I have been asked to build a couple of Bamboo fly rods. These are for people that just want to get started with bamboo rods, and don't want to shell out several thousand dollars for a "classic" cane rod. I have been doing some research, and have located a company that will sell me blanks at a reasonable price. I would like to build these rods in the "classic" style. Agate
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I have been working on finishing a rod. I used a black rubber winding check on the rod. I got a little sloppy while running the finish, and had some small bubbles in the finish around the winding check. I figured that I would just use a razor blade, and cut them out, and then run another coat of epoxy. I cut a little to deep, and cut a chunk out of the winding check. The way I see this is; I
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Your welcome Stu. Happy things worked out and I was able to help you out.
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Walt: Contact Sage. They may have what you are looking for. I rebuilt a Graphite II about a year ago. They are great to work with. The tip section had about 3" snaped out of it. I sent them the rod, they matched the new top section, and sent it back. I broke about 2' out of the top section when I test cast the rod. I sent the rod back. Sage called and said they had missed a crack
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I use the Dr. P.H. Martins ink as well. I prefer their Iridescent colors. These are mixable so you can come up with many different colors. Thin with denatured alcohol. They have reformulated this ink, and the new stuff flows great from the pen. I use to use the Testors paints and they work very well. The Iridescent ink actually glows when it is in the sun light.
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My Dad was a demonstrator for the Sila-flex rod company. He recently passed away. I have a picture of him making a trick cast during one of the shows. I also located one of 2 rods that were given to him by Sila-flex (this was before Browning bought them out). This rod is inscribed and signed by the owner of Sila-flex. I know that this rod is over 55 years old. Dad had me casting in these sh
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Stewart: I live about 10 miles from Fly Logic. I know the rod builder there. They do not make their own blanks. I can call on Monday and see who made this blank. Once you know who made the blank, you might be able to get a replacement for the broken section.
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I took a piece of brass tubing that has a slightly larger I.D. then the berrel of the tip top. I marked the tubing, and cut the top half of the tubing off with a dremel tool. This created a half circle of the tubing that the barrel of the tip top could lay in. The length of the cut was just long enough that the tip top would fit, and a small section of the Barrel would extend past the end of t
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Roger: Since you are already wearing glasses, are they bi-focal? I have tired most of the suggestions above as my eyes got older. The solution I hit on was a pair of the flip down magnifiers. My bi-focals are the large "shooting glasses" size lenses with 2.5x bi-focal built in. With the flipdown 3x, I am able to use my regular lens at the top, move to 3x, then to 5.5x, and back t
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I have built a number of St. Croix SCIII (3S56ULF2) 5'6" 2 piece crappie rods. Several for my family, and several for customers. One customer that actually keeps records said he had caught over 1500 crappie with his new rod this year. He said that it is the most sensitive rod he has ever owned. I am also a fan of Cork grips over foam.
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John: You didn't say what length or weight of rod you are building. I did a 4 piece 9' 5wt rod recently that was green and silver. I wish I had seen the American Tackle grips before I built this rod. I would have bought their Jade wood grip. This is a cork grip with green wood at the tip and bottom. I can't tell you how to go with the reel seat, but I know that there are companies that ma
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Keith: Send me an email, or unhide your email address.
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Ray: I am in Nampa, Idaho. I have been building rods for awhile on a hobby basis, or building for a local shop (30 some odd years), and learned from my Dad. Give me a shout when you are in the area, maybe we can get together. Mike Bradford rmbrad@sitestar.net
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Ray: Congratulations on the new business. Nice to see another person here from Idaho/CA. Sure would be nice to have someone local to Idaho to bounce questions/information around with.
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Thanks Tom. I figured this was the case, but wanted to hear it from someone that knows what they are talking about.
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I know this may sound like a dumb question, but just had to ask; Is there a difference in quality in the different manufacturers of guides? I know that we all have our preferances, but is there a real difference? The reason I am asking this is I was just at a place looking for a couple of Fuji tip tops. I just needed 2 to fit 2 rods I am working on, and didn't have this size. The rod builder
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Billy: I am an old guy, and my Dad is now 90 years old. He built and repaired rods for many years, and was a professional caster for Sylaflex before Browning bought them out. I was casting in the shows when I was 3 years old, and that was 54 years ago. I think I have my Dad's original stick of Ferr-L-Tite around here some where.
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I am with Billy. I have used Ferr-L-Tite for years without any problem. I know my Dad used it for many years before me. The company says that the melting point for this stuff is 300 degrees. Not very high in the overall scheme of things, but in practice it has worked from Southern California to Idaho, and has gone from temps where ice was forming in the guides to "almost to darned hot to
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Heath: I may be wrong, but after looking at a number of Heddon rods at some of the on line @#$%& sites, these guides appear to be the old Perfection guides. I know that Angler's Workshop carry Perfection guides.
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I know this has been discussed, but I just did a search for warrantees, and came up with nothing. I recently started selling the rods I build. The first rod I sold was early this summer. I just got "the call" from the customer. He snapped the rod just above one of the guide wraps. This is a 2 piece 5'6" Ultra-light spinning rod built on a St. Croix SCIII blank. The break is c
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Multi-piece blanks. I would have had orders in for your pink and purple blanks and reel seats if they came in more then one piece. Pre shaped cork grips (for those of us that don't shape our grips) with things like a checker board band, or something other then just "cork".
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Thanks for the information guys. The cork was fairly dirty, and by the time I finished cleaning it with a tooth brush, dish soap, and water, the shrinkage had disappeared. I filled some of the "divits", sanded it down, and sealed it with cork sealer. I did 2 coats of paste wax on the whole rod, and it looks better then when it came out of the store.
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I am cleaning up several old Fenwick glass rods. One of these is basically a pristine 8 1/2' 6# fly rod. The only problem that I can find with this rod is that it looks like the cork grib has shrunk over time. There are small gaps between the cork and the winding check. The winding check has the factory finish on it, and it doesn't look like it has shrunk. These are my Brother's rods, and I
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Charles: I would try buffing the scratches out with Burchwood @#$%& Stock Sheen. This is very fine polishing compound. I have used it to buff scratches out of plastic lenses on car headlight covers. I just finished cleaning up a fairly nasty looking Fenwick Glass rod using it. If this doesn't give you the look you want, clean the area with alcohol, scuff the area with a Scotch Bright pad,
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Heath: I started by hand turning my rods, and then bought a cheap drier. this was basicly a motor with a 2" PVC cap attached that had 3 bolts that you screwed in to hold the rod. The rod supports were made from wood. The base is: 2 3/4" square, and 3/4" thick. There is a groove cut in the middle, to fit a piece of 1/4' thick plywood (this is the up right for the support). t
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Bill: I saw the picture in the article, and I am sure that Tom was using a "Micro brush" of some sort. These are commercially available, and as soon as I saw them in a local Auto Paint store, I thought that they were perfect for this chore. I simply do not want to pay the price for 5 brushes that I could get 100 of them for.
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Danny: Do a test wrap with the black thread. You have to "pack" the thread, Make several turns, and then shove the thread together, make several turns and repeat. Once you do this, wet the wraps with water. I think you will see that these wraps look "Jet black", and start to look like they are "painted".
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Danny: Do a test wrap with the black thread. You have to "pack" the thread, Make several turns, and then shove the thread together, make several turns and repeat. Once you do this, wet the wraps with water. I think you will see that these wraps look "Jet black", and start to look like they are "painted".
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I think that if you will do a test wrap of Gudbroad Scarlet thread, and their Gold thread, and then run a couple of coats of Flex-Coat CP, you will have your colors. I think that you said this was an older rod, and you have to think back. Many years ago, we were limited to thread that was made without CP, and was basicly made by Gudbroad, and some rod builders continued to do "what they
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DR: Been using your system for years, and it works. I was just trying to learn something new that might work. I know that Tom spent time writing an article for Rodmaker, and I have some questions about his system.
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