Try it, and learn alot more than anyone or any book can ever tell you. Personally I have not had good luck with permagloss - it flaked and chipped badly after only two seasons. I wound up removing all the permagloss and recoating with two part epoxy paints which have held up well. The rods were fished hard from a boat. I have one of Jesse's wireline rods that was given to me by an angler m
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When asked I have been using plate seats on "normal" diameter blanks for some time. I sometimes add a palm support for extra stability. Some reel seats I give the rod owner loose so he can tape the plate seat where desired. Others I wrap tightly to the blank with D thread. When taped I recommend that the angler uses white medical tape - the type that has a coth core - to keep the plate
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How about straight up, not tilted at all. You don't even need a "bead" to help mix the finish. I used a single 18 rpm flexcoat drying motor, laying it on its back. Placed a cup with the 2 parts of finish in the drying motor's diaphragm, and turned the motor on. As it rotated I lower a small mixing stick into the finish that was held stationary by goose-necked alligator clip. The cup rot
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Or leave the bubbles as they are. After a few fishing trips they will be hardly noticeable. Don't trust ANY finish to release bubbles on its own - they won't. I trust finish about as far as I can hop, and thats not very far or much. IMHO sandpaper does not belong anywhere near wraps - just too much risk that the thread, blank, or guide will be damaged making things worse. If you have to, as T
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Man, your work cut out for you..... Compressed air works, but there's the problem of sealing the end you're applying air into to the air supply itself. I have a pile of various PVC fittings, air chucks, and do-dads that I unsuccefully tried. I solved this problem by using a piece of grip that was 3-4 inches longer than need and slipped the end of the grip onto the air chuck and used a hose cl
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Leave one or both ends of the butt wrap uncut after binding down the butt wrap. Use a narrower band than usual. Apply you cp then if needed tug on the long uncut tag ends and tighten the butt wrap to get rid of loose threads. THEN wrap the longer bind down wrap as usual. Caeful that you don't pull too hard and yank thread from the other end. Lou
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Merrick Tackle carries the stuff you're looking for. Urethane rod grip tape. The black partno is MT-310G. Tape is 1" wide and comes in 60' long rolls. Order direct from them or look for a vendor here that stocks their stuff and have them order it for you. It also comes in other colors, but cannot vouch for those because I have never used anything but the black color. Lou
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IMHO uderwraps do two things: protect the blank from metal to blank contact, and give you another avenue for customization. Cheap and blanks I never underwrap, expensive blanks I always do unless I am told otherwise. IMHO the only blanks that I think do not need underwraps are solid glass blanks, and even then I usually underwrap for cosmetic reasons. Lou
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I have never used a locking wrap on any any single foot guide, wrap in the usual manner, and use straight finish. When I tested a wrap the guide foot broke from trying to loosen the guide out from under the thread wrap. I do not polish the guide foot. I grind it on a grinding wheel mounted on a drill press, dress the underside of the guide foot to remove burrs, and wrap. The topside of the gui
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On the first and initial wetting coat of finish, apply finish to the guide wraps beginning on the outer edges of the wraps and work your way towards the center of the guide wraps on up to the very edge of the thread but not over the edge. Do not cover the tunnel openings. Do all the guide wraps like this quickly. Rotate the rod guides down and leave the rod undisturbed in this position for 10 min
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Save yourself the trouble of sanding and get tapered grips. Hypalon DOES NOT sand easily like other grip materials. If you have to sand i would do it off the blank and on a lathe with the grip mounted on a short mandrel. Lou
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I agree with building up a ramp with thread and finishing. Wind on the hook keeper while you're at it. Lou
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I use thread too, in fact used this procedure last night using black thread, then applied first coat of finish. Applied the 2nd coat an hour ago and the ramp is look great. Lou
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I would remove the foregrip to access the reel seat if needed. Otherwise I would cut the reel seat off since the cost of a reel seat is hardly worth the risk of damaging an expensive blank. One thing about using boiling water to remove a reel seat - if the reel seat is installed in a split grip configuration you're going to need an awefully deep container to completely immerse that portion of
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The problem is buying a blank being advertised as a particular model, then either using it of trying to pass it off as such. If I treat them as cheap no name blanks that I personally warrant, then I see no problems with buying ANY blank on @#$%&. Lou
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Do a search for binocular magnifiers and you'll get a bunch of hits. Look in the popular online @#$%& site for even better deals. I use a set, have been for years. Lou
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Are you putting it on a heaver? That's one huge handle.... Lou
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As Cliff suggests I would try the CG Auxilary for one of their courses, or their recommendation. Wife and I sat through their boating safety class, and they were advertising the availability of courses on navigation, using GPS and Radar, and other classes. I gave the CG class experience an A+ grade - very informative. Gave my wife the ammunition to nag me when I intentionally miss a waypoint or b
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I have been using Kardol paste epoxy for years. It's a good material and an excellent paste epoxy. I prefer it over rod bond because of how hard and firm is cures - it cures rock-hard it seems. Rod bond tends to cure to a hard but somewhat flexible state. No, I have never had a problem with kardol. I also used colloidal silica to thicken regular liquid epoxy into a paste. The stuff is used oft
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The tips that fell off on rods I built, when I used hot glue, did so cause the rod building hot glue "vacuumed" as an adhesive in hot weather. You don't need to be in the tropics to experience hot melt glue reaching its melt point - many surf and peir fishermen around here carry their rod in the SUV vehicles whose interior temps on a hot day quickly reach high temps - enough to soften a
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I have my knuckles busted open more that once on the ckuck jaws. It hurts. Not as bad as when a single edged razor broke while trying to slice off thread over a guide - the 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/4" piece of razor left buried in the finish when the blade broke did a number on my forefinger!! Lou
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This is odd....I have received emails from others on this board, so I know my email account here was good. So I went and checked my acct and somehow the letter "s" got dropped from my email address, this is why your email was being bounced. Email acct updated! Thanks for discovering this! I do not warm the finish unless the temp room temp is below 60, then only briefly. Best to keep
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I went to the end of this thread to answer without reading all the subsequent posts to you post, sorry if I am repeating anything that has already been mentioned. Bubbles in the finish IN THE CUP >>ARE NOT<< the problem. Bubbles in the finish ON THE ROD are. With that in mind do not worry too much about what is in the cup, and instead concentrate on eliminating them from the freshl
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Oh, oh. There goes the neighborhood..... Just kiddin....welcome back Jesse. Lou
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I sometimes reuse the mixing cups to mix paste epoxy, or other epoxies for bonding. For finish I usually use a new one each time. Lou
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The metal ones are tough on fiberglass decks too. The nylon gimbals hold up well to many years of use. I have rebuilt a few trolling rods with nylon gimbals and though some were worn they were still functional. They were easy to cut away by scoring with a utility knife. I would not hesitate to use nylong gimbals if you want to protect a boat's wooden deck... Lou
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I have built both for people, as well as owning both types. Both rods fish well with no complaints from me, but the uni-butt has a more solid feel, and is heavier in weight, due to the construction of all the connecting pieces of the uni-butt. Both cast equally as well - well I don't know if I would call it a cast with reels in the 30lb-50lb class - more of a lob when casting 10oz sinkers with l
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Oh...the pifalls of CP...... I learned that before I used the stuff I had to eyeball it to make sure it is not too viscous. If it is it will not penetrate and wet the thread like it is supposed to and will just sit there pretty much on the surface of the thread and dry into a film that WILL capture air bubbles. Sounds like that is what pretty much happened to you. I don't normally use CP becau
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Kardol is good stuff. I have been using it for many years I can't remember how many. I have both the rod bond and kardol paste epoxies on my bench. Kardol appears to cure harder than rod bond. Rod bond seems to remain more flexible. Both seem to do the job just as well, however, I prefer kardol (esp under reel seats) because of how hard it cures. The only reason I wound up with rod bond is bec
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I would not wait longer than 4 weeks after shipping. If not received by now file an insurance claim - regardless of the reason. Do us all a favor and tell us what the name of the company is. Lou
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