I would make especially sure that you keep chromaseal from cold. When I ordered it, it showed up frozen and it can't be thawed, it just stayed solid like the consistency of silicon, kind of slimy. I had posted a pic of the solid chromaseal form that I cut out of the bottle on the photo page under the micellaneous page. James
Forum: rodboard

Also, keep the bottles in your pocket for about half an hour prior to use, it warms it up enough that the majority of the bubbles don't even exist in the first place, doing this I did not have one bubble in my entire first rod, no heating the finish after applied, especially with this awesome threadmaster lite. James
Forum: rodboard

Where can someone purchase this swifty diamondite pigment, I have looked at my main suppliers and even on the swifty diamondite manufacute website and have found no mention of it much less in the inventory. I have been painting my blanks, but i would like to try this permagloss for my lighter rods as I would obviously like to add as little weight as possible and I have a couple more questions abo
Forum: rodboard

Thanks its on its way. James
Forum: rodboard

I was re reading the latest and my first issue of Rodmaker magazine and this time I caught something about a dvd of last years expo. Where does someone get one of these? Since i cannot go, i would at least like to know what goes on and what i am in for next year. James
Forum: rodboard

I am a beginner which is why I am pretty sure i know exactly what your problem is. I ran into the same issue and I take great pride in how well I prepare my guide feet. Believe it or not, just turn the rod around and that will fix the problem. I had no problems and then once I started to get near the end of the rod I turned it around because I was in a confined place so I could not move along wit
Forum: rodboard

I have a feeling that he will not notice a 1" difference. James
Forum: rodboard

Yeah, those painted reel seats that mudhole carries look awesome, but i just can't bring myself to buy a 32.00 real seat when I can get a physically and mechanically identical one for less than 5.00. I to am starting to try my hand at painting my own reel seats as well but since I am artistically challanged I am pretty sure that I am not capable of the quality of the seats that mudhole carries.
Forum: rodboard

Mudhole carries full 12" long burl cork blocks and strips in many varieties and that might work for you in some way or another. James
Forum: rodboard

I am new so take this with a grain of salt, but one day I did not clean my hands before starting to do some wrapping and i had the same problem, like the oils in my hands were darkening the thread. And since you do not squeeze the entire length of thread through your fingers but rather are more likely to just squeeze it while you are readjusting or holding slack then those could be the dark spots
Forum: rodboard

Sounds like an investment that I am more than willing to make, your other book helped me a lot. One with not only the new methods but laid out the way you think is best is guaranteed to be a must read. Can't wait. James
Forum: rodboard

I got the pac bay metallic thread 12 color set that works pretty good. Don't have anything to compare it with but the price was right since it was on sale and the colors are nice. It does feel really rough passing through my fingers and I have to wonder if that is normal or if it is just a pac bay thing. lol Maybe that is why it was on sale. James
Forum: rodboard

Eric, I ordered some that came the same way and I am new to this so maybe this is not a good idea but... I file and sand my guide feet down considerably more than those pre ground ones are. The lower edge of my guide feet are so sharp I have cut myself with them. The sharper they are the smoother the thread transition onto the guides I think. James
Forum: rodboard

I just recently finished my first rod and just so you know I used lite build threadmaster. I used masking tape for the purpose of a straight edge as well as so that I could measure out exactly how far I wanted the finish to go off of the threads so that all of the guides would look uniform. It worked awesome. The trick here is that you need to only make one wrap with minimal overwrap because you
Forum: rodboard

What is this quickdraw bassboat "rod-pull" that you are talking about? Sounds like there is a funny story behind it. James
Forum: rodboard

mudhole, and maybe Johny's Pond James
Forum: rodboard

Thanks everyone, especially Tom, you just saved me some money, like I said not big on multi-piece rods so not really that familiar with what ferrules are made out of and how to use them, but those metal ones are the ones I picture in my head. I guess it is time to do some research on ferrules. Thanks everyone. James
Forum: rodboard

And if you are worried that it won't bind you can always drill vertical holes in the but cap so that the epoxy can actually set up inside of little holes around the circumfrence of the cap. But, if Mike says it will work, I have absolutely no doubt that it will. James
Forum: rodboard

Jann's Netcraft has some awesome trim rings, in any metal finish color, one type goes under the reel seat between the rear grip and the seat and the second one has a little bit of surface milling that fits between the reel seat and the foregrip. They look better than rubber or even aluminum winding checks. James
Forum: rodboard

I am talking about spinning blanks. Definately not a slow action, and I have every intention of buying the ferules not making my own, because it will be a miracle if I make more than two rods that need them. More importantly, all I really need to know is whether or not I can take a 1 pc blank and cut it in two places making it a 3 piece travel rod. Is that possible, or do I need to buy a 3 pc
Forum: rodboard

I will definately have to check into that issue of rod maker, and I know about all of the different offered travel blanks but, what I really need to know is if I can make my own out of a one piece blank by cutting the blank. James
Forum: rodboard

I have always hated multi-piece blanks, but I have since considered that with all the new high quality blanks, that I should be able to make a decent if not good quality travel blank that I can always keep in my car with me so that I never miss a chance. I was looking into the travel blanks of several different manufacturerers, but I happen to have some extra blanks and I was wondering if I could
Forum: rodboard

This probably won't help much John, but I just recently made an order from a supplier who encouraged me to get a business license, whether I have a business or not, so that they and other suppliers could give me wholesale pricing. It might be worth the fee, I am looking into it. James
Forum: rodboard

I wish my high school had classes like that back when I was attending. James
Forum: rodboard

Mitch, boy am I glad you made this post, I am going in April and want to do the same thing, plus i plan on moving down there in a year or two and I am so excited about peacock bass, I have wanted to go do some fishing for them since before they were introduced to the U.S. Although I will be a couple hours north of where they are, I will be in Orlando, but you can bet that i will make the trip. J
Forum: rodboard

I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago, it came back in a couple of days. James
Forum: rodboard

Don't take my word for it, but I am pretty sure that @#$%& carries those, I'm not sure because I don't remember the names but I do know that they carry several different heavy gold casting guides. Hope it helps. James
Forum: rodboard

I just finished my first rod and i to noticed that after babying my wraps picking and packing that when I applied CP it seemed like gaps opened up in a few places. I was a little worried about doing it but I went ahead and adjusted the thread right after i put the CP on and those spots opened up. After that, they looked far better. Hope it helps. James
Forum: rodboard

I found the manufacturers website a year or so ago and I thought that the rods looked pretty cool and had only heard good things about them (spinning and casting don't know about the fly) but I did not see blanks for sale. I know that the rods were pretty dang expensive so I am guessing that the blanks have got to be pretty ridiculously expensive too. James
Forum: rodboard

I just finished deciding on the positioning of my guides on my first rod and I basically just started by copying a rod I already had. Then I did a static load test re adjusted it, and then another test. Sort of a trial an error sort of thing. If you are using the new concept method then there is an article in the library tab of this site that will tell you exactly how to do it. Although, any advi
Forum: rodboard