Hello, I need someone to set me straight and tell me if im being an idiot. Im currently building a 4 piece, 5ft 6 fibre glass bfs rod but im running into guide placement issues. This is my first casting rod build. I currently have 9 eyes and taped on the rod handles well. Casts well and performance is good. My issue is under load the line touches the blank. Ive gone back to the drawin
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I have a hard time with the NFC blank catalog and published weights/powers/line weight and lure weight ratings. There, I said it. So, I'm looking to build myself a series of walleye/smallmouth jigging/rigging/etc rods for my own use here in northern Wisconsin. I'm looking at the X-Ray SJ732 - it has a published weight rating of 2.1 oz. That seems extraordinarily heavy, based on the next b
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In the interest of casting light jigs and yet still having the power to fight powerful fish (think bonefish) how 'bout a 7 foot 2 or 3 inch 3 piece travel blank with an ERN of 15 on one side and 20 on the other? Strong spine oriented right, it would load well with light jigs on the casting motion yet have more power to handle the fish on the fighting mode. Does not seem impossible, but the sta
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Got hand it to the marketing types at Orvis who never are at a loss to describe a new fly rod's advantages, and for 2024 the newest model Helios is 4X more accurate than its predecessor. Golly. Guess I'm lucky to keep a cast in the stream using my old Superfine.
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My 10 NFC rod blanks finally showed up! I was told to inspect and load test them all just in case there is a problem with any as it might take me 2 or more years to use them all. Just wondering how best to do that.
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I have been building for a few years and always used the same technique for finding the rod's spine. However, I have been wondering if my method is correct. I have read a lot of ways to spine and watched many YouTube videos, but something doesn't seem right to me. Most of the discussions about spinning the rod say to roll the rod until it jumps/pops etc. Then mark the rod. So here's my que
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Dear Rod Builders, There has been a few posts about blank variances, and while I cannot address those of different manufacturers, I can address those related to NFC. I had an email exchange with a customer/participant of this forum, and our thread is below. If they wish, they can chime in, but below is an excerpt from our discussion, with some more info added: I hope that it serves to ed
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There is always a lot of discussion and debate about building on or off the spine and how it affects the finished rod. I checked a graphite 7.5 foot blank today and this is what I found. First of all finding the spine was a piece of cake, obvious without any special tool. THIS IS ONE BLANK. I DON'T ARGUE THAT THESE RESULTS WILL BE THE SAME FOR EVERY BLANK. But I do believe that they are a
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I received 2 blanks today, the C602 864-06. Neither is even close to straight for the last foot or 15". Honestly disappointed. I waited for these blanks, as they were the latest greatest. Not worth my time or effort to return, just disappointing. St Croix. God bless.
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I stripped an old Fenwick 6'-6" rod. I checked the spline. I was surprised to find the spline was off by almost 90° . Back in 1998 this was an expensive rod. I thought Fenwick was a good rod. I can't believe Fenwick skipped setting the spline.
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Whether a 1-4lb UL trout rod or a 100lb stand-up tuna stick, I ALWAYS perform a 2-line static load test to ensure that the guides are positioned at their optimum location along the blank, PERIOD. There is no other method, difficult or easy, quick or time-consuming, far-fetched or logical, and certainly NOT as precise as the tried-and-true 2-line static load test!!! I have never, nor will ever, us
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Anyone know how to get to page 1876? Tried to hit the “last” tab but that’s taking me back to page 1. I can go back five pages at a time and stopped at page 121. Have read lots of great and informative threads and interested in checking out some of the older ones. Thanks. Jeff
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Hey guys, I’m having a small dilemma on something I can’t find an existing thread on. I build all my rods on the straightest axis and haven’t had any problems until now. The current rod I’m building, a 9ft 7wt fly rod, i oriented in a way that the bend in the top section was belly down tip up. After wrapping all the sections and lining up all the guides, my rod is slightly curving towards the
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I wanted to show y’all a pic of my current build and show how nice this Fuji SBPULSMPS17 reel seat is. The grips are NFC 3k soft touch and the rod is the NFC Fast Glass APFG745-1. The reel seat and grips have the same soft touch coating that feels like velvet in the hand.
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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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Ok, For years I have spined my rods. But recently I have read that it isn't necessary. So what is the consensus here. Should we spine our rods or not, if yes how do you actually spine your rods.
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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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"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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Has anybody else bought a blank from north fork and the blank is not straight by any means?
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This question is probably a little embarrassing, but quite honestly, I'm getting too old to care. But in the interest of trying to learn something new every day, I will ask. I see that the "standard" way of assembling a rod is to mount the tip top after your reel seat is in its proper place, and mounting the remainder of the guides from the butt end forward. Why? I have always m
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In the now infamous thread "Has NFC gone downhill?", there was some discussion by some pretty experienced people regarding the preferred placement of guides on a blank. As is often the case, there was also some disagreement among the participants in the discussion related to this. Because it has been bugging me, I decided to address it. First off, I agree with Ed Rose who in the di
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Ive tried to stay a fan but blank quality is dropping lately and customer service is non existent. I was promised a Gary signed COA for one of their new blanks months ago… nothing. I guess the Shimano teet is still warm enough that we don't matter. The last blank I received a week or so ago looks like a broken finger off a melting snowman.
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Probably a stupid question but on the NFC guide spacing by blank lists spinning rods as 7 guides (normally) and casting as 9-11 guides (normally) if I’m building spinning rods with 10 guide trains. P703 hm, p704 hm and sj762 IM. Can I use the casting guide placement for a spinning setup. I know I should do my own placement based on the blank I receive but I think what they list and a 10 guide tra
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Ok, so I'm sure the first question might be why? It's a rod I've used for several years and it's beginning to show its age. One eye is damaged and needs replaced. When I first learned about rod building and the importance of the spine. I decided to check my store bought ones. Shocker, this one isn't on spine. There are other issues and I'm sure it would be more cost effective to pitch it and star
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Hi all, I've never built a rod before, but I'm making four 5'6 spinning rods as Christmas gifts for kids (4rys-9yrs). I have some practice rod kits on the way, but was hoping for some input on materials. How much epoxy do you think that will burn through (wraps and grips etc. using separate epoxy)? I think I might grab some cheaper epoxy (since I got a little bit more expensive epoxy for m
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I'm trying to find the best, most accurate way to find the spine across multi-piece blanks? Thanks very much! Craig Snapp
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Hi all you rod building addicts, Im looking at purchasing a power wrapper and would love some feedback between the two? The slip clutch on the Flex Coat seems very nice and the fact you dont have to move the motor belt for various speeds. The Flex Coat power wrapper has a very DIY look to it vs the Alps and I want to invest in a product with long life to it. Any opinions regarding the plus/min
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As the title suggests, how do you align the guides on your rod builds? There must be pros and cons to either / both methods to be considered while developing a personal preference. Personally, I position the guides of my builds in the straightest, line-of-sight alignment because when sighting down the rod (as virtually everyone does, including customers), the guides are in perfect alignment with
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I have fished the Revelation blanks quite a bit - and they fish very well. Have not done much fishing with the Immortal/RX8 for a while, and I think there were a few changes from years ago. Can anyone comment on how much a difference in feel you see between them? There does not seem to be a big weight difference on the Immortals vs. the Revelations, which is probably to retain durability, so r
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I was wondering why even the high end rod blanks generally have a wave/curve/bend toward the tip . Please don't get me wrong , I'm a rank novice and in no way am I complaining - just want to understand . I would think the mandrel would be made completely straight but can't understand why the blank that comes off it would be curved ? I guess it's not a functional problem but I'm just curious . Tha
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