Lots of notes on the site explaining that the PDF downloads are temporary and the available components and blank descriptions will be up on the site soon. I would think they could have made this a little less painless to customers by completing most of the work before the new roll out, however I suspect that the product development was ahead of the IT work and they were sort of forced to do
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Pigments are the best, such as the marbling pigments already mentioned. I would stay away from using acrylic paint though. This turns the finish sticky very quickly and doesn't level well. Not sure what is happening chemically to create this effect but I learned this when coloring finish to make winding checks from 2-part finish. Terry
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What's your method for drilling out the grip after glue up Roger? Terry
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These "through the blank" rods have come and gone a couple of times. The first time you get any debris on your line and it gets in the rod, you are pretty much toast. From a blank stress perspective, it's a great idea but not very practical over the long term. Terry
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Fiberglass is a little easier than graphite. If you have a dremel tool, just wrap the blank with masking tape to give you a straight line. Use a reinforced cut off wheel and work around the blank at the edge of the tape. If you don't have a dremel, the best hand tool is a triangular file. Score the blank at the edge of the tape and continue around the blank until you get through it. If yo
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It depends on the color of your blank. Without CP, the thread will be translucent and allow the color of the blank to show behind the thread. You can adjust this some by starting with a lighter colored thread, which retains a little more of the thread color. The darker the thread color, the closer you will get to the color of the blank under the thread. With CP, the thread will be slightly
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Guidefoot adhesive. Works great and lasts forever. Terry
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I use the rubberized cork for ends and caps because they are much more durable and resist chipping. When shaping on the lathe, they are easier to use regular turning tools and are less likely to tear out compared to regular or even burl cork. I've never made a full grip out of these but as Tom said, you could core them and use a urethane insert for weight reduction. The burl corks are he
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On a fly rod, about the only big consideration is salt use, or not so you want to be sure and use the right frame material. I use titanium frames in salt water and stainless for fresh. As far as the inserts, SiC doesn't buy you much so Alconites or Zirchonium inserts (several brands) are plenty slick for shooting line. Save your money for good cork and reel seats. My opinion, and as alway
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yes, order a label from Decal Connection on the left. I live on the West Coast and I order on Monday, the label is usually here by Friday. 1000's of fonts to choose from and they come in any color you want. I can be pressed into hand writing but the labels look much more professional for me. Terry
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Hey Chris, Your repair idea will probably work but you can create an over-sleeve and split it to get it over the female ferrule on the butt section, then overwrap with thread after you glue it up. I would not clean up the break area and just fit it all together when you glue it as it will help the alignment. Terry
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Hi Bernie, If you don't want to do this work yourself, I would be happy to help. If you unhide your email in your profile, we can discuss if you are interested. If you want to tackle it yourself and have questions, just post them here and we'll help you through it. Terry
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parting tools work, but you lose a lot of material. I found that a hacksaw provides less waste and still gives a clean cut for thin rings from a cork cylinder. If you use a parting tool, make sure it is sharp. Terry
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If you use a smaller stripping guide, be careful of the placement. Sometimes with a spiral wrap, the line can pile up on one side of the reel with a small guide. You can either rotate the guide a bit to even out the line on the spool, or use a bigger guide. Terry
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Karen at Bingham still has them on their site. Which reminds me, I need to order a couple. I use this on the polishing side of the 3" grinder mentioned above. Terry
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A fly tying bobbin works really well for this. Make sure to use a security wrap on the guide to prevent pulling out. Article in the library for this if you haven't used it. Terry
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There have been several threads on this forum as well for guide prep. Many builders like to use a vertical belt sander for this task, which works well. My preference has been to use an inexpensive 3 1/2" bench grinder from Harbor Freight, $40. Comes with an 80 grit wheel, a polishing fiber wheel, and also a hand grinder attachment that I don't use but works like a dremel. The polishing
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If it's a child's rod or one for a woman with small hands, a 16 is great. a 17 or 18 is a better fit for a normal man's hand, even on an ultralight rod. Grip ergonomics is one area that custom builders can really improve on from the department store and even fly shop rods. Terry
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Yes you definitely want more guides in the tip area. I agree that this process and the other static deflection processes result in this. My comment was that if you just follow the process, for certain applications you may end up with a very long gap between the stripper guide and the subsequent guide or 2. This is fine for blank distribution but not the best for casting in a fly rod. Locatio
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One of the advantages of the various static distribution systems is that it gives you a place to start when you have no other reference such as a similar rod or mfg. recommended spacing charts. I think my point is that it's just a starting process and the builder should consider both placement for curvature and for casting. I too have tried adding another guide but they still tend to be bun
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Another great issue of Rodmaker. Thanks Tom for continuing to produce a quality magazine for our craft. I use the story pole method a lot discussed in the latest issue. I do find that I need to make adjustments. Using the method for blanks having most of the flex in the upper 1/3, the guide locations for the 2-3 guides ahead of the stripper are quite far apart. This is due to the lack
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You might consider fiberglass for this application. Lamiglas has some excellent choices in this category. The FL 783 and FL 843 are 7' and 6'6" respectively. Many of my customers are returning to fiberglass for small stream applications. In graphite, all the choices you mention would be great. Terry
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If you use tape, keep in mind a couple of key points: 1) always leave a gap to the rod between the tape arbors. 2)Make sure the epoxy fully fills these gaps and encloses the tape arbor on both sides. This does encase the tape arbor in epoxy and will ensure a much longer life. If you only put epoxy on top of the tape arbor (the reel seat contacts the tape arbor with no contact directly
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For just turning grips, either way works great. It's easier to turn fighting butts and rear spey grips off the rod on a lathe, but you can do those on the rod as well, but you have to have a method to plug the hole in the butt. If you ever want to turn reel seats, then getting a lathe set up to both turn grips and reel seats is a better option. Only the renzetti and the Custom Power Wrapper
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Hi Carlos, Yes, you should be able to move them a bit without any consequence. However, moving guides on the tip section is less forgiving. If you wrap from the tip toward the butt, I seem to do a better job of getting the guides close to the correct alignment compared with the other direction. If you have to move them too much, they will unravel on the tip section. Take your time, li
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I'm a guide foot adhesive guy. Just heat the foot with a flame (after proper prepping as the previous posts suggest) and drag it over the end of the adhesive. Line it up and hold it down until the adhesive cools and wrap away. It's a weak adhesive so the guide will move after wrapping if alignment is needed. Terry
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Sounds like a plan John. If you want, you can eliminate the #6 guide and just drop to the #4 running guides from your second stripper. You won't be disappointed with Snake brand guides. The universals require no prep. The regular guides are a little cheaper if you don't mind grinding a little on the feet. Terry
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Each switch rod is rated differently and depends on the grain window that the rod is designed for. Switch rods in most cases do require a heavier single handed line than the rating to properly load the rod for most casters. The grain window also helps select the correct Skagit or Scandi line to load the rod. The TFO Deer Creek 11' 8 Wt Switch rod grain window is 400-600 grains. Pretty b
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If Roger Wilson doesn't reply soon, you should send him an email. He has helped others construct power wrappers in the past. Terry
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Maybe you can give us a little more info? Are you trying to install trim bands on the end of the wrap or inlay in the wrap? Metallics are a little tougher to work with but they can be done. End wraps can be done after the wrap is completed with 3 or more turns so 6 turns shouldn't be bad at all. If you unhide your email address, I can send you a trim wrap tutorial I did awhile back. The li
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