Hi All, Well, I thought I would do some experimental rod building while I have a chance, and am not building for someone else. I got some Seconds Fly Blanks at a Sportsman show a few years ago and thought I would build one up, 3wt 8’ 2pc, with some items I have been wanting to try, but not with clients rods. I pulled the Rod blank out and Found the tip to be curved not a big deal because the
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Does anyone know if another company will be carrying any of the neat tools that Clemens used to carry? I ordered just about all of them, spine finder, guide prep tools, butt wrap alighnment tool, etc., during the going out of business sale but only received one 1/4" brush. I did receive my refund check a few days later. Thanks
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I've read the FAQ's but still not sure. I am building a 9 ft, 3 pc, 5wt fly rod and have successfully found the spines on the two heavier sections, however I am finding two distinct spines on the tip section. Fortunately they are 180 degrees apart and should not cause a problem. Is there a way to determine which is the real spine? This is my 5th fly rod that I am building. . . . unfortunately
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I'm finally getting around to wrapping guides on a SCiv 6 (4 piece) weight. My static distr. test looks good and a few test cast went okay. I wan't that impressed with the casts though, but don't know if it just me getting used to a faster action rod than the sciii 5 weight I'm building too (was hitting the 50 foot mark with ease but not much more). Last night as I wrapped guides on the t
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I got a great deal on a 4-pc/5-wt fly rod blem which appears perfect except for a substantial kink about 2" from the tip. Unfortunately, the bend is not in the same direction as the spine (nor 180-degrees from it). Otherwise, the rod is pretty darn straight. Should I: (a) ignore it and build the rod normally, aligning the guides to the spine? (b) place the guides in line with the bend,
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I am a newbie and have now learned to locate the spine. Is the soft part of the rod also the belly of the spine. Do I locate the guides on top of the curve or the belly, (below the curve) Thanks in advance.
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Greetings All, I'm getting ready to jump into rod building with both feet. I was wondering what the Top 10 most common mistakes made by new rod builders? BTW, what a great web site for rod building....
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I recently ordered and received a bamboo blank from a builder whom I have only heard good things about. This is my first endeavor into bamboo rod building or fishing. I received my blank about a week ago and realized that the last 6” to 1’ of the tip is noticeably crooked. It is most noticeable when sighting down from the tip. It is not crooked to the point that it would affect its perfor
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Help, I would like to know how to locate the spine on a three piece blank. I have no problem locating the spine on a one piece and two piece blank using the flex method. Is the proper procedure to assemble all three sections and flex the blank trial and error method untill there is a consistent bend? Second question, The blank I have has an open hole in the end of the male section of the blank
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I received a Sage XP blank and noticed that on the inside of the female end of each section is a thin yellow and red line that runs the length of the blank. What is the purpose of this line? Does it designate the spine or straightest alignment?
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Can you build a light weight spinning rod on a multi-piece fly blank? A friends father is into backpacking and loves to fish remote areas, but isn't into fly fishing. He would like a light spinner that will break down into sections small enough to fit into his pack. I have no experience with fly blanks and was wondering if this would be practical? If so, could someone suggest a good reasonably p
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I think I have read something about this matter but will still insist. If you´ve seen SAGE blanks, they are marked with white dots to indicate the "straightest visual line". I wonder now what that is, is it the spine? I made the test to find the spine on three different models of these fine blanks. Usually I found the "weak side" opposite or almost opposite to the white dotÂ
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I'm just wondering about this and if anyone has actually done any casting tests or there's some physics involved that I don't understand (Bill and I have already established in a separate post that I need remedial math courses) Like lots of other people I went lighter and lighter on fly rods - blanks, guides, grips etc. That has carried over into spinning rods as well. But has anyone
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Just got my order from Clemens and I guess their stock of spine finders are sold out. If anyone can point me in another direction for buying one or better yet if they have directions for building my own it would be greatly appreciated. Right now I do the bend at 45 degree angle or suspend it off a table but i am finding that a blank has many different spines sometimes and want someway of averag
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What are the best ways to remove the tip top, handle, grip, and all the guides from a rod? I did not correctly spine one of the first rods I built, so I want to strip it all down and start over. Thanks in advance.
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My exposure to fly rod blanks is limited to my personal experience as with most of us. So my myopic view is that of Sage, Scott, Winston, and maybe Orvis. However, I feel that this makes me somewhat of a fly rod blank bigot. Much to my surprise there are quite a few more rod manufacturers. I guess I'm looking to everyone's experience to shed some light on alternative blanks. The four that I
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If spiral wraps have such an advantage on freshwater casting rods, what about larger 20-40 class saltwater bait rods. You would think that the torque of these fish would be much more.
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Wondering if anybody has any input on guide placement as per the manufactures recommendation vs testing the rod for optimal placement.
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I hope this is okay to do here. Bill Doherty sent me the URL of his personal website and there are some photos on there of the spiral wrap as he does it. The photos are so good and clear and explain the concept as good as I have seen it in photos. Since so many people seem to come here and ask about the spiral wrap and what it is, I thought I'd put the page URL up here for all to see. If I hav
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I have a 3 piece blank, when I spine each section and align the spines of each section and then spine the blank as a whole, there is an obvious bend in the tip of the blank when I sight down it. I found that I could ignore the spine on individual sections and adjust it to get the spine of the complete blank to be on the Straightest axis. So my question, how import is it for the spines of the
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Over the years there has been a form of rod blank counterfeiting that is still prevalent today. We see name brand rod blanks being offered at ridiculously low pricing. These are usually instances where there were seconds/blems/rejects purchased, and then sold into the marketplace as a name brand product. Manufacturers brand labels sometimes being copied, and or product being promoted as such, to
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Im going to build a cape fear live bait rod for striper fishing in montauk. I wanted to know if any has worked on this octigon shaped rod and is it harder or easier? Is the spine marked? And how do you build up for the reel seat. Thanks
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Hello All, I'm in the process of putting together my tuna stick. I tapped a nail in one of the gimble groves to uses as a pin sight. Do you have any others tips for lining up the gimble with the reel seat, spine and tip? Thanks for your help. Scott
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Two spine questions: 1.) Generally, is the spine always straight or can it wrap around the length of a section of a blank? 2.) Are than any instances when you would want to orient the spine 180 degrees between the tip and butt section on a two piece blank?
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First big blunder making a Codfishing rod for myself and I the reelseat 180¡ off from the spine. It is fresh epoxy less than 24 hours old. Any tricks to the rotation of the reel seat? Should I some how cut it off and start over. If so any tips that way. Rob
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I would like to build a fly rod, 7 or 8 weight, fast action and can I build this rod as good as what manufactures build? What is the cost factor compared to buying lets say a Loomis GL3 at 600 bucks. What would be the best product to buy for this rod? Loomis, Sage, etc.?? Graphite definetely. I just found this site and plan on doing a lot of reading before I get started. Thanks for any info passe
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I built a nice little 6' UL spinning rod last winter on a SCIII blank for my small stream fishing. I use both 2 and 4lb test line. Somewhere in the building process, the spin was shifted about 30 degrees to the left of center. It was not noticed until I was finished. When using the rod, there are times when I suspect the rod is casting to the right of where I intend. But then there are times
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I did not receive any response from my post below, so how abouit any info. on Gatti blanks pro's and con's. Also, can anyone give me feedback on the action of the three piece blanks. Thanks, Andy
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Been working on a rod and just hit a wall. When I first start a rod, I always (will NOW say, "Sometimes") wrap and finish the ferrules first. That way I can assemble the rod and begin lining up guides, etc. Well, I did that and the manufactor called for longer ferrule wraps than I usually do, but was assured that they were essential given the modulus and wall thickness of the blank. Ok,
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When building a spinning rod for maximum casting accuracy are the guids placed to the outside of the curve when the rod is spined?I have read in differant articals and found differant answers. I just wanted to get some opinions. When I build spinning rods I have been putting my guides to the inside of the curve of the spine for fishability have I been wrong all this time.The way I understand it i
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