I've used the TSF55XXH, which has a .995 butt with 24mm reel seats and a 10" slick butt and aluminum gimbal IIRC. Some of the latest batch of cross cut EVA is MUCH harder/firmer than the previous batch. I would take one of the reverse spade type speed bits and use that to open up the foregrip ID rather than relying on the stretch. I was worried it may rip because of the extra firmness. I
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The Batson blanks are nice, but the CTS blanks are even smaller diameter! More pricey, too.
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There is no magical hard set number. It will depend on the reel size, how you cast, how you fight a fish, etc. For the heavy tuna popping rods, I go with 12-14" rear grip length usually between the end of the reel seat and start of the gimbal. Inshore saltwater rods will get between 10-14 usually, depending on what the customer wants and needs. Freshwater rods are different than saltwate
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It's $75 for 15 blanks. That makes it easy! Got 5 of each size they had listed.
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Put in an order for 15 early this morning!
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I had the same problem this winter. All of my Resin's for my 3 different batches of ProKote went milky. Made a panic call to Mudhole, I spoke with Bob McKamey who told me that PK is very sensitive to temperature and if it is stored under 70 degrees, it will turn milky. Pop it into the microwave for a bit and it returned to normal. I only had to heat it up once and it's been good for the remai
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I usually reverse the two grips lengthwise. Rear grip is 14" and foregrip is 10" for a jigging rod so I can tuck the rear grip under my arm. The 25 Titanium Turbo may give you clearance as it is a little higher. For a rod like that, look at the HBSG 25mm for the stripper guide, either in SiN2 or SiC ring from Fuji. It is one of the tallest, beefiest guides out there. The LowRiders
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That sounds right comparison wise. The biggest problem IMHO is the small stripper guide size. Narrow opening and very low height wise!!
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I have used the All American Roller guides. They will pass a wind on swivel barely, but the frame openings are very small. I used them on a Calstar 655XH and XXH and had to have the stripper guide fairly far from the reel so the line would clear the frame opening, which is small. Due to the low height of the stripper guide, I ran into problems with the line hitting the blank when I went to a 3
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The American Tackle used Nanolite, which is a zirconium ringed guide, not SiC. Fuji has the SiC.
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You will need a 25mm Turbo or HNSG or the SIN2 version for those blanks or something of similar height. I don't think a 20mm will provide clearance. They flex like crazy through the foregrip, so with a spiral, you will need a taller guide and shorter foregrip. I use the 6030 for fluke, 6040 for heavier fluke and bass/bluefish jigging. The 6650 makes a great longer inshore rod. I haven't trie
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Like the others said, move it closer or go with a taller guide. The Fuji HBSG or SiN2 series 25mm is higher than the 25mm Turbo style from Pac Bay. I use the 25mm's for stripper guides usually.
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I use a variety of braided lines from 12-20# depending on the thread size. A size or smaller threads get the 12# braid. I use a natural, non coated braided line called BattleLine from Versitex, one of the sponsors on the left. I have tried other braids and they tend to leave a waxy coating on the thread wraps once it's pulled through. I use some thin 1/8" wide masking tape strips to hold
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You won't have to wait long!! I emailed on Friday and the Catalog showed up today!!! Great Service from Batson like always!!!!
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Found the original post on the next page. Adding thread to the epoxy usually works with no CP on Madeira, but some epoxies react differently.
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Email sent to request the hard copy! Thanks!!
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Aftco and American Tackle list reel seats in red, dunno if they are the same shade/sizes though.
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Batson also has them in different colors, like silver, black and TiCh IIRC.
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The @#$%& flexible veneers are different. They are more of a natural/raw abalone color to them and they have a very thin PVC clean film over them (if I remember the description of them). This thing PVC tends to crack and craze and is slightly visible. It doesn't have the depth of the other stuff. I've started using Anglers Envy Tachy-MOP and have been very happy! Easy to apply and looks gre
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I got a couple sets of the 50# roller guides in and like Kevin said, they are very clean! Great machining, guide foot prep, coating looks very well done, nice line clearance, etc. They are pretty light weight as well. I haven't ordered the 80# Ball Bearing guides yet, but I will probably be using them as well soon! The tip tops are impressive as well; one piece and solidly made. Where the li
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I had the same issues as you with the Heat and Roll stuff. Some patterns/colors would crack more than others, even with heat applied. If you were using a very thin blank, it would often crack no matter how much heat was used. I tried the new stuff TACHY-MOP from Knox and it worked very nicely!
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Batsons EVA is much harder than other EVA. You can ream it easier as well to get closer to the ID that you need. I have installed 5/8" EVA on 3/4" butts and 3/4" on butts with a .91" OD. I just use the 2 part epoxies like ProBond, Rod Bond or Ultimate Gel from RodDancer, start the epoxy above where the grip is and slide down and rotate the grip as I go so the whole inside o
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Mudhole now sells red, purple and blue Unibutts! I would get a blank and paint it if the Seeker red color doesn't work.
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They hold up just fine. Some guys even use them on Tuna popping rods, tested up to around 25-30# of drag IIRC w/o any problems. Or look at the new Mudhole Project X reel seats, all aluminum with the hoods like on a Fuji graphite reel seat. Nice reel seats!
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Yes, I do a thin layer to soak in and displace any air that will form bubbles and go back after the epoxy has set a little and thickened up a bit and apply another layer to get the thickness/build I want. When it is very thin and runny, it's hard to get a good build because it wants to drip. It acts more like a regular epoxy once it thickens up, so you can control how thick your coat will be.
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The more depth in between the bottom and top layer, the more the holographic effect will occur and be more drastic. I usually use 1 thick coat between the layers; I apply a layer of ProKote, let it thicken a bit, and then apply another thick coat with the thickened ProKote.
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ProKote is very thin when it's mixed, so you can still get a gloss finish and low build, or you can let it set up a bit, get thicker, and then apply another coating of the thicker epoxy.
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It really is simple to do. No more worrying about it! I used to have to order 2-3 times what I needed to make sure that I had enough because of cracking. Colors like the Blue and Teal Angel Wing patterns I could only use on large OD areas, like thick gaff handles, and sometimes they would still crack, even with enough heat! Drove me nuts; I went thru several sheets of the blue and teal and on
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It really is. I was shocked, the first time I tried the heat and roll I went through several of the 2X sheets from Mudhole (like 4 or 5) before I got somewhat consistent with it, but there was some times when it would still crack badly. I used the same methods to get a measurement of the ends of the abalone and then cut it with scissors. I used some nice scissors, but there was still no cracki
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I have been using the Heat and Roll Abalone on some trolling rods, but after seeing the rods after 1 season, I saw that the Abalone kept cracking and even cracked through 2 coats of ProKote. I emailed Anglers Envy to see if there was a way I could avoid this from happening. There is! Anglers Envy has a new Abalone Veneer now that you just boil it for 10 minutes in water, peel the backer off an
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