I've had good luck with gloss white Krylon and masking tape. Trim bands usually cover up any leakage.
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I have been frustrated by fiberglass mesh tape "unwinding" after a trial fitting of the reeel seat, particularly when I took pains to get a tight wrap and a tight fit. I have found a little dab of hot melt glue injected by a glue gun into the mesh at the tape end solves this problem.
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Replacement wheels for "sliding" (rolling) glass doors and screens work well too.
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Most hardware stores carry small nylon wheels with ball-bearing hubs for kitchen drawer slides. They are considerably less expensive than skate wheels, which appeals to cheapskates (oops!) like me.
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Jeff: Another 2 cents: Rainshadow made (makes?) an 8 foot and an 8 1/2 foot, two piece "hot shot" blank with an extra-fast action and a very powerful butt section. From personal experience I can attest that these blanks can be built into fly rods which have absolutely no problem launching a #12 or heavier line. The price of these blanks is (was?) pleasantly reasonable, with qualit
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12 weight rods are designed to throw a line weighing 380 grains in the first 30 feet. There are 437.5 grains in an ounce, so a conventional blank designed to cast 7/8 of an ounce should handle a 12 wt. line. A conventional blank which could cast 1.14 ounces or thereabouts should handle a 500 grain head. A blank which casts 13/8 ounces should handle a 600 grain head.
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It isn't always possible to test cast a blank before purchase. Before parting with a wad of cash, amassing as much information as possible seems prudent. Given a choice between ad copy, testimonials of unknown individuals with unknown expertise and unknown motives, and the admittedly subjective judgment of recognized experts from a double-blind trial, I would still like the opportunity to conside
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The trials I remember included discussions of such details as tracking, accuracy, suitability for marked line weight, and effectiveness at short, medium, and long distances - many topics of interest to fishermen as well as distance casters.
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I remember that quite some time ago a fly-fishing magazine used to get a bunch of expert fly fisherman/casters together and in a double-blind trial give them several fly rods of the same line weight and length to test cast. At the end of the session each expert independently rated the rods and discussed the pros and cons of each rod. I found such articles to be highly interesting and informa
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The first 10 or 15 rapid, uninterupted cranks on your reel usually are the difference between fillets and rocks when fishing groupers. The high gear ratio of most spinning reels makes this cranking - not pumping - quite difficult. I would go with a low retrieve-rate conventional reel and a rod to match - a short one, too.
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I start with a fine-tooth coping saw and saw until I feel the change in resistance. I make several such cuts, then grip the strips and twist them, tug, and cuss a lot - then finish up with a big rat-tail file. I have also boiled grips until they slid off the old blank. The cork rings may separate but they can easily be Rodbonded back together. A little light sanding and they're good as new.
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With the scarcity of decent cork I have re-used cork fly rod handles - but only full welles. I boiled and pulled off the butt cap and reelseat and carefully reamed the old blank out of the grip. You gotta be patient. I shimmed the new blank with drywall mesh to fit the grip I.D. and used plenty of rodbond to fill any irregularities. A winding check at the front of the grip covers all the evide
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A while back I built a fly rod on a Rainshadow HS1021 blank - an 81/2 foot "hot shot" blank designed to run hot shots and wee warts and the like for steelhead. I have used this fly rod for salt water duties. It has a wicked fast action and really tosses a fly line once you catch up to the timing. The foremost virtue of this blank is its great power to fight fish. The butt mics .540 j
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I have had acceptable results filing a cork from the hardware store into cork dust and stirring it thoroughly into mixed Rodbond. If you use enough cork dust in the mix the patch blends in nicely. The Rodbond matrix insures that the patch will outlive the rest of the grip. Once it hardens* the cork dust / Rodbond mix is easily sanded to conform with the grip, so the gaps can be overfilled to beg
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Deflection tests are informative but I was wondering if, in addition to anecdotal evidence, there have been any tests of casters' ability to recognize a blank's action and "feel" when given a number of different blanks to cast. Of course in such a test the rods would have to share identical grips, guides and reel seats, and the caster would be prevented from identifying the rods by si
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At the risk of being labeled a philistine I suspect comparing fly rod blanks is similar to wine tasting. Once the blindfold is on the taster can tell sweet from dry, and the angler can tell slow from fast, but after that distinctions become blurred. Is there objective data, such as a double blind trial, revealing caster's ability to distinguish between several fly rod blanks with any continui
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Ralph: Thanks. I have used a considerable amount of rodbond on reelseats and grips and have been more than satisfied with its strength, ease of use, and ease of mixing. I suspected that epoxy brands for thread wrapping are pretty much parity products. Your confirmation of this fact is a disappointment, however. The hardness, resistance to discoloration and drying time of thread wrap-epoxy p
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Captain Faulkner: Thanks for answering my question. I'll give AFTCOTE a try.
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Which epoxy products designed to coat thread wraps have the most forgiveness for deviations from a precise 1:1 component mix ratio?
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Is there any chance the carp will care? If not, throw caution to the winds!
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I fly fish chiefly in saltwater estuaries. In my dreams the ability of a flyrod to fight big fish will be more important than its "feel" or ability to cast a few feet further. If there is a well designed S-glass flyrod blank in 8 wt., 9 wt., or 10 wt. I wish someone would tell me?
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The majority of U.S. fly tackle manufacturers and retailers have decided that mark-up rather than volume is the key to their success. They may be right, since the minor differences between most of their products make them parity products. At any rate, their pricing, advertising, and marketing strategies reflect this decision that high-end trumps volume, and they can't have it both ways. Rememb
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Remember, cork is not very hard. The advantages of a 3/4 horsepower reamer are suspect. Belt sander belts in grits from 40 on up are cheap and easily available at your local hardware store. If you are lucky or unlucky enough to have a few feet of broken rod around it's a simple matter to take a sander belt, make a spiral cut to create a long sandpaper strip about 1 1/2 inches wide, and use som
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A pair of sliding rings over a cork grip are a traditional way to allow the spinning rod angler to move the position in which the reel is attached, thus helping balance the rod. Surf anglers have used tape to accomplish the same result. After selecting blanks, components and methods of rodbuilding to produce the lightest practical rod - flyrods in particular - adding weight to rods goes against t
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Thanks, Chris. Lamiglas has long made a quality product. I'm particularly interested in an s-glass blank. I was hoping an answer to your question would pop up, but no luck so far, so I will attempt to discover the glass type myself. How many pieces is this blank?
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My internet searches have been unsuccessful. I'm looking for a 9' s-glass fly rod blank with fast action in 8wt. or 9wt.. I'd settle for a 9' lite power s-glass hotshot blank . Does anyone sell such a thing?
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Switching to spectra will add more tactile sensitivity than manipulating the composition or construction of the rod. Beyond that lies the handline.
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I built a fly rod on a Rainforest hot shot blank. It is lightning fast, yet has a powerful butt for fish fighting. I have found it best digests an 11wt. fly line. To "ballpark" the line weight for your rod I suggest you clamp the handle of your completed rod to a table and measure the distance from your rod tip to the floor. Then tie a one ounce (28.4 gram) to the rod tip and re-mea
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When you re-coat bump up the r.p.m.'s on your drying device to avoid repetition of your wavy finish.
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Thanks for the tips. I used a Dremel tool with engraving bitt to dovetail the damaged cork, buttered the cavity with Rod Bond mixture, and slightly overfilled the cavity with Rodbond & cork dust mixed 2:1. It sanded easily, blends to near invisibility, and the texture and resiliance is highly satisfactory. Now, to discover the durability of the fix . . .
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