I think it will take longer than that! It sets up pretty slowly and I would rather err on the side of caution! I usually let mine go for 6-8 hours, but with the warmer weather and my shop in the 80's, it is good to go in around 5 or 6 hours. A lot will depend on the temperature of your shop! It stays pretty fluid and will sag for a while. For me, it takes longer than TM Lite to set up.
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Tom, it feels spongy on the spool itself and when running the thread thru my fingers, it feels very loose and soft, like it wasn't twisted tightly. The thread itself stretches more than other threads and just feels weird wrapping with it; it feels springy on the blank.
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I've used a few different colors and sizes of Pac Bay thread w/o any problems in 100yd spools and I ordered some of the 650 yd size C spools and this stuff is horrible! 2 different colors, and both feel spongy, stretchy and have all sorts of fuzzies all over them. I can't seem to get the tension tight because of the stretch and the fuzzies occur even with less tension than normal. The other 10
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I have the most problems with the caps; I screw them on and then they split on me! I will have to try some of the tricks mentioned here. I wish it also came in smaller bottles so I wouldn't waste as much!
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I used one a few months back and the finish was very nice. It wasn't too long after they first came out.
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Ordered up 10 today!! Can't wait to get em!
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I've used the fast set on a few rods now and like it! Works well, cures pretty quickly, mixes and cleans up easily. It isn't as runny as Ultimate Gel from TM/RodDancer, and is a tad thinner than the Rod Bond quick set stuff.
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It will depend on the kit. I have purchased several kits from Mudhole and the ones that come with a St Croix Handle kit have the arbor in the handle kit. Other kits do not have the St Croix handle kit and don't have the arbor.
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Lamiglas will supposedly paint any graphite blank pink for an extra $14 thru one wholesaler than cannot be named.
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It also may be the reinforcement they put on the butt section, the graphite/aluminum twill material or whatever it is called. That may have it's own spine. I've gone back and forth with spine. Used to check the spine, then got away from it, now I do a quick spine check on some rods and still haven't noticed a difference in fishing spine vs off spine.
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My saltwater jigging rods have 8" foregrips for the lighter rods up to around 200-250 grams usually and 10-12" for heavier rods. Many go to shorter foregrips because the blanks flex so much that a longer foregrip may get cut. I put a tall stripper (25mm Turbo style or something similar)right off the foregrip to get around the foregrip getting cut issue. When placing a 20mm stripper
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I build many fluke rods on the 7' graphite blanks, the 20-30 Mod fast is the one I use for fluke drifting. The ATX 15-30# 10' Surf Rod is a sweet rod as well. Their 30-50# wireline trolling blank will be put to the test in a spiral wrap once the Stripers make it up here in force. I made up a planer rod out of their 5'6" 60-130# trimmed down to 4' and it worked great off of Morehead this y
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I would go with ringed guides, either the Am Tack Virtus ones, or the Fuji MNSGs. I've used the steel framed Am Tackle Virtus and they are pretty sweet! If you like the Turbo style guides, Pac Bay makes a Ti frame/Zirc ring turbo. Generally, I use a 14" rear grip, Perfection Ball Gimbal, and a 10-12" foregrip. Reel seats are Fuji PSS, Pac Bay graphite Channel Lock with Aluminum hood
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How much blue/silver do you need? I have a spool or two I think!
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I just built up one of the Batson Forecast RX6 SP600. Great rod! Casts very nicely and has enough power to set the hook at the end of a good cast. I have also used the Am Tackle Matrix 5' UL, also a nice blank, but physically heavier. The MHX series are pretty nice; I am building one of the blend models currently for a light inshore saltwater rod.
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I have the same problem with dog hair. Put the final touches on a surf rod, it was rotating while I was sleeping. Woke up, dog hair over the decal. Had to sand it out and recoat. The door was closed, but still managed to get the hair in the room somehow! John, I've set up 4 accounts with various supply houses, 3 of which are sponsors here! Been playing with lots of new blanks lately, too!
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John, I usually wait 2 or 3 hours from Chromaseal to Threadmaster. It usually is dry much sooner, but I err on the side of caution...some times! 70?? Heat wave!!!! My shop is around 60 or so usually in the winter, I have lights on to warm it up a bit!
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Ah, ok. Thanks Ray! I wasn't sure if the dark color on top was too close to the dark on the bottom. I put another coat of the 1 part finish on it and most of the pop did come back, so it looks like I am good to go to finish it off!
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I did my first tiger wrap finally. Metallic Silver and nylon black thread underwrap, 1 thick coat of TM High build, let sit for 2 or 3 days to fully cure. I did Gudebrod size A 246 Dark blue over it and when I removed the sacrificial thread, it looked great. Nice holographic look to it and it was just about the shade of blue I was looking for. I wouldn't have the chance to epoxy it for anothe
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I agree! I have built a few of these, but in conventional versions. They have a pretty soft action to them. 8" foregrip is nice on conventionals, but it will be personal taste on a spinner! I did up 1 6' spin jig rod, used 40, 30, 20, 16, 12 MNSG's on it IIRC for a Saragosa 18000 reel for jigging tuna. With jigging, some guys go with smaller guides since you aren't casting. I have seen
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Calstar 655XH and 655XXH have been good to me so far. I also built a TSF55XXH 50-130# and it has a nice fast action, but serious pulling power if you are into larger tuna. The 655XH is my 30N setup, great for schoolie YFT, the TSF55XXH is for the larger tuna/larger lures. 655XXH will also handle some big fish and sharks w/o a problem as well. THe 655XH and XXH are slower action blanks, the TS
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Mudhole or Am Tack 6650 by any chance?? I've built those blanks up before and had the same issues. I use a 25mm stripper guide, usually a LRSG or Low Rider 20, for my stripper guide, right off the foregrip to get clearance there. I then place the guides on the bottom as I normally would. From there, I put line thru the guides and put the rod into a max flex and mark where the line hits the b
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I set my hand on fire with an alcohol burner last year. I had filled it and had to tilt it to get it under the guide. The alcohol leaked onto the burner and my hand. My hand and the alcohol burner caught on fire, so I put the alcohol burner down on the hard plastic mat on the floor of my shop, blew out my hand and then dropped the metal cap onto the alcohol burners flame and blew the rest of t
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I was going to say, Billy just needs to wear his cape and crown!!
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Not flip to the spine up position; the guides want to be on the bottom like a spinning rod, so they will try to flip over regardless of the spine orientation. I have seen factory tuna jigging rods have the guides turn to the 3 oclock position while fighting a tuna. Nothing to do with spine! Once the line is away from the centerline of the blank, the line will want to twist the rod so the line
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Think about it a bit more. The materials are wrapped around a mandrel and will overlap in different places on the blank. Composite blanks are even more interesting, 2 different materials wrapped around a mandrel, the pieces of material are usually triangular in shape. Do you think they all line up perfectly along the whole blank?? Nope! I have built rods on spine and off spine and noticed no
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OTI makes a 2 piece 7'6" popping blank that we use in Cape Cod for Bluefin tuna, a 40/60 rod landed a 160# BFT this year, and the 60/80 has landed larger fish, but has a fairly stiff tip. A Calstar GF700H or 700XH would also work, as would a comparable Seeker. Billy Vivona's 70H Hercules would rock for this!! It will launch 2 oz easily, but still handle heavier jigs. Great action, power,
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I would go with the 665XH or XXH. XXH for the bigger fish, I use my 655XH with a 30 for Canyon YFT. The bigger blank may do better fighting from the rod holder.
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I just put an empty spool in the chuck of my rod lathe, put the Madeira spool on my pac bay carriage withjust the washer and nut and transfer the thread to another size empty spool.
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I usually move the bumper guide back towards the stripper guide so that at full load, the line is pushing the guide directly back into the blank, or where the single foot goes to the frame. This way there is no loading. Other times I will rotate the bumper to 100 or 110 degrees if it just needs a little tweak or use a 16mm guide to achieve the no load situation. I do my spirals differently; I
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