Give Lance at Swampland a call. He will have teh MHX and also some Seeker options( my first choice) that he could advise you on. Its what his customers fish for down in Louisiana.
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Robin, short answer is NO. Unless its an IGFA line class rated blank the numbers refer to anything the marketing department thought would sell that blank. 10 to 17# test on a blanks means nothing as 10# what? If its say ANDE it may break at around 12# with a good knot. 17# on other brands, 20# on others There is no standard on what a label means for # test line either So you have hav
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Michael, look at the 'how we do it' videos by flex coat. Its on youtube. You can learn a lot there about simple techniques using basic equipment. get a good book before you start: like Tom Kirkmans. Visit this years EXPo and go to the basic class on rodbuilding there. Most stuff you can make yourself and most likely better than you can buy until you get up there in the Renzetti area of thi
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As a kid i wanted a rod and for many reasons could not get one. Old ww2 tank antenna was used to build my first one. Lived for many years in Africa where many things were also not available: built what i needed or repaired others folks rods because i could. Now its my artistic outlet. Also i get exactly what i want.
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Adam, yes to increase the diameter of the blank to match that of the tubing for extending i use often cedar as an arbor. Its cheap, very light, strong,easy to work and does not rot easily. Once you fashion it to fit, drill it at right angles like swiss cheese and make it even lighter. 1/4 inch drill bit makes short work of it. Most those tubes from mudhole adhere well to cedar with man
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many of the products here can be used too: either from the reel seat back as an original grip or over turned down existing grip material if its firm like cedar etc. walking cane butt caps fit them or make your own from cedar, composite cork etc. A few inches of blank extending thru the seat and an arbor of cedar is what i have done on several rods and they held up a few years in insh
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Swampland, Bingham and Utmost are all very good choices. I can get most normal needs from them. All 3 have top rate service .
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Steve, look at the Flex Coat 'how we do it' series of videos on you tube. You may be better off using their methods and tools. Cheaper and give a great result. Something to think about and worth less than 2 c: I have power wrapper with a fancy chuck: I wrap by hand on a wrapper i built that is hand powered. Unless i want a long underwrap the power one just does not do as good a job.
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Mike, the eternity 2 blank with that cobalt blue color has the toughest color i have yet dealt with. Some blanks ( one high $ USA made one a few year back was very bad for this) you can wipe with a surgical wipe and their color comes off. These new batson ones have a very tough finish. Good automotive level finish. I removed threadmaster light from the butt section of one with zero du
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I fish the gulf from Alabama to PINS and almost exclusively use RFLE 765 Seeker S glass stretched to 8 foot plus from 7.5 that they come in. I would go castaway 30/8 microwave with 7 mm minima 4 flys to the tip spinning on it. Also nice for throwing rigs with trebles up to around 1 oz. Lance at Swampland has them.
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personal repairs in the field: black D thread because i can see it( those over 60 know what i mean) and clear nail varnish. Take it off when home and repair properly. the UV cure stuff i have used like we use for lures/fly tying yellows too much and gets brittle too.
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Good question but no satisfactory answer. You have three choices: test for yourself and pass the cost along, absorb it as r&d or follow what others have done. I have a list of loves i turn to when asked to build: Batson 822.5, sage VXP 4 wt 81/2 ft, seeker 7.5 ft S glass, CB843 MHX,MB842mhx etc. I also have a bin of about 60 blanks that just don't work well for me. Plus maybe 20 bu
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Arthur, not being snarky but if you believe there are some standards you don't need to deviate from in the list you mention, why are you not just buying something off the shelf? Its vastly cheaper and many come with an insurance policy( they call it a warranty). However if you believe all those things ARE variable and you are trying to get them to be working best for YOUR fishing needs, lengt
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Whatever you decide upon please note its going to be a very much surface coat only. No penetration with cork. Anything that makes it harder, well why you using cork and not say carbon over foam or cored wood or? Lots of harnesses of wood. Must be one that would suit, bore and core and weight will be similar enough that its not a biggie for many applications.
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Kevin, then the cork works like a filler and its ok. But exposed not so muck. I have used Ozite carpeting in a long strip that works ok.Way better than cork strip also its thicker. Its what they cover putt putt greens in. Pretty tough but can get a serious funky smell from fish bits sticking on it if you use bait.
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Eastern Red Cedar handle is the way i would go. Cover with epiphanes finish, spar varnish or PG, maybe composite or foam buttcap so something softer is banging into your body parts.. Single D thread for taking up space between blank after boring out to 17/18 mm. You could go 22 or 24 reel seat for that type of rod and extend the cedar to become the shim/arbor for the seat with that short
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Rick , no i did not measure CCS.
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Tom, its just such a lost opportunity for me tomake and sell rods. The rash of 'microwave' sales around me is slowing and this could have been the next thing. Here is a blank i can put confidently next to Sage or BVK's for my customers, they are THAT good and well finished. I have worked with other blue blanks where the touch of paper towel and isoprop would remove the finish. I no lo
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They are new so i got one of the first and built it. No CCS available and i needed an 8 wt so that is what i bought. Finish is so much better than many blanks i have worked with, wish it came in matt black or natural but whatever its pretty. REC 20 12 double foots then snake 4's to a large tip. Cast it monday before running to Orvis to get a new Hydros IV and and 8 wt line to use on it for a
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Phil, If you use a fighting belt for the butt of the rod ( NOT your crotch, foot or armpit) and make the reel sit so your one hand can still get in front of it in that position: you can simply point the rod tip at the shark during the fight and it has NO mechanical advantage. Its then like tugging a rope with a dog on the end. Use 100 yds cheap stretchy mono in a # test of your choice( min
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Herb, yes
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This is a pic of problem area today, looking not too bad now.
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Guys, thanks for help. Progress report: I sanded with block and 180 then 400 grit under running water and gave it thin coat( once dry of course), better but not 100%. Left it 24 hours and again sand and thin coat and now i am finally happy. Will see after another 24 hours. I have a few miniature glass bottles with Pg, epiphanes,deft, and other finishes in them. I leave them outside toge
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Thanks.
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Tom, looking real close its wrinkles. Thought it was grains but its wrinkles.
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I use PG at least twice a week and am comfortable with it most times. On longer stretches of blank i use a technique similar to how one does a grip: spin rod in a lathe at about 100 to 200 rpm apply PG saturated foam brush with one pass, wait 30 minutes then come back from the other direction and its done. So lat night on a sage 4 wt i did that over 3 coats of CP where the logo is and my name
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Try a size 5 Minima 4 single foot fly guide in TiCH. If that does not work with how you tie knots try the 6. You get the benefits of micro like mass reduction and they pass knots. Plus easy to wrap. Oh and at around $2.50 retail for the TiCh they are a bargain too.
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Yes they are thick blanks. Build out to about 1/2 of an ugly stick weight if you know what you are doing and very very tough.
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Thanks guys. contacted Sage directly which i should have done from teh get go. They say do NOT add reinforcing wraps.
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Kevin, some of my clients are seriously into kayak fishing for bull reds in Mobile bay and for GT's and jack up to 35# in the near shore regions. Their hands down favorite is the RFLE Seeker S glass 765's( call Lance at Swampland). All but one prefers it to the Seeker RFLE 726 for the lighter tip allowing good casts with 1/4 oz artificials and soft enough not to rip out trebles on specs
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