I read Tom's article about running finish in the new Rodmaker Magazine. I noticed that he was using a broad brush, and went to my catalogs to see what he was using for the brush. I found several adds for Red Sabel brushes, and several adds for brush cleaner. I went to my local "rod builder" supply store, and even though he stocks several different finishes, and throw away brushes, he
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Gary: When I am done with my rods, I give them several coats of wax. I use Johnson paste wax, but pure carnuba would work. Wipe the wax on, and let it "haze" then buff it off. I think this will give you what you are looking for. I actually use the U-40 Cork Sealer, buff down this finish, and then give the grip a couple of coats of wax.
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I have been spineing rods for some time now, but have recently run into some things that have me wondering if I might be doing this correctly. I build rods that are multi-piece. I recently built a 2 piece Sage fly rod. The blank came from Sage with marks on both pieces. Sage said that this blank was marked to be built where they would build the rod. They said that they do not spine blanks an
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I had a bug land in the finish, and by the time I realized it, The finish was fairly well along in setting up. I was able to remove most of the bug. I got my Wife's mega-watt hair dryer out, and was able to heat the finish up enough so that it flowed. I was able to get the wings and legs of the bug out of the finish. The finish leveled out, and turned out great. I know this information is
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Good post Ray. I have been dealing with one supplier for close to 30 years. For the most part, I can call them in the morning, and have what I ordered with in 2 days. I like to build rods using St. Croix blanks, and this supplier usually has them to send out the next day. I recently ordered 2 of the same blank, and was told that they had 1 in stock, and the other would have to be back ordered
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I had been going to ask this same question, but since the thread is started, I will ask here. Are there any DVD's that deal with the basics of using a rod lathe? I have seen the one about using a wood lathe for making reel seat inserts, grips etc., but I am looking for a basic DVD on wrapping a rod on a lathe.
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Steve: I was having trouble with fisheyes on my second coat of FlexCoat. I talked to a local rod builder, and he gave me some good information, and some bad information. I finally called FlexCoat, and got the straight story about the problem, and how to fix it once it appears. The fisheyes are caused by some sort of oil contamination. I don't know where you build your rods, but unlike so
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Birchwood Casey is the company that makes Tru-Oil. I have seen gun stocks that have been finished with Tru-Oil that looked "plasticy", but that is simply because they weren't rubbed out. I can't remember the name of the Birchwood Casey product that is used as a course rubbing compound, but it gives this finish a dull sheen. If you want that "looks a foot deep" finish, use t
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Thanks guys. I just made some out of 2# diameter 8# test braid. I will give these a try tomorrow.
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I don't know if "pull ties" is the right wording for this or not. I have been using a piece of thread for pulling the tag ends under on my wraps. I have seen the commercially available loops that are designed for this. They appear to be made out of a piece of monofiliment line and a colored bead. I am wondering what size/test monofiliment would be used for pulling size A thread?
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Check out some of the knife building supply places. They have a lot of different materials they use for grips and inlays. They also have tools and supplies that will also work for rod building.
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I was just looking at the North Fork Composite site. Gary Loomis has been building blanks for many years. I think he has boiled the legaleze of Warranties down fairly well. He might want to add; Your rod blowing out of a towed vehicle and run over by another vehicle is not covered., but I think this is probably covered in some of the Etc.'s he has in his warrattee.
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Take a look at the Warrenty that is in the North Fork Composite catalog. It is available on line. Gary Loomis has been building rods and blanks for many years. I think he has boiled the warrenty language for his new blanks down into a very simple format and language. I think this idea could be modified to fit what you are looking for.
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I have been building the bushings for reel seats with tape for years. I use to use masking tape. but recently started using the fiberglass drywall tape. I always built up these bushings to the point that they were tight enough that I had to turn the reel seat to get it in place. and then ran the epoxy. I am currently working on building up a rod using the new tape, I strarted wondering how tig
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I am also one of those old guys that was use to Fiberglass rods. I was lucky, and learned to wrap by watching my Dad. The first rod I wrapped was done with the spools of thread held in juice glasses, and the thread run through the pages of a large book for tension. I have built some truely ugly rods over the years. I still fish with some of them, some of them are on Fenwick glass blanks and a
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Michal: I just finished repairing the tip section on one of these rods. By the time I finished the repair, I had wrapped this top section twice, plus a new butt section and a 2nd tip section. Contact Sage. They should still have parts for this rod. If it is a factory rod, they will send you a wrapped top section. You will have to send Sage both sections of the rod so they can match the ne
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Tony: Basically, you are dealing with 2 different tapers. Ideally, you would have both tapers the same, and this would cause "the white to rub off" for the whole length of the ferrels. We don't live in a perfect World, and I suspect that this is the problem. The white is a "tell", and where it is rubbed off will tell you where the problem is between these 2 tapers. If t
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This topic brings up memories of "the rod from heck". I agreed to fix a fly rod for a friend ( this was when I was building rods for friends and family, and charging for parts). This rod was a 9' 5 wt 2 piece fly rod that was custom wrapped as a retirement present for my friend. He snapped about 2" off the tip of the rod. I sent the rod back to the company, and requested a repl
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WD 40 is a "water displacement" chemical. I am a gun guy, and have seen guns that have been sprayed with WD-40 for years, and placed back in storage. The WD-40 will form a sticky varnish when it dries. Spray the rod and guides off with house hold water. Pay attention to the guides so they are really flushed. Set the rod aside to get really dry ( I had a bamboo rod that wasn't dry
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Thanks for letting me know that my experiance isn't that far out of date. I go back to the metal ferrels, and the custom of rubbing the femel on the side of your nose to lubricate it before you put the rod togather. I am also "old school" enough that I learned to put a stuck ferrel behind my knees, and pull with my knees. Last resort was to have 2 people gripping hand on top of hand,
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I am kind of a new guy here, but have seen this with a couple of rods. I would answer Tom's question first since he has way more experiance then I do. I am going to make a W.A.G., and say The top of the male ferrel is bottoming out on the female ferrel. This can limit the amount of surface area of the 2 ferrels that are in contact with each other, and can lead to the condition you are describe
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Will: I turned by hand for years before getting a dryer. I would run the epoxy on one section, and turn it in my hands while watching for sags, thin spots, and bubbles. once things started to set up, I set a kitchen timer for 5 min., placed this section on rod supports, and worked on the next section. When the timer went off, I would turn the first section 180 degrees (guides up or down), a
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John and his whole crew are great. I recommend that if you are having an issue with FlexCoat products, you give them a call. They are very knowledgable about their products. I was having trouble with fisheyes while applying a second coat of light build. I talked to a local rod builder, and he fed me some bad information when he told me you can't use light build over light build, but can use h
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Check the phone book for auto paint supply stores in your area. They have an amazing aray of sandpaper. If or when you need a "polishing compound", check out Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen". This is what they use on "hand rubbed" gun stocks to get the "like glass" finish.
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I may be the guilty one here. I have been fishing for 50+ years, and building rods for family and friends for 30 years. My Dad use to do casting demonstrations for the Silaflex Rod Company before Browning bought them out, and I learned to build rods from watching him. Graphite rods were just starting to come on the market when I started building. I am use to looking at the blank stats that
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I am building a rod for a friend. The basic parameters are 6' to 6' 6" spinning rod, to handle 4 to 6 pound line, and handle 1/4oz lures, or a bubble and fly. I like St.Croix blanks, so I dug out the catalog. I was looking at the 2 piece SC III 3S66LF2 blank. This is rated for 4-8# line, and 1/16 to 1/4 oz. lures. I talked to my friend, and he said that he often uses 1/4 oz sinkers, plu
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I know your question was about filling the pits in cork grips, but I may have another thought. I just finished a couple of rods, and was asking myself if I wanted to let these rods go out with the pits in the cork ( and like you, I didn't know how to fill them). I had already sanded these grips smooth with 800 grit sand paper, and ran a coat of U-40 Cork sealer. I know that you are not suppose
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I am building fishing rods, and have been doing the inscriptions on the rods by hand. I don't have much trouble when I am writing on a flat surface, but converting this to the round and tapered rod blank is a pain. I have discovered an ink that I really like. This ink is made by Dr. Ph. Martin, and is irridescent. The ink comes in a number of colors, and these can be mixed to make another col
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Roger: I am with you. I don't use the alcohol on my wraps to see what the final color change will be, I use regular tap water. I have never used the NCP threads, but built a couple of rods many years ago using the brush on CP. I got some strange results. I got good results on part of the thread, and part of the thread looked like I hadn't used the CP on it. I had 3 coats of CP on this rod
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I use a quill pen/steel nib pen. I use Doc. Martin Irridescent inks that come in many colors. I really like this ink since it thins and cleans up with alcohol. The irridescent properties makes this ink glow when it is in the sunlight. The colors can be mixed to create another color. I polish my nibs on really fine sand paper (1500 to 2000 grit), and then buff them with a dramel tool. When
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