Mud Hole's shipping charges are plainly listed on their website and in their catalog - there are no shipping charge surprises. More and more dealers are going to move to minimum orders and/or minimum shipping charges as their time is taxed to the limit and such small orders almost always result in a loss for the time spent filling and preparing it to ship. What I seldom understand is why a
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It is not a rod building event by any means. It's the U.S. Fishing Tackle Industry trade show. I don't believe it is open to the public. Dealers, manufacturers, etc., only. ..............
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It was a fine seat. Landmark once made a very good copy and in 2 sizes. Something else you might check if Powell no longer offers it to the public. ..............
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There was a very good pictorial on how to make diamond wraps in a much older copy of the Fenwick rod blank catalog. Probably from the late 1970's or so. It was a great learning tool - still one of the best I've ever seen. I wanted to do something similar but a little more involved. I think you'll find it very easy to follow, but it sounds like you already have the basics figured out. .......
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That might work even better. I was just going for something readily available and inexpensive, that would still do what needed to be done. ................
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Now that they've given you some easy ways to do it, I'll give you a quick run down of how most quality bamboo blanks are finished. You wrap the guides and then dip the entire rod, guides and all, into a tube containing warm, thinned varnish. The rate of removal is controlled by inches/seconds and sometimes elaborate mechanisms are utilized in this so any human error can be removed. It can take 3
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When you work with thin sheets and cut and bore narrow squares, you won't have that nice figure that you find when you just look at a piece of wood. The only way to get some figure or pattern back is to alternate how you stack the squares - edge then end, edge then end. But you'll never have the wood face showing anywhere in the grip. A regular piece of Leopardwood turning stock is going to
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The Amato book, Rod Building Guide, has a full pictorial chapter on diamonds and chevrons. Glad you have it figured out. Now all you need to do is just keep at it and until you find the patterns and spacing that appeal to you. Here's something else you can do - make an underwrap and put some thread inlays at intervals that will show in the center spaces between the chevrons. ...........
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No, that number will be correct no matter what the rod length. The criteria involved in setting the first, the stripping or butt guide, does not change with rod length. That distance and what takes place there is unaffected by the overall length of the rod beyond that point. ...............
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That fixed number is based on years of taking into account the user's arm length. In nearly all cases, unless we're talking abnormally short or unusually long, you'll find that amount suits just about everybody. In the book I did for Amato I penned the concept of holding the rod with a 90 degree bend in your elbow and then reaching out with your other hand and seeing about where it touched th
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Okay, if you're talking about something larger, you can likely find somebody in your area that could make you such a thing. And the cost would be far less. I assume you'd make your shafts with the same carbon-skin technique outlined in RodMaker year before last? That would be far more economical than cutting a flag and then rolling, wrapping, cooking, stripping, etc., in the way that a rod bl
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There is a company that specializes in making tapered steel mandrels for the rod blank industry. You would be very surprised (and perhaps put off) by the price. The difficulty with simply have a machine shop make you such a thing is the diameter of the tip - which is going to be a lot smaller than .3" unless you plan on making blanks with tip diameters as large as your thumb. Take a look
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I don't have all the information, but it would appear that GUSA closed down a few months back. There has been talk about someone picking them up and bringing them back, but even that might not help your warranty claim. Billy Vivona at the NERBS outfit would be able to better inform you. ..............
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I'd move it forward onto the ferrule. Strength is not an issue - it would work fine. ..............
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I'd tape things up and go out and try it both ways. If you move it too far forward (and I'm not sure that 33 inches is really too far) you may have trouble picking up the line from the stripper without reaching forward too far. You'll just have to try both positions and see which suits you. I don't think casting will be overly affected, although at 28 inches I might opt for one ring size larger
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What you might do is just situate the guide on top of the female ferrule at that 40 inch location. I may be misunderstanding your positions relative to the sections, but if you can do this, all will be well. You wouldn't like have to move it more than an inch. Take a look at how that slight move affects the other guides just fore and aft, and make a slight adjustment if you feel it looks better.
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It was probably set up to be used for taping the reel on. You'll have to cut it, but you don't have to cut it in the middle. It might be easier to cut and rejoin the sections if you do it at one end, one ring from the butt or something. Then again, if you're careful to make the pieces with a pencil line before cutting, it should be a simple matter to splice the pieces quite cleanly no matter w
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I just read the patent information text. Very interesting concept. Instead of a simple denture cleaning tablet, they utilized a series of perforated cylinders to create a "torturous path" for the water to reach the deployment device to prevent it from releasing in the rain or in shallow water. And, a spring that could only be compressed to allow a direct flow of water in when the press
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End of the reel seat. Everything has to be done in relation to the fighting hand and reel location. So let me rephrase that to read, about 31 to 32 inches from the butt of the reel seat. ............
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Your thoughts are on the money. A guide that has been properly prepared will not harm the rod blank. It should be smooth and free from burrs, and should sit flat on the blank's surface. .............................
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The Stuppe family. Terry was just promoted to president, I believe. ..............
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The first, or butt guide, on a fly rod is the stripping guide. If you'll locate it about 31 to 32 inches from the butt of the rod, you'll be just about right for nearly any fly rod, length, line-weight, etc. ................
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By the way, earlier in my first post on this subject, I made the incorrect assumption that you were working with a casting rod. For spinning, I'd set it up as outlined in the NGC in the Volume 10 #4 issue of RodMaker. Try it that way and record your best averages made over perhaps 100 casts. Then set it up any other way and see if you can best that. You'll find that "rubbing friction&qu
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The older white ringed guides were ceramic porcelin. They can still be had, albeit in heavier frames. Not sure about the red shock ring, however. ............
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Kevin, I'm glad you posted what you did - often a person will get bad results and blame the wrong aspect of the process. If the veneer you and Scotty mention is not up to par for being used with this technique it will be called out soon enough. But let's make sure we relate these things in a nice way. Scotty is obviously very proud of his product and I just didn't want him to be seen as bas
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A rod of that length really doesn't need that many guides. I'd back up and try maybe 6 plus a tiptop and see how that feels to you. One thing - since it is spiral wrapped, are you using a good many guides making the transition? That would be where the seemingly high number comes in. .................
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It's hard to find UL blanks in the longer lengths. So what I'd suggest is that you buy one that has the power you like and extend it to the length you want. You can probably find a nice 6 footer with some fair power in the butt, but with a light tip, and then extend it out to 6'6 or so. That will make the action a tad faster and give the fish a little more leverage at the same time. Makes one hec
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I am not offering opinion here. I am offering proven data. LIghter line generally allows you to cast further because the cast lure is pulling less weight behind it, not anything having to do with friction. There are another dozen variables that you have not mentioned yet, but like "rubbing friction," they do not amount to anything that makes any practical difference here. Sta
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There is still very little pressure forcing the line against the guide ring and even this scenario only takes place on the butt guide (if you've spaced things correctly). We've proven this. You will gain more distance by getting the line under control and down to a much smaller cone, sooner, than any distance you might lose due to an infinitesimal amount of such friction. If you want to really
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Yes, most of what you state we covered in the NGC articles several years ago. Weight is certainly important, friction however, plays almost zero role here. In our tests with a mechanical casting device many years ago, we found that reducing weight, particularly on the upper half of the rod, nearly always resulted in some gain in distance. Changing ring materials, to alter the friction betwee
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