mud Hole Custom Tackle Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am not ashamed to say Mr. Well's order is with > Mud Hole Tackle. His return will be handled as > stated in our return policy stated in our printed > catalog and online. This policy states we reserve > the right to change a 10% restocking fee. It does > not say we will, but that w
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After an experience with the CP just sitting on top of the threads and not soaking all the way through I started thinning my CP to be sure that it would soak all the way through to the blank. I am not sure if this is part of the issue of the cracking or not but if CP is too thick it just won't soak all the way to the blank, and if your CP is not getting to the blank and your epoxy can't becase
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I would also be concerned about what is being used for bushings on the graphite reel seat being able to transmit the vibrations of the bite.
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I have a 22 year old rod that I used for Steelhead and Salmon fishing on Lake Superior streams. This rod was wrapped and I used CP on it an there is absolutely no failure of any kind. And I can vouch for the fact that that rod has never been babied at all. If someone wrapped a rod and used CP and the guides are coming loose, someone failed to wrap the guides correctly.
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$50 including tools, I say go for it. Would be an execellent starter to see if making your own stuff tickles your fancy.
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Why not just post them on the photo posting page???
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Geez I read the subject line and figured you were sitting there with your "you know what" in a sling :-)
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