I'm not sure who's insert that is. It may be custom made. The skeleton parts are readily available from many sources. ............
Forum: rodboard

This is one of the rare instances where most everyone will benefit from such an acquisition. One less component dealer means that everyone's slice of the component supply business pie just got a little bigger. All dealers, not just Mud Hole, will realize additional business from this move. And because Bob McKamey is going to work for Mud Hole, we don't have a long time, respected dealer left in t
Forum: rodboard

The same way everybody else does - register there and then log in and hit the "upload" button. ............
Forum: rodboard

It won't pinch the line unless the amount of tilt or bend is excessive. Bend one over to 45 degrees and beyond and you may have a problem. Less than that and it's not going to interfere with anything. ...............
Forum: rodboard

A link to another post or thread on this site would not have been removed. My guess is you didn't successfully post it. ..............
Forum: rodboard

Please do not include links to photos on the message board. Put them on the photo page. Thanks. ..............
Forum: rodboard

The longer, heavier line weight fly rods are where differences in physical weight and speed really begin to be recognizable. This is where the upper end, so called "premium" blanks and rods do tend to offer an advantage. ............
Forum: rodboard

The rules state that you are not to add links to sites that feature advertising or sales of products or services of non-sponsors. ....................
Forum: rodboard

These should be pretty common. Have you looked through the catalogs of folks like Batson, Pacific Bay, American Tackle and CUI? Once you find what you want, just contact them and ask for a list of their dealers. ...........
Forum: rodboard

If you tilt the ring far enough, it will pinch the line top and bottom. I have seen this happen with pear tops on fly rods that were bent. As mentioned earlier, this isn't a problem unless the ring is very small, such as with the micro sized guides. And it does require a pretty serious bend or tilt. ...........
Forum: rodboard

The company is named North Fork Composites. There was a thread on them here last week. ..............
Forum: rodboard

At the location where you intend to install the seat. Measure at the front of that area and you can gently the ream the seat just a hair for a perfect fit if needed. ................
Forum: rodboard

The inherent properties of the rod are what they are. The deflection constant and location of the forward support have been spelled out and provided you do not change them they will give relative results against those numbers listed by others using the same constants. This is the same procedure used by all the blank and rod manufacturers for last 100 years. They do not adjust power and action mea
Forum: rodboard

If you are building your handle longer than you can use, what good is that? If you're building your handle such that 6 inches isn't in play - isn't usable, why not just cut the rod off at that point? We're getting into scenarios here that aren't really practical. Ken has made a great point - action and power are based on overall length. This isn't something that was decided by the Common Cen
Forum: rodboard

Definition of action - where the rod initially flexes. No matter how long you make the handle, that point will not change. If you want results that are relative across the board, support the rod at a point which is roughly 10% of it's finished length. No farther. Use a deflection distance which is 1/3rd of its overall length. That result is relative and comparative across the board. If yo
Forum: rodboard

If it's tilted far enough it certainly could, although this would only be a problem with the very smallest of guides. ..............
Forum: rodboard

The current tip may not fit the butt of a new blank. Tips and butts have to be hand matched, often by careful fitting of the ferrules. Sanding a blank is not a good idea - the sandpaper tears and cuts the outer fibers - the most important ones. Scraping or a mild citrus type paint remover are safer bets. You can remove the finish on what you have now and clear coat it, or paint to whatever
Forum: rodboard

There was an article in a past issue of RodMaker that detailed various types of care and instruction manuals supplied by rod builders with their custom rods. ................
Forum: rodboard

I go with the latter then - a rod with an ERN of 7 and able to fish either a 6 or 7-weight line will handle such fish and be a heck of a lot of fun. .............
Forum: rodboard

If you're willing to drop a C note on a blank, you have a wide range of options and can obtain a very, very nice blank. Don't feel like you can't get a really good premium blank for that amount of money - you can. .............
Forum: rodboard

Yes, they're both water based to my knowledge and shouldn't harm the decals. ............
Forum: rodboard

You know, if you're going to wind up with 2 rods anyway, I'd reverse course a bit and steer you to an 8'6" or 9' rod with an ERN of about 7. Put a 7-weight line on it and have fun. Later you can put a 6 on it and cast about as far as you'd ever need. Unless your trout and steelhead are unusually large, that amount of power would be better suited to the task. ............
Forum: rodboard

No doubt they do, and have for many years. ...........
Forum: rodboard

For the type water and fish you mention I'd steer you towards a 8'6" to 9' rod with an ERN of about 8 to 8.5. This will be easy for you to learn with if you'll line it with an 8-weight line and fish at moderate distances up to maybe 50 or 60 feet. Later, as your casting improves, you can line it with a 7-weight line and reach way out there. Now for large striped bass and very large salmo
Forum: rodboard

Patrick, No. In fact, there are more high quality, exceptional performing blanks available today, at less money, than at any time in previous rod building history. ............. Mike, You're right, the St. Croix Mojo rods are another example of a great rod for under $100. But all it takes is a few to push the high end up and sticker shock is no longer as likely when a guy is confronte
Forum: rodboard

Any rod will load easily if you have the right amount of weight on it - the right line. Fast action rods are no harder to load or use than slower action rods are. I always steer beginners to fast action rods because they can perform such a wide range of tasks and will generally handle a wider range of lines to cover a wider range of casting distances. Why not just figure out what you want to u
Forum: rodboard

The bass industry took strong notice of the fly fishing market during the 1990's. They saw the keystone margins that the dealers were getting and how clever marketing convinced the consumers that the stuff was a bargain even at those extremely high prices (premium fly rods approached $800 to $850 during the late 1990's and serious fly fishermen wouldn't consider anything less). We've now come
Forum: rodboard

There was an in-depth article in RodMaker concerning how to determine the actual cost, all costs, of producing a custom rod. This was in the series on custom rod pricing which also included a list of builders in various geographic regions of the U.S. and what they charged for a list of various rods. The physical cost for each rod type was outlined and fixed. The final selling price varied wide
Forum: rodboard

Gross profit is the amount above and beyond the purely physical costs of producing an item. Net profit is the amount left after "overhead" has been taken out of the gross profit. Things like insurance, heat, lights, rent, advertising, labor, etc. Few custom rod builders operate in a stand-alone business type situation, so they often don't factor in things like this. But they should
Forum: rodboard

I use BreakFree to wipe down my lathe bed (steel) with. If you bed is cast iron, however, it really won't require much of anything. A light rust may form but it won't get much worse than that. ...........
Forum: rodboard