Adam, I have not used the white glossy but have tons of experience with the matte white and have had no problems like you mention. It is very thin, compliant, sticks like crazy without sealer over it, looks very bright and glossy when finished with epoxy. I don't think glossy is an advantage. The process: Print the decal Spray the sheet or individual decal with Papilio or Krylon UV resistan
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I have the material and instructions for carbon skinned, and plan to do this rod that way. Wish me luck. Actually the grip will come together separate from the blank, so I'm not risking the blank on a new to me process. Once I get the grip to where I want it, it will be no risk after that.
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One thing I don't like about the aero is that it is downlocking which gets me into contact with the treads-the design above yields no contact with the threads or locking nut. Maybe when jigging I move my hands around the front of the grip more than some do.
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It is a 9 foot rod, so will take your advice and stick with 7. thanks, Mick
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Bill, If you haven't tried the suggestion in my post above, you don't know how it compares with the aero. Check out the two photos on the subject:
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Anyone have any comments on grip length for light fly rods, like a 3 weight? Seems like it could be less than the traditional 7-7.5 inches. thanks for your help.
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Everyone to their own tastes, but there is a rod design that is very comfortable and gets your thumb and forefinger onto what amounts to an extension of the blank. For most hands a size 17 pipe style seat is a good size, mounted up locking, and if you leave 3/16 inch extra when cutting the threads when a size 2500 reel is mounted it is very unlikely you will find an appropriate reel that won't
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With all due respect, doesn't sound like there is much difference between the hack saw solution and the vice grip solution. If you haven't tried ice, you haven't tried the best solution, and it has NO chance of damaging anything. What could be better?
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I agree with Randolph with the following comments: The casting rod for frogging will not be the optimum casting rod for cranks, the spinning rod for jigging will not be the optimum spinning rod for small cranks, the casting spinner bait rod will not be the optimum rod for rattletraps. Where this leaves me is that tomorrow I'm going to a small bass lake with seven rods on the deck. Call it Rand
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Not sure what's going on with metallic not looking good. I've used 4 brands of thread, NCP + regular nylon + metallic with and without three brands of CP with Prokote and Flex coat lite and regular and have had zero problems with metallic not looking terrific. My only insight has nothing to do with appearance: Pro Kote seems to take longer to cure and cures a little softer than Flex Coat.
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I had the same problem with this product, was told a new bottle of better stuff was coming, never came. Reminded the maker, still never came. I'm sticking with the old standards.
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No steam! Like Tom says, ice. It contracts the material of the female ferrule which makes the inner diameter larger. AND, no chance of heat damaging the rod.
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It would be good to spend a few minutes watching the Fuji KR video on casting rod setup.
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The first issue is to get an image that you are free to use. You can go to google images and find hundreds of photos, and if you add the search factor "clip art" to the search, you will get a bunch of styistic clip art kinds of images. If you contact the owners of the images, you may get permission to use the one of your choice. Then, the decal has to be formatted such that it make
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Depending on the break you may be able to repair it, so don't throw it away. Check the library for instructions. I've repaired three rods with the external sleeve method and they work fine, and the repairs even look OK. '
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I have used some factory rods with pretty cheap looking guides for years (take them to Canada rather than beating up my nice custom rods) and have never had braid groove a ceramic insert guide. I've had tiptops groove, and have had tiptop rings break (probably from banging them onto the boat), but never a guide. Personally, I don't like the looks of some of the cheaper rings, that dull looking
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I agree on at least the sj843 7 foot spin jig blank. It is much more stout than the rating. I should have known by the weight of the blank and its dimensions (diameters).
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I use my drill press to turn cork and poly/foam reel seat shims into seats and ramps, and it works well, although I expect not as well as a real lathe. One thing I've done is to sink a 5/16" bore ball bearing into a piece of wood which is then clamped to the "bed" of the drill press. This stabilizes the lower end of a turning mandril made from threaded rod on which the cork or shim
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+ 2, but I have to admit that I've gotten superb service from a number of retailers of rodbuilding materials. We are very fortunate to have the supplier base that we do. Most are top quality, very responsive people. Makes it hard to choose when ordering stuff that most have. Just think about how challenging it must be to have to stock so many options, and if the winds of favor shift from this
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Thank you, Col, learn something new every day if you keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. :-) thanks, Michael
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Don, on what are you basing your comment that "d blue" titaniums (what is d blue?) are stronger than Fuji? I've tried to modify some Fuji titaniums and if something were stronger than Fuji titaniums, I think my vice would have broken.
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I am not familiar with the J designation, so am running with an info deficit. If the bigger guides are of the Y height you can make a pretty good rod by just buying a 25 and go 25 10 then the rest 6's as needed. The 6 foot length shouldn't require more than 7 maybe 8 total guides. I never use a 30 any more. Read up on the Fuji fast reduction system-it's a step beyond the new concept. Experim
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I am not familiar with the J designation, so am running with an info deficit. If the bigger guides are of the Y height you can make a pretty good rod by just buying a 25 and go 25 10 then the rest 6's as needed. The 6 foot length shouldn't require more than 7 maybe 8 total guides. I never use a 30 any more. Read up on the Fuji fast reduction system-it's a step beyond the new concept. Experim
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Then use CP around the edges to prevent that area from being "lifted" by the epoxy. (peel and stick computer printed decals)
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You can use any pound test line on any rod. It is the drag setting that will be important. I often use 35 # braid on rods rated at less than 20, but I don't have the drag cranked way up. Most reels won't do it anyway. One tip on a travel spin, unless casting distance is a big priority, you might want to consider a low guide design so you don't have to have such large diameter tubes for the
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Suggest checking google images for "father and son", ask permission from the owner of an image you want to use, and when you have that, make a decal of the image. May take some editing. If you need help with that, let me know. Use the same image on both rods. I agree with previous poster about not going juvenile as even the son's rod will be a treasure he will use for a lifetime. I
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I believe Roger's suggestion will work fine, and since it's pretty easy, and there is nothing to lose except a little time (you can always do the "save the reel seat and guides-only thing later if this doesn't work) it's worth a try. By the way, early in my building career I built a St Croix SCV for my son, and screwed up the alignment of the guides with the reel seat. I foolishly tried
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Might not be that difficult to paint one that is a perfect shape and fit. Under rod winding finish it will be very durable.
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I agree on the metallic white solution, but the use of test wraps cannot be overstated. Keep in mind the entry above where the customer is displeased with rod balance. You can avoid that by giving the customer a piece of an old blank (same color!!) with various wraps on it.
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