I was away most of the day finishing study and practice on a craft I've been working on for about 2 years now. Some things take time to become proficient enough to the point where you're ready to instruct others. This is one of those things. In the Volume 12 #5 issue of RodMaker, due out in late October, we'll unveil a process that almost any custom rod builder can utilize to further expand h
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I have built two offshore rods (one spiral wrapped standup and one spiral wrapped tuna jigging stick) both rods with a "blank through" butt construction using a slick butt or tuff butt type nylon sleeve for the rear grip to facilitate removal from a boat rod holder. I am looking to build two 30lb class and two 50lb class standup tuna rods on Calstar blanks. I wanted to build using a
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Wasn't / isn't there a sponsor that sells foam core grips? I thought there was but I haven't been able to find them. Not needing finished grips but just the foam core cylinders.
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I have been building rods with foam core grips for the past several months. I've used different weight foam, different sleeve materials and different finishes to 'test' the results. Last month I build two for a customer in Florida. I got a call this morning that one of the grips has a major problem with it. It was a rod built for a 14 year old boy. The failure was the rear grip has three dee
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When I was young and foolish I once fitted an EVA grip to a fly rod. I found that the critical interplay between the casting hand's fingers were absorbed by the slightly squishy foam grip and resulted in poor casting and great fatigue at the end of the day. I removed the grip and replaced with it with a cork grip and found all was well. I have enjoyed the rod ever since that silly foray into the
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My first grip that I put flocking int has wore off, I used the wrong fibers and did not seal the cork properly, double whammie! So now I have got the hang of it I want to re do the original. So if I sand off the little bit of remaining fuzz can I apply the glue on top of the previous glue? Chee
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"There is a bunch of info floating around here on them but I was still unsure about the whole process." Recently I responded back to a builder asking questions about carbon fiber grips. He is a new builder and since I in the same boat, and I just built my first set of carbon fiber grips, I offered him some help. The quote above is from my reply back to the builder and seems to hav
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I've noticed quite a few rods in the photo gallery with carbon fiber grips and handles on them. Is there a source for these components, or are they something completely custom? I think I want one for my 5C70MHF. Tight wraps! Brian
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Though I've hung around this board for a while and read through the searches, I've very limited experience with cork rings other than purchasing some Flor once. In a couple months or so, I may need to make a bunch of grips requiring a few hundred rings so my questions as a newbie to cork rings is of some importance to me. From what I read, CG1 (Tom, THANKS for your contribution to this t
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Hello, I'm starting to play around with some carbon composite grips. I'll be ordering the back-issue of Rodmaker but in the meantime I had a few questions: 1) If I mold a urethane foam base around the blank will the bond be strong enough or should it be built seperately and epoxied to the blank? 2) How does everyone feel about the gloss finish of the grip? Does it get too slippery from wate
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where can i buy customize carbon grips? thanks.
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The new issue of RodMaker leaves for the printer tomorrow. Once again we have some good stuff, including some methods and techniques that are completely new to the custom rod building craft. Because we are "custom" rod builders, anything we can do to open up new areas of creativity - to put us in greater control of the parts and pieces we use, is a great benefit to the craft and to wha
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In the original foam core carbon skin article in Rodmaker V10 number 6, there is a recipe for making very hard and tough grips for use in rod holders and stuff. The recipe calls for heavier density foam and either one layer of the thicker fabric or two layers of the thinner. For those of you who may have tried it, do you feel one is better than the other? are the final results the same? Just tryi
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I am preparing a Power Point presentation to give to my bass club on rod properties. I believe I have a good start, but if anyone has done a similar presentation I would like any input or materials that you used. When I am done I will be glad to share the presentation with anyone who would like it. One of the things I would really like is a good video of blanks being made, I have the Seeker
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As a first time Expo exhibitor we want to thank everyone who stopped by our booth to talk and check out our stuff. We had an absolutely great time all weekend. Met so many kind people interested in what we are doing and exchanging ideas and possibilities it was overwhelming. The energy of the whole weekend was crazy. On Saturday it wasn’t until Jim, Karen and Lynne from Backlash told us th
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Ok, I've been building rods for a few months now, and I've built 8 or 9 nice rods. But I'm getting kind of bored with para cord handles and eva handles. What are some different types of handles that I can use/make to make a truly custom rod? Thanks for the info.
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I'd like to thank everyone who came out yesterday and had a GREAT time learning the details on the more advanced aspects of the craft. Rich Schwarz covered pouring foam core and carbon skinned grips for heavy SW rods. A side effect of that was a possible use for the heavier foam in FW applications where the 8# foam just isn't strong enough. There was a thorough pesentation which lasted abotu 2 ho
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Kind of late putting this up, but The NERBs will be busy this wrapping season, with 4 planned gatherings before the ICRBE in February. The first one is this Saturday at my shop in Staten Island, there was enough of a demand that I had to host an additional gathering next weekend the 10th. Admission is $25 and includes breakfast (coffee, donuts and real NY baglels), lunch (this Sat my wife is cook
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I came accross someone advertising Synthetic Cork and pumping it as better because it has a grippier surface. Is there such a thing, or is it the cork colored EVA or corkalon I have seen on cheap rods?
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Hello Everybody, I would just like to pick some of your brains. What do you recommend for would suggest as the lightest spinning reel seat / set-up for a dropshot rod that I can feel "EVERYTHING" with? Thanks, TONY
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As this is my first post, 1st off, I really appreciate the site. I've been lurking and reading for a while and finally joined. I just started building for personal use and have learned an enormous amount here. I'm using a 7' 8-12 line weight G Loomis blank and I would really like to use a slpit rear grip. With this style grip, can you move the reel seat back a little (to get it closer to the b
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I had a discussion with a guy from work, and once again I had to show my intelligence. I was almost embarassed by giving my ussual answer. i am so predictable. The question was: "Why do casting rods normally have double foot guides and spinning rods have single foot guides?" My reply was: "idunno". What is the reason and does it really make a difference? Thanks,
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I am thinking of building a rod using this. I am building a Batson RX8+C812 to be used a senco rod and trying to keep it as light and sensitive as possible. Just curious as to how some of you liked this stuff? How slippery is it when wet? Better to use graphite arbors or Flex coat arbors? Thanks guys, Tim
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Hi all! I have been looking through the picture area of handles in search of a good looking way to do a Tennesee handle to no avail. I much prefer the feel of a solid, warm piece of cork to a reel seat. I have fairly large hands and would rather my finger tips rest on the handle than on the palm of my hand. Plus I fish in cold weather often and tape and cork are much warmer than a metal reel s
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I've gotten a few of the carbon grips uner my belt now and wondered what to do with a few that turned out less than perfect.(to say the least) They have poorly aligned fibers or some core shows through. Since they are perfectly functional, I thought about coloring them somehow to mask their imperfections. I came across some photos recently by Jim Hicks and Mike Pederson. It looks like they've had
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After looking closely at some cut cork I could see that flaws we see in surface are actually holes that run lengthwise - with the grain. Are these imperfections actually insect damage? Looks like wood borer or pine beetle damage in old lumber or an old log where beetle larva eat there way through wood in the direction of the grain-leaving their waste behind them as they go. Cork quality could
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I've got skinning grips with carbon down, but I'm really having trouble getting a good transition from the grip into the reel seat. Typically on cork, I'll make a tenon on the end and shape the cork down to the same diameter as the reel seat butt. I find a couple things - 1) I can't get the fiber to match that 90 degree bend down the end of the grip and then again out on the tenon to get a
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I need 2 foam core butts and foregrips so i can use them with the graphite sleeves. I need 2 butts 12" long and 2 foregrips 10" long, for 2 jigging rods i want to build.
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Did a search and read the previous posts, seems that the subject hasent come up in a while. Sooooo, anybody have any new info? Is there a supplier in this industry? If not, is there an industrial product that can be used? Seems like this stuff would be hard to shape. I'm happy with the basics but I have a few friends that would like it on a rod. Last year Dave Hauser posted, "I see a few
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Now these make a chopped up graphite seat look like some something that was chopped up! This is some pretty cool looking stuff. Definitely gives all of us something to think about.
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