Since i live in Kansas I have never build an ice fishing rod. but want to for relative in MI. What is the best way to turn cork for one since the blanks are so small? And what do I need to know about guides and placement?
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Hi everyone, it's me again As the thread title says, I messed up my jerkbait rod. I won't go into the gorey details. Instead I'll just say that an experiment in extending a rod blank wouldn't have produced the rod I was hoping for. Being a bit disheartened by the would be results, and curious as to what the affects of trimming 6" off the butt of a blank would be .. the remaining piece of
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I have built on a mhx power noodle blank and like it but I was wondering if there were more sensitive noodle blanks out there? Thorne bros perhaps? I would like a blank that has a little more sensitive tip. Any suggestions? Thanks.
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Is there any wisdom out there about guide spacing on ice rods? The rod I'm building is 26" long with a 6." handle. It will only have 2 guides and a tip top. I can't really do a static test like I would on a longer rod. I've just spaced them out to where they look right and have a reasonable conformance between the reel and the bend of the rod. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks
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Just in time for the Ice Fishing Season, all our remaining stock of Ice Rod Blanks, Tip Tops, Handles, and Grips are now on sale,40-50 % off ! Here is a link;
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I have a couple of spools of Gudebrod #521 Silk R.W. White 002 00. Will this be transparent if I use only Flexcoat lite build, no CP? Any tips for wrapping with this? Never used silk before. I am building another ice fishing rod and it is camo and think transparent wraps would look cool.
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I would like to thank everyone that gave me some ideas. I am sure I will make a few changes. Here is what I have: 8 foot rod wrapper Seperate area for drying handle Seperate area for mixing epoxy I know gave a lathe for turning rod handles and that is set up in the garage. The lathe bench is portable to take the dust outside. 4-4 foot lights with daylight bulbs for plenty of good light. C
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I'm in the process of doing my first set of Birch Bark grips. What is the best way to finish them? Should I use an epoxy thread finish or a wood finish like a marine grade polyurethane, or something else? They are going on an ice fishing rod.
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I'm planning to put EVA Tennessee handles on some ice rods. The butt ends of the blanks are only about .150" The smallest ID hole for EVA or cork that is offered by this vendor is .1875. I'm thinking of using either masking tape arbors or wrapping D sized thread around the blank. They also offer a .250" dia. graphite tube that can be used to fill in the difference between th
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I am looking to make my own foam cores for carbon fiber grips. I make ice fishing rods and I want to make the cores so that they are tight to the rod, butt diameter .125-.1875 is common. Is it possible to use pvc 1' id x 5-8 inches long, with caps on each end and running .0625" hardened rod for the mandrel? Plan on using foam from Riley Rods. Will the expansion split the pvc?
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Hello. Newbie in building ice rods. What are the main differences in a solid composite blank and a solid carbon? The composite are much cheaper so wondering if there are really that big of differences? Thanks!
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Last year on all my ice rod builds I use all #6 single foot fly rod guides. I was please with it but I think that adding a bigger stripper guide would result in less line slap and better control. I am not sure what size to use though, I was thinking #6 Minima but I don't know if those will be to big. I will be going to a #6 fly guide after the stripper, or at least that is the plan, unless of
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Hi All, Most people here talk about rod building (!), but I am just interested to ask what kind of fishing you mainly do, the fish species, tackle, lures, baits etc. It would be interesting because most members are probably spread around North America and the remainder around the world. (I am happy for this to be removed if it is innapropriate) I fish for brown and rainbow trout in freshwa
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Does anybody know where I can get tapered mandrels for foaming poured foam handles? Here is the tricky part. I am making ice ice fishing rods. The tapers are approximately .15"-.125". Or will I have to use a rod to get what I need? Can I use a rod for my mandrel? Any tips would be appreciated. Next part will be making the molds Thanks, Doug
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I uploaded photos of my first rod build to the PHOTOS section. It's a light spinning rod specifically for vertical jigging crappies. It's a 6' blank with 3.5" trimmed off the tip to firm up the action and provide a better feel for light bites. The shorter length also allows me to jig under the trolling motor mounted transducer (like ice fishing). My favorite color is red so that's the pr
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Just wondering where everyone else finds fiberglass blanks to be cut up for rod repairs. I try to keep my eyes open for them at yard sales and such, but all i ever find is graphite.
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I was up against a deliver schedule. So, I tried raising the heat. I had 5 rods to ship and the guides and butt wrap all needed to be coated. I coated them at 10 am this morning, and shipped them at 3 pm this afternoon. The rods were not tacky and dry enough to ship. When I pack the rods to ship, I put the rods in plastic sleeves that protects them from any sort of dust or other
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i read a post on another site about this and it sounded just like me. i have rod blanks that i have rebuilt 5 times. there are many reasons for this like no 1 when "powerhand baitcasting" came out i redid all my rods. 2 when new concept titanium sic guides came out, 3 when micro guides came out and 4 when i found i could cut down my reelseats to save weight. 5 when fuji came out with ra
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Folks: I have had a couple of rods given to me, that the story goes were the first rods that my Grandfather sold when he open his Bait and Tackle shop in Belle River, Ontario. They are Shakespeare Wonderrods. One is in need of repair. A guide needs to be re-wrapped and the ferrule needs to be re-wrapped. To do this I need some Black/Green Classic Twist thread. This does not seem to be in
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Good Evening Gents, I've got a some questions regarding ice rods. I would like to put a couple together for my son and I to fish the small pond in front of our home. I have one blank that is 24 inches and is a hollow core graphite. The other blank is a solid glass 30 incher, both are very very light with fast tip to them . I will be utilizing a handle setup similar to the cork finess handles
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Has anyone built one of the noodle rods? And have found a easy way without losing your mind? I built for walleye, Northern so I thought a noodle rod for panfish. It just about ended up in the snow outside my shop. I had swore I will buy the next one. Unless someone finds a easier way.
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I am sure most of you already know this, but for the new builders out there please take my experience and learn from it, do not let this happen to you. Last night before I went to bed, I noticed that there was a guide on the ice fishing rod I am making for my dads christmas present that was not aligned like it should have been. No problem thats an easy fix, just CAREFULLY cut the guide off wi
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I am finally getting to the point of putting guides on my dads ice rod for his christmas present and I am using double foot snake guides for guides. I decided to go with these so I could do a nice decorative under wrap to match the weave. Having never done any sort of under wrap before I am not sure if I am suppose to epoxy them before I put the guides and over wraps on or just epoxy them all a
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Looking for a 36" medium solid carbon ice blank, but coming up with very little in the supplier category. Anyone know of one? I see Mudhole is an option, but I want to make sure I'm not missing any other possibilities.
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I had my first 9' spinning rod build, and i was wondering if anyone can help me out to understand what is the general cause of having an unwanted tip vibration while reeling in?
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I am looking for some additional options for ice rod blanks. Checked out mudhole & Jann's. Looking for options like Thorne Bros for a more reasonable price. What other options are our there? Jason
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I am finally beginning to get the components together to build my dads christmas present. The blank is s 28" Thorne Bros Finesse blank, with that I am going to pair with an Okuma 2/3 fly reel. I am planning on using Recoils double foot snake guides for the simple fact that it will allow me to make this a bit more decorative with an under and an over wrap I just don't know what size guides
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Call me all thumbs, but there must be a proven way to hold small single-foot guides (6mm and smaller) tightly on a blank so the thread will climb on to the foot. The only thing I've found is to use a narrow strip of masking tape, less than 1/8th inch. Problem is, when working toward the tip, where the blank diameter is nearly the same as guide foot width, the tape doesn't hold the guide tight
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One of my goals to my rod building hobby is not only to build very sharp looking eye catching rods but also to build rods that functionally superior to what I can get in a store. One of the biggest complaints that I always have with rods I buy in a store is that they don't balance out very well which makes them uncomfortable to fish all day long. As I have rough build a few rods I realized that
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I have a guy looking for a micro fishing rod. (Not to be confused with a rod that has micro guides) I have researched this and it is basically fishing for minnows. Very small fish, very small hooks, lightest of line, etc. Also, no reel. Similar to Tenkara, but lighter and smaller. My initial thought was to use a long ultra light or micro light ice fishing blank, but can't locate anythi
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