I have been using a small file to prep my guide feet like most do. Does anyone use a dremel? I feel like it would be faster but might be too agressive.
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Have caught the BFS bug. Has anyone has built an ultralight/spiral wrap baitcasting rod for trout or panfish? I have a couple old Abu Garcia UL spinning rods I may scrape and attempt. Seems it would create better line flow through the guides. Use of fiberglass blanks would IMO provide a more appropriate soft action. Any comments or solid advice always welcome. Tuna
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Hello, I am new to the hobby and have done 6 rods. I wanted to get into more decorative wraps but have trouble just keeping my standard wraps clean. I've given up with size A. How do you all make it look so easy? I have the CRB wrapper but wonder if tention is too tight. I will break thread pulling through sometimes. On video folks just pull it so easy. I use size D and it is easier
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I’m sure this has been discussed. I stopped at a custom rod builder in my neck of the woods to buy a tip top and hook keeper, which I always forget to order. I brought a couple of rods to critique. I’ve only made 5 or 6. He said I was doing alright, but my spine was off on my baitcasting rod. Thought I paid close attention to the right spot. He then explained how I should’ve put the first 2 g
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After almost two years from the time I purchased the components to last night when I thought that I had finally completed the rod, I enthusiastically gave it a good look over this morning only to find that I have a couple of spots adjacent to the guide feet on the first two reduction guides where the epoxy is a little thin. The thread in those spots obviously absorbed the epoxy, but the thread i
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When I was into bike building and metal fabrication I spent so much time cruising forums and blogs of various builders and fabricators and I always fell hardest down the rabbit hole for chronicles of builds. To watch the build progress and read the conversations that happened along the way was amazing. To watch someone's vision unfold over time was a great experience and basically represented fue
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This may be a dumb question, but I'll ask it anyway. So far I have built on two NFC X-ray blanks, but I have completely finished only one of them. Because of a little controversy related to the ribs on the X-rays in a discussion here in the past, I opted to run thread the length of the decal, apply epoxy to that and let it cure, and then apply the decal and epoxy over the decal. It turned out
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I have built a few rods with the AT microwave guides and like the ease of setting them up on the rod. Why don't more builders use these compared to the regular style?
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Been out of the game for about 10 years. Is the new guide concept still a good way to set up a spinning rod? I'm building a 2pc 10' spinner (SU1207F-2-MHX) for surf casting and using a van staal vr150 with 50lb braided line (12lb diameter in mono) with no connecting knots. I'm trying to build it as light as possible while being able to cast as far as possible. Also any suggestions on guides th
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I just received REC recoil micro guides size 4 (RSPGM) and they're extremely small, seemingly a lot smaller than a KT 4.5. I intended to use them as running guides on a 7'3 blank for heavy cover flipping, but these size 4 micros are tiny and I'm wary to put them on a heavy cover setup. Can anyone provide commentary on the strength/durability of recoil micros? Should I be concerned about putting t
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Good evening all, I'm very excited to register on the site after lurking for about a month now. Getting into rod building has been something I've been considering for a while now and I've spent that last few months becoming a student of the game so to say, reading as much as I can on this site and through the great resources on YouTube. The pages and pages here in the vault at rodbuilding.org
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I have an X-Ray MB-736 blank I would like to setup with a set of micro guides. Possibly looking at the Titan Artus micros, but also open to suggestions. What combination of sizing and spacing is everyone using for micros?
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I’ve seen several people talk of placing guides on straightest axis of blank vs finding the spine. What are the pros and cons of each and why one way or another? Thanks
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Hello Everyone, I've been bass fishing for awhile and recently decided I'd like to have a hobby for when the weather isn't cooperating so here I am. I just finished my first rod build. I didn't want to empty the bank account in case I didn't like it so I went with the CRB rod building kit from Mudhole. I also chose one of their rod kits to get my feet wet. I must say, the build was almost flaw
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"As Iron sharpens Iron, so does one man sharpen another" The below is meant to kick off a discussion on a topic that gets a lot of attention, specifically "sensitivity" as it relates to fishing rods or blanks. Sometime in 2012, North Fork Composites (our engineers) were approached by a customer that had a very unique requirement - a composite/lightweight portable antenna
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Tackle Tour recently reviewed an Eternity RX10 custom BFS build they designed and put together. See the full review at the link below. If you have a BFS (Bait Finesse System) build on the horizon be sure to visit BatsonEnterprises.com. Just enter "BFS" in the search box to see available Rainshadow blank models that fit the bill, or reach out to our sales guys at 360-681-2381.
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Hello all, I’m new here and have a question. Ive built a couple rods already and I like short rear grips due to the fact that I fish from a kayak. The way I shortened my grips is by positioning the reel seat further back towards the butt leaving 6.5” behind the reel seat for the fighting butt and rear grip. At the time that seemed the logical and easiest way to achieve the grip length I needed, h
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Hi, all. I'm a relatively newer builder having been at it seriously since early 2020 and just a handful of rods prior. I have only built spinning rods to date and only for myself and friends. My goal is almost always to build something for a specific purpose. The build I'm working on now is an 8'+ spinning rod that is specifically designed for casting #14 rapala husky jerks (a 5.5" minno
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Hey all, _______________________________________link for quick access... ____________ There are a lot of threads containing pieces of CCS data, a lot of questions often in multiple threads about CCS data, and many requests for a single reference log to find this data. Many people have expressed the desire for images that represent this data or at least reflect a rods bend profile under loa
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In a recent post, there was mention of using dental ligature bands to hold micro guides toa rod blank prior to wrapping the guide. This method works very well, but it does present an issue when it comes to removing the ligature, prior to completing the wrap without marking the rod blank, guide or nicking a thread. However, this micro side cutter excels at this job. The very fine sharp en
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What’s your technique? I’m currently slicing tape about a 1/4 wide and fiddling around trying to get these #5s on.
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I see post that refer back to specific volumes and articles. I'm considering getting a subscription. Does the magazine rehash or perhaps even update original articles to more modern and still available products or improvements on techniques, or is it best to just shop based on older articles and past volumes. I have no interest in building Surf/Ocean rods or Fly Fishing rods. It's not that I don'
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Question 1 - I apologize if this sounds ridiculous, but I was curious from a rod building and even use stand point. I've noticed a trigger is not on spinning reels and they also seem to be missing from fly fishing reels seats as well. Why is the trigger there and what purposes does it serve, and the second part being. Can or has anybody used a reel seat intending for a spinning rod and just flip
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I read about this in another post, I didn't even know such a thing existed. Right now I am using thin pieces of tape to hold my guides in place to start wrapping. I remove the tape when I get there and finish wrapping the guide. Once all guides have been wrapped, I eyeball down the blank and slide them around to get a straight line. If you use the guide foot adhesive, will you be able to make
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I’m working on my very first build - a cheap kit that had everything for 20 bucks. I decided to see what some different techniques felt like adding some flare to the wraps. Single/double inlay wasn’t too bad, spiral inlay with size D and smaller than A felt alright, spiral with A and smaller than A was tough - plus at that time I decided to give hand tensioning the thread which worked better in o
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Share what you got on Black Friday and are still looking at for Cyber Monday... Black Friday bought: getbitoutdoors: Start up Deluxe kit - (I got this one because the reamers looked better than mud hole kit, but the wrapping station looks weak, plus arrived with defects in the rod rests) 4 Fuji nocp thread size A U-40 ROd bond 8oz 5 ft ML spin rod kit 5'6 MH cast kit 4 decals for th
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Do you guys think coatings have any measurable effect on guide weight (such as a black or chrome version of same guide set)? I don't see any info about guide weight when looking to purchase, do you just kind of go by experience/visual and material input to guess? They come in so many sizes and shapes it's crazy - American Tackle Microwave and Airwave and all that look appealing - your thoug
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I'm just starting the leap into the rod building hobby. I have a hand wrapper kit and a few other tools to get started. I bought a MHX 6'6" MLF spinning rod kit to get started for a first and practice rod. It came with a concept guide kit ending in size 4. I mainly fish for crappie with a slip bobber and also gigs but will also catch an occasional bass so the MLF should work for both. I ha
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Hey all, I seen some info posted about the CCS and AA for the NEO, but I'm wondering how the NEO AA is measured when it is advertised as having 3 separate and distinct AA per the NFC website with pictures to show the difference under load. Can anybody share their experience with measurements or actual use with this blank? Does anybody have any TNF data on these NFC blanks? Many than
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Along the lines of my other post, asking about a light blank for my first rod, I need to purchase my first set of guides. Any recommendations? I plan to experiment with different sizes, to learn the fundamentals. This is more about learning than optimizing at this point. Probably for mono/fluoro, at this point. Do I need to determine if braid will be used, to prevent groves. Bein
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