Hello I'm brand new to rod building and have never built one before and I'm finding some of it a little overwhelming. I just bought a bunch of blanks from NFC during their black Friday sales, first rod I'm going to build is a swimbait rod, (SWB 807). Its going to throw glide baits in that 3-4oz range with 50lb braid and 30lb mono leader with a FG knot. The real confusion is on the guide
Forum: rodboard

I'm planning on building a 3-piece casting travel rod and will probably use an MHX-TR906-3 blank (7'6", 15-40#). The rod will be used primarily for live bait and bottom fishing in Baja using a Penn 25NLD2 or an Andros. I've built most of my knife jig and and some bait rods with spiral guides and I'm inclined to do the same on this rod. Several years ago I built a 2-piece slow pitch jig rod
Forum: rodboard

Hello all! A friend has asked me to build a rod for him. He will be buying all the components. Both will be 7ft heavy duty offshore rods, one spinning one conventional, and will be used for deepwater groundfishing (cod, sea bass, etc.). I have never made anything this heavy and I'm at a loss on what kind of guides and how many to use on each rod. I would appreciate any guidance that you can give
Forum: rodboard

I had someone tell me that I should use a size larger tube to make room for more glue. This is counter intuitive to me. I aim for a fit with no slop that slides on easily. Am I missing something?
Forum: rodboard

Just a quick question. I bought a reel from a guy and during the transaction he showed me a Canyon style stand up rod built by a well known builder. He said he had him wrap the entire blank to the tip. I asked him why and he said he wanted something unique. Is this a thing?
Forum: rodboard

I haven't read the article from Rod Maker Mag. yet ( I let my subscription expire, I have renewed), But after seeing the article i decided to share my experience. Kent and I started a friendship @2 months ago. This spawned from our passion to make everything perfect. He came to my house with a rod wrapped to his specs. I showed him my 6-8 versions. I started this acid wrap after reading this
Forum: rodboard

I'm building a spiral wrapped lamiglas SI1262M float rod and am about to wrap up the final 2 guides. Belly guides are 5's. I have a double foot 6, a double foot 10, and more 5's in stock to work with. I could either: - Use the 6 as a stripper and a 5 as the transition - Use the 10 as a stripper and a 5 as the transition - Use the 10 as a striper and the 6 as the transition I have sp
Forum: rodboard

Friends: Been looking at heavy duty pier fishing rods in Florida, especially East coast (Juno Pier) Judging by the videos, I'm guessing old school howald style blank of the 8' length (plus) category, old school spiral guides and stainless tip. Kind of inspiring really, and I want to make one of those. I have a beefy 8' Gator blank so I'm GTG on that - bought it years ago thinking I
Forum: rodboard

I just saw a video, , where a fellow explained rod spine as where the layers of graphite (young fellow, never heard of fiberglass) overlap as the material is rolled on the mandrel. Where the end of the material acts with the beginning of the material to create a stronger side, thus forming the spine. He further explains how the spine must be placed as the rod bends so the rod doesn’t twist under
Forum: rodboard

Time to lighten things up during these times. We have all had a major blunder while learning our craft. While in the moment i'm sure we all wanted to break the blank over our knee or send the spool of thread across the room like a 90mph fast ball, but looking back I'm sure we all laughed it off once things got back to going smoothly . I'll start it off. Many moons ago when I started building rod
Forum: rodboard

I’m a bit out of my building experience on this rod. I’ll be using it with both a Shimano Tranx 400 and an Avet SX5.3. I’ll mostly use it to fish lingcod, smaller halibut, cabazon, and rockfish, but it will also be useful for albacore and maybe even large bass swimbaits. It looks like it is factory built as the “Classic” on Alps MXN’s, probably starting with size 16 and COF’ing down to 10’s or 8’
Forum: rodboard

Building an NFC MB705. Medium heavy fast action rod. The NFC guide spacing chart shows traditional and spiral wrap guide spacing. Can anyone point me to a good resource on how to set up a spiral wrap? I've never done it. Few additional questions. Do I need special guides? I have a set of casting guides I was planning on using. Can you do this any on any rod? Thanks in advance. Gary.
Forum: rodboard

Does anyone have any idea if there is a GPS for KR Concept builds for bait cast rods (Inshore). Im wanting to start the stripper guide with the RV (6mm) down to a KT runner #5, but was looking for guide placements. If anyone has any information and willing to share, I would greatly appreciate it.
Forum: rodboard

I wonder what are the three most common false beliefs or conclusions held by rod builders about building rods?
Forum: rodboard

So I'm an avid steelhead fishermen from the great lakes region, and ive been searching for a 13+ foot long bait casting float rod for a long time now but I cant find any manufacturer that makes one. So my thought was just to make one my self, I was looking to build a spiral wrapped casting rod on the 15 foot st croix float rod blank. I have experience building some spinning rods so I know how to
Forum: rodboard

Was looking for an easier way to consistently set guide angles on the blank when doing spiral wraps on a batch of matching rods. I’d used the “degree wheel” cutout from Acid Rod but it was a hassle to setup and fix on the blank each time. A while back I got to thinking about the digital angle finder I have for my bandsaw and cutting grips. I grabbed that but needed a way to hold it in the r
Forum: rodboard

I have read various threads here that discuss the best way tp place guides on the rod. Some say to place the guides on the belly, while other state that placing the guides on the stiffest spine is best. Still others favor a corkscrew orientation. From an engineering standpoint, I know that the lifting power o fthe rod comes from the bottom end of the rod blank. So, a hybrid approach makes sen
Forum: rodboard

Do the transition guides the 60 and 120 on a spiral wrap need to be the same ring size or can they be different? I’ve done a static load test with guides the same and different and don’t see any difference, just wondering if I’m missing something or just over thinking, thanks.
Forum: rodboard

I'm interested in the NFC lineup of fly blanks. Can anyone who has built on their blanks give a comparison or review of them? I'm looking at their current sale prices and thinking of winter projects, particularly the Classic series and the LMX, likely for a 5 or 6wt trout rod. How do they compare to other manufacturers blanks available?
Forum: rodboard

When doing a spiral wrap - where do you make your “dirty” side - normally would be on the bottom of a casting rod, but this is where 2/3 or more or the guides will be, putting the tag ends with the guide, which likely is where folks will focus looking.
Forum: rodboard

I am working on a 4 piece fly blank casting rod that is 9 feet #9 weight that I will simple spiral wrap. Upon static testing and bending the blank, the transition guide rides downward into a more extreme position. I was wondering if I should leave it in the extreme position it takes when it's under a heavy load, the normal 90 degree placement, or split the difference? Guide spacing was sp
Forum: rodboard

Greetings to all. Thanks for allowing me to join. This platform and Youtube have been great. I've saved countless hours by not using trial and error as my teacher. I have two North Fork Saltwater IM blanks. 7'6" MH. I bought these as part of a deal with a friend. I supply and build the rods, he buys the reels. He gave me $500 budget for the reels. My son and friend live near Jacksonville,
Forum: rodboard

Allow me to offer a little background of carbon fiber (CF) and fiberglass (FG) and then compare the two, hoping to explain and eliminate some of the misconceptions. Concerning our fishing world, FG became the new state-of-the-art material for blanks in the late1940s and quickly displaced the use of previously premier split-cane bamboo; FG was lighter, immensely less labor-intensive = lower cost,
Forum: rodboard

I am looking for recommendations for a blank for a rod to be used for back-trolling bottom bouncers for walleyes in Canadian shield lakes. I will be using a baitcasting reel; 1oz to 2oz bottom bouncers; 10-12lb braid. This rod will not be used for casting, but for trolling only, in 6 to 25 feet of water. I will never be putting this rod in a rod-holder, I will be holding it in my hand. My re
Forum: rodboard

My 6'6" st Croix spinning legend ultra mf broke. I am rebuilding on 6'6" legend elite mlf. I note the St. Croix guide spacing chart lists different spacing than my old rod, which performed well. 1. Can I safely transfer my old guides and spacing to the new blank, or will that cause problems? 2. If I must follow the current spacing guide, who would sell a set of Fuji guides ident
Forum: rodboard

I found the Acid Rod Excell spreadsheet and layout wheel on line a few weeks ago and used both both for the progressive layout and placement of the 5 degree offset for the stripper, 60, 120 and 180 degree guides as weli as the spacing for the progressive layout. I must say I am impressed with both of these wonderful tools as I have not had to move the spacing or position of any guides from the re
Forum: rodboard

I have been reading the forum for a while now without posting and have finally had enough of people spouting RUBBISH about how the spine doesn't matter.. It does matter - a LOT I tested all my rods by hand and those that had a strong spine which weren't spine built torque twisted horribly under load - the effect was obvious, horrible, and very detrimental - basically a terrible lack of sensiti
Forum: rodboard

Hiya folks, any reason(s) not to run single foot running guides on a 10'6 downrigger rod for Bouy 10 salmon (RS BP1266). Gonna give a spiral wrap a shot for giggles. Also for conventional reels, would you run a seat with or without a trigger? Thanks!
Forum: rodboard

Hey guys. I'm new to rod building and was going to buy a mudhole starter kit or another starter kit. I cycle and take the bus to get to the local rivers here on the west coast of Canada, so for me having a 4 piece rod is invaluable, and It's very hard to find 4 piece casting rods with any length for drifting with a float that aren't meat sticks (the few I can see are all heavy surf rods). I
Forum: rodboard

Hey all, I know this topic has been posted about but wanted to see if I can get a little bit more specific info. I live on the gulf coast and 95% of my builds are for inshore purposes. Have a client that lives in the mid west and wants a walleye trolling rod. Don't have much experience with this type of build. Here are the specifics the client has asked for: 7 foot spinning
Forum: rodboard