I have built a bunch of 4 piece fly blanks into spinning rods. It's not a big deal. Just realize they do not fight a fish like a real spinning rod. But for making 4 piece travel rods, it works great. But they are much softer and slower than a spinning blank. Now a 13 weight (did not realize there was such a thing) has got to be a pretty powerful rod. I'll bet it will be great as a spinnin
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Interesting. I used 2 of them when they first came out, and one of them is still in use by a good friend. They built into good rods at a very competitive price. The gloss black finish was nice. I wonder if an updated but similar product is on the way? Drew
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I've noticed TFO has discontinued their old go-to rod blanks. The TiCro-X was a good enough salt water blank but now gone, kind of replaced by the BVK. And now that's gone. Probably time to look elsewhere, or go with one of the current offerings. I did like that their blanks were made in Korea and not China. For the same money, you could look at (made in Mexico) RodGeeks, which are excelle
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So, I've used a bunch of those St Croix handles. They are great, btw. Too bad they are gone, especially the fly handles. Don't make this harder than you need to. Insert the plug to the greatest depth it will go. Then ream the grip so that that depth will protrude beyond the blank. Assemble the grip, then Epoxy in the plug. After it's dry, cut off the excess, sand down (a belt sander makes
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Yep-Meant no offense Thomas, so no need to overreact. But I stand by what I said. If you can get the grip off in 3 minutes with tools you already own, go for it. But if you need to buy new stuff, to salvage old stuff, you need to think through it. Now if you're just interested in the salvage process for it's own sake, go for it. And, If you have a business, and you spend an hour to salvage
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Reality check... This can't really be worth the effort, right? Just buy new ones for a new rod. On the rods I've broken, or my friends have broken, I save the guides and the reel seat if it's a fly rod. Everything else goes in the dumpster. Life is too short to be salvaging easily replaceable things like this. Otherwise you end up with a garage full of junk, and your children will have to
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Conor Crowley Wrote: - > I've heard a lot of positive things about REC > snake guides. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't > missing out on any performance with purchasing > them. Do you put forhan wraps on both sections of > the guide? I didn't realize people put forhan > wraps on double foot guides, I always thought that > was only done on single foot guides. >
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Herb Ladenheim Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You will find out soon enough that life is too > short to drink cheap wine, bad so-so food and fish > with "price-point" fly rods. > Herb Yes-but one of the real pleasures of building your own fly rods is making great rods out of carefully selected but (*relatively*) inexpensive fly b
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Jim Chancy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Without offering any form of customer service now, > why would anyone want to buy a totally disposable > product from them? Is not honoring warranties or > taking calls possibly a sign that they are closing > their doors? Agree. I see no reason to do business with a company like this. Cast
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Jim Chancy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Without offering any form of customer service now, > why would anyone want to buy a totally disposable > product from them? Is not honoring warranties or > taking calls possibly a sign that they are closing > their doors?
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Conor Crowley Wrote: >Would you recommend the > three stripping guides you would use? I am partial to the Fuji KW style guides for the stripping guides. CCKWAG are the ones I have been using. They don't look exactly traditional on a fly rod, but they work very well. The titanium ones are nice but spendy! And since they are furthest from the tip, the tiny amount of extra wei
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Michael Danek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "opinion" at work here rather than "data." > > I have used both single foot wire running guides > and snakes, and I see no difference in casting > distance. I prefer REC snakes for weight and > corrosion reasons, and snakes over single foot for > the reason that I
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I have used the REC double foot guides for years and they are beyond excellent. For a high power rod, I think you'll be happier with double foot guides vs single foots. And honestly, the stripping guides don't matter that much since they are all good enough. For high power fly rods, I like 3 sripping guides, 20-16-12. The Fuji "corrosion control"l SS guides can save you a few $ an
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Another RodGeeks vote. I've just finished 2 9 weights. Both blanks got the optional $15 paint job. The blanks were under $150 so well within your stated budget. I like their metallic paint and one is burnt orange and one is metallic red. Looks like a Ferrari with metal flake paint! I also used the REC double foot guides, Fuji stainless corrosion control stripping guides (Titanium are ridi
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I have built 4 of them. They are very similar to the SC4/2 blanks that St Croix used to sell, and still sell as their Imperial line of built rods. So similar, in fact the sections from equivalent Imperials fit on the Rood Geek Carbon 4 blank just fine. They have to be built on the same mandrels. But anyway, the Imperials win just about everyone's shoot out of value rods because they are so
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Tom Kirkman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I normally wait at least 3 full days as long as > the humidity is above 50%. > > ................ So Tom, what happens if your humidity is 15%? Asking because I'm going to coat some Mudhole carbon fiber grips and I live in a very low humidity place. Just for reference, today's humidity here in Sacr
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Send back and ask for a refund. Dispute the credit card charges. That's ridiculous. This seems like a company on the way out. Drew
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Is the Rodgeeks "neon pink" pink enough? Their colors hold up well and no guess work involved. Drew
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Lynn-Every time I quote your post I get the banned word problem. Too funny. It's a weird forum glitch. Interesting drying time comparison, because in almost all cases, I coat the wraps and go to bed. Or I coat the wrap and go to work. So they all turn 8 hours or more! My real take is that all finishes are pretty good. I've just gotten comfortable with TML and sometimes ProKote. I
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Lynn- I have tried to reply several times but keep getting an error message that one of the words I am using is banned. It's very strange since none are inappropriate or rude in any way. Anyway, I prefer the TML generally. Both finishes are similar and low viscosity and not at opposite ends of the spectrum. Drew
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Funny, I have a Rainshadow Rx8 8wt that feels like at least a 10 weight. My guess is, they spec thm that way on purpose. With that said, it's been an excellent durable rod and is almost always my Alaska back up. The whole point of the common sense thing is to standardize all of this, but with all the manufactures changing specs so fast, it makes using a library of measurements less useful th
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?Pro Kote works fine, generally. Never had a problem. I thought it remained softer for a couple of days longer than anticipated, but it the end, it's been a good finishing epoxy for me. I use it or Thread Master light for all builds. I'd stop all the heating with various methods. Your environment for curing sounds perfect. The one thing I will say is that the 1:1 ratio of hardener to re
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The thinness (is that a word?) of Torzite is the real attractor to me. The supposed "toughness" is also welcome. Sounds perfect for non-traditional fly guides which is my interest. Maybe downsize from 8 to 7 runners, maybe a better top is coming, it's good stuff. Interested, for sure. My own bias is that ceramic ring fly guides will win in the end down to about 5 weight. It migh
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While I hear you on the V stands, there is a simple solution that I have used for years on my rod dryer. Just wrap the rod at the V with a layer or two of blue painters tape. You do have to always turn 1 direction to avoid catching the tape and unraveling it, but once you figure out the direction to apply the tape and the direction to turn your rod, it's fool proof. Then just peal of the tap
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herb canter Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As i said in a previous post , Titanium is > corrosion resistant NOT corrosion proof . > Maybe after 40 years in a salt mine, or fished at the center of the sun, the titanium may oxidize a bit, but for all practical purposes, Fuji titanium guides do not show corrosion even after 5 years or more of no
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I think thread is used because it's highly effective, plus easy and cheap to use. And it's probably the relative cheapness that wins in the end. Even a $1000 fly rod has maybe $1 worth of thread on it at the most. Without being an engineer, but having stayed in a Holiday Inn recently, I think it's the thread that supplies 90% of the strength to the rod/guide junction. Plus, even if the thre
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The Alconite titanium guides were always my go to. Wish the TFAT tops were still available. Anyway, I always liked the TFAT tops as fly rod tops. It didn't look traditional but performs extremely well and I've not ever had 1 failure. I notice there isn't a torzite F top? I wonder why.
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Sounds like a pain with the odd ratios. What makes it any better than what is already available? Drew
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I would start over. It's so easy to do this right, that with an improper mix you're going to make a bad product, every time. Syringes work great and are too easy to use. And honestly, I've never had a mix fail. Even using 1:1 ml has worked great, so use syringes to make your measurements precise. If it's for you, strip off everything and do it over. If it's for someone else, only put out
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I have used those seats before and it's pretty simple. In fact, I've used 2 of those in the last month building two 9 weights. Don't use too much glue! In fact, use a gel like Rod Bond which stays put and makes less mess. I assume you have shimmed and reamed the seat for a good fit. The trim ring fits into a small recess at the base of the threads. So with your epoxy glue in place on the b
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