Ray, Mud Hole sold a similar root beer blank for a while, I built several bass rods on it. Good blank.
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Tru using jewelry rings, the right size wedding band will work just fine.
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Mike, I bought 2 pieces of the stuff in Charlotte. The flipping stick I posted the pictures on is the only application i've done so far. It was fairly easy to work with and so far I've had no problems with the wear and durability of it.So far I'm pleased with the stuff.
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Rich, I still finish under power, I use a rotisserie motor from an old grill. It turns at about 3-4 rpm. I have made an attachment for the rod using pvc lined with foam and 4 screws on the outside for securing rubber bands wrapped around the rod handle. Works for me, I've used the same motor for over 25 yrs.
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My wife does oil painting and as a result I have a supply of paints that work great and look great with no pouring off of solvents.
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Most rods go very smooth but evey now and then one of these comes along and nothing goes right. Gremlins are the only explanation I can come with. Thanks for the laughs, we've all been there.
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Tim, It depends if you want the full cigar type grip or the half cigar type where only the front half is tapered or possibly something in between. Are you going to be building it from rings or preformed. Usually the full cigar type has no room for an uplocking insert. They are also too small in diameter for a flush fit type that fits up against the butt. I have modified the insert type b
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Go ahead and use whatever pleases you, this is the beauty of a custom rod, it"s yours and you can do it any way you want. Later if you don't like it you can change it. I agree with Stan, I have made a lot of fly rods using metalics, especially the blacks, blues, silver & gold. I used it for my own rods and then some of my customers started asking for it. I don't believe I've scared too m
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Marty, It works great, depends on where you fish. Last one I built was on a Cabelas' salmon blank. 10 ft. rod extended the blank to 11 ft. Uses a shakespeare automatic fly reel loaded with 14 lb. test mono. Works great for pulling 1-2 lb. slab crappies straight up out of brush and stumps. I live in Mississippi and the heavy butt and light tip is used for vertical jigging.
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Thanks guys, I'll get in touch with them. Just couldn't remember who it was that had them in Charlotte.
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When Mike Barkley gave his talk on handles in Charlotte he had an aluminum jig used for cutting rings and checkerboard patterns, I got short on funds and didn't pick one up at the show. Can someone point me to the source for purchasing one now. Thanks.
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Sorry I'm late getting in on this post but I,ve been tied up this week. I am a life member of DAV and I get my care at the V.A. in Tuscaloosa Alabama. I live in north Mississippi and please add my name to help in any way I can.
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I have a Delta midi-lathe and I use a 4 jaw chuck for wood and a separate chuck from Delta with different size collets for the different mandrels. I use a self centering drill chuck on my tail stock for drilling. I drill my wood using the 4 jaw and then switch to the collet chuck for my mandrel turning.
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Have built 2 rods with these , one for myself and one for a customer. They look great and so far so good , no wear showing and color is holding well.
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Will, I have made several grips lately using chrome accent rings, all I can tell you is that since you can't change the rings you will have to bring the final diameter of the grip to the same diameter of your rings and add them after your grip is formed. This means cutting the grip and piecing them together with the ring sandwiched in between. Maybe some one else can come up with a differen
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Bill, Built a 5 wt on a net Craft ultra light spinning rod blank. Very fast, very light and handy for small streams. They have them in a plum color which is almost brown.
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Take a look at the fiberglass blanks at Jann's NetCraft, they are reasonable enough to buy a few to keep on hand for repairs and modifications.
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Removed the same label on the same rod with a green scotchbrite pad, just go easy and rub a little tru oil on the rod where you abraided it.
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Scott, I've done a couple of rods by lightly charring the cork they have held up well but a lot depends on how deeply you char them. I went light and only changed the color and contrast of the cork . Finish them with cork sealer or tru oil.
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Bill, I have been using all metallic wraps on my bass rods for some time and have not encountered this problem. However I have noticed in doing butt wraps with metallic thread it has a certain amount of elasticity. I have to pin down my cross wraps with something or they will separate upon sitting. I use a bit of color presever to hold them in place prior to finishing with epoxy. As for the
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check out Mud Hole's special blanks, they have a nice cobalt blue blank that may be what you want but it's a one piece.
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I've used all the above methods and also being an old horseshoer I use a horseshoe rasp. This is a double sided rasp with a corse and an extra corse side. Just be real careful using the extra corse side or you can take off too much or can take off a chunk of your own hide before you even know it. You can find these rasps in a farrier supply web site or if you know of a shoer you can get their old
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Ed, Not only did I see them, I bought 1 in blue and 1 in green to use for rods. I'm anxious to see how they work out. I'll probably use them on bass rods.
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Keith, Guess I'm like Putter, I use a lot of metalics of all colors and brands. I build a lot of bass rods and I just can't get the right glitz from any thing else. I particularly use the black, it always comes out great. Metalics need no CP and cover with rodfinish smooth and clear.
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Mike, I've made guite a few repairs like this. Back when I started to build rods we made all our 2 sectioned rods using solid glass spigot ferrules. If you can find some of the old junk solid fiberglass rods, keep them for making this repair. fit one end and sand the other to get a good fit and glue everything up. I usually put a good butt wrap over it also. I fixed a catfish rod like this
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Ron, Take a look in the photo section and type in my name in the gallery section. I recently completed one almost exactly as you described. I used a female ferrule on each end and a male ferrule on an extended butt and another on the rod. The handle can be switched around to make either rod configuration.
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I have good luck with a glitter from Wallyworld that come in a squeeze tube. It has an adhesive in it, just spread on wraps where you want it and let dry. Usually takes 2 coats of finish to cover it.
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Richard, I do a lot of bass rods in the 6 to 7 ft catagory, after flex testing I usually end up with 6 or seven guides. Don't know how this compares with your tests as you did not state what your record with most number of guides came to.
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Marine epoxy is what we used on rods way back almost 30 years ago before the excellent new finishes were around. It yellows very fast and is not nearly as flexible as rod finishes of today. I still have the first rod I made, it's fiberglass and is finished with marine epoxy. I just keep it around as a conversation piece.
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Just a few words on paint for marbleing work. I am in the middle of building a new crappie rod (11 foot). I checked my testors paint and found my white and green paint were all dried up. I started to go to town to buy some new paint and I remembered my wife does oil painting. I figured, Why not? so I grabbed a few tubes of her paint and it worked out great. I marbled a split handle, in front of t
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