I've been asked what I want for Christmas. The thought of a lathe has been in my mind lately. Please feel free to chime in with your opinions on these questions; is it cheaper to turn your own cork grips and reel seat inserts or just buy them? Can a Renzetti rod lathe/ wrapper do these task reasonably well? By the way I give respect to Renzetti proucts and thier quality seeing that I own a travel
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I am just a hobbist trying to build a few rods for close family and friends. I recently bought a lathe and shaped a few handles from walnut and cedar. However, I am having great difficutly getting a nice finish on the handles. I have tried 2 different epoxies with the same results. When I brush the epoxy on, the brush creates numerous bubbles which do not come out. I have tried loading the b
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HI Guys, I hope someone out there can help me with this one. I have enjoyed working with the Customwood from Clements turning seet inserts and trim rings but their selection of colors is a little on the limited side. I have contacted Rutland plywood Corp. who makes Dymondwood(VERY LARGE selection of colors) but they have a minimum size order. Thats's enough to empty my retirement account. All I
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I was at the book store today, and was paging through a book about turning pens on a lathe, and found some cool looking stuff in there. The one thing was something called either color board or color wood, I forget, but it was basically a block of wood laminated together from thin peices dyed different colors, then when you turn it down it had this really cool looking striped pattern. They showed
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Earlier last week there was a discussion on lathes here at rodbuilding.org. Those of you who live near the Piedmont Triad area of NC have an opportunity, today only, to get a nice mini wood lathe for very little money. At the Winston-Salem fairgrounds, in the education building, a woodworking show is underway until later this afternoon. I attended yesterday and there were dozens of the Jet mi
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An excellent article in the most recent issue of Rod Maker on preparation of surfaces to be glued. As I was about to glue some cork rings on a blank I recalled the article and re-read it. After a second reading it seemed to me the article was directed towards gluing with epoxies. I use a weatherproof exterior wood glue on my cork rings because after turning the cork handle on a lathe the glue
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I am going to buy a small wood lathe just to use for turning my grips and some hosels and buttcaps. Maybe a reel insert or two. I am looking at the mini and midi models from Jet, Delta, Ryobi, Woodfast, etc. Could those of you who have any experience with any of these please fill me in on any pros or cons? There may be other models of lathes I am not aware of. I will gladly spend up to about
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I wasn't thinking the other day and put a pistol cork handle on the blank before wrapping the rod. I guess in the habit becuase usually put rings on and leave the last one off in order to chuck into the lathe. Anyway, I have a Clemens lathe, what's an easy way to put the rod in the lathe so I can wrap the guides? I thought of taking a coat hanger, bending and taping to the side of the handle l
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I've been looking at the encapsulated foregrips pictured in the new Rodmaker I just received. I really like the look of these foregrips. I don't have the magazine in front of me, but I'm looking at a supplier calalog that has the same foregrips listed. My question is : Does anyone know if these are solid wood, or are they PVC (or something similar) with wood grain paper/plastic covering? The
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The local Sears had a good sale on the Delta Midi Lathe ($100 off), so I invested in one, set it up in my garage, turned it on, and played a little bit with the parts sent along with it. It certainly looks cool, but now what? I'm interested in turning handles, both cork and wood, and maybe some other things like bowls and pencils. Can anybody discuss how to turn a handle of exotic wood - what k
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I'm building rods with a 1/2+ diameter at the butt section, and all I have is 1/4" bored cork rings. So far I've tried two methods: a regular drill bit - which I did not like at all because it would not cut a nice hole - some chuncks of cork would get cut out on the backside. I also tried a wood boring bit from Speedbor that I liked very much - it gives me a nice smooth hole straight thru
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(Man, I'm a posting fool today). A friend has asked that I add a fighting butt to a rod that's already been built. The reel seat used was Pacific Bay aluminum seat with an "woven graphite" spacer. The end cap is a soft rubber sort of thing. This is a tiny image, but you can see the seat here I doubt I can add a removable butt in this case, but I should be able to permanently affi
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Could someone recommend a wood insert for a skeloton reel seat that will hold up to saltwater? Thanks
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The motor that came with this lathe is great for light work, but I think for drilling out reel seats and turning wood, a larger motor is desirable. I don't want to put a lot of money into it so I'm thinking about using the motor from a juice making machine we got a long time ago. You know the juice machines you see the 90 year old guy with bushy eyebrows on TV advertising as the next "foun
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I just got a used Singer sewing machine motor with the hopes of making it in to a motor for wrapping. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to add the variable speed control or how to fashion a chuck to hold the rods?
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I just purchased a Delta lathe after years of working with an old drill for my handle turning. I've been looking for a good quality self centering chuck (preferably with a 1" drive, 8 thread). Delta wants an arm and a leg for theirs. If anyone has any recommendations for manufacturers and / or sources, sure would appreciate it. thanks, richard
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With all this interest in turning wood seat lately, I'm curious as to what brand of tools everyone uses. Also, what is the bare minimum for turning a seat - a chisel, gouge, parting tool?? What sizes?? I have read a couple of books, but they were for turning wood in general - specifically what is needed for seats? Is it neccesary to have a bench grinder in order to sharpen tools? Can it be don
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I've just finished turning my first reelseat. I started with 1.5" X 1.5" Walnut blank and went after it with a 1/2" gouge. It took about three hours just to get it turned down to the correct diameter. Is this the normal amout of time for a project like this. Does anyone have any tips for speeding up the process. Thanks, Mike Jansson
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Could someone tell me where I could get plans to build a simple spine finder? I'm not against buying one but I just like to build things such as my own tools if possible. I think I could handle this if I could just get pointed in the right direction. Thank you.
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I'm considering purchasing some attachment for the Clemens Lathe I own. I love the Lathe and highly recommend it, even considering the initial cost. I can visualize the lathe lasting the rest of my life and still having usefulness to the guy that buys it in the estate sale that my wife will have shortly after I'm gone. Can anyone share their first hand expierence with the "Boring Tool and T
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I am about to make the plunge in to hi-tech rod building and am willing to plunk down some serious coin (for me, anyways!)for this investment. I have seen and toyed with the Clemens' rod lathe, how does it compare and differ from the Renzetti lathe? They are outwardly similar but I don't know the depth of both machines. What I do like on both lathes is that the thread feeds from behind and abo
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I'm trying out Hypalon grips for the first time, and need to shape them. Before I start shaping, I thought it would be prudent to ask for advise first. Can anyone share any special concerns with this material, and the best way to shape it. Thanks
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I'm looking for any information, opinions, or tips on turning reel seats, hosels, and end caps from square wood blanks. Should I shape the reel seat first using a drive center and live center and then bore the hole? Should I bore the hole first and place the blank on a mandrel to be turned? Should the bore size be as large as possible to minimize weight and then shim out the blank to fit? or Shou
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Tom, Russ, or whoever, The photo in the bottom right corner of page 31 show grip being turned on a lathe setup. From the shape of the grip, it appears that the tip of the rod is to the left, but then I see what appears to be the lathe chuck? I'm not lathe savvy - can someone clue me in to the tools here? BTW Tom, great issue. Bob Petti
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Hi All, This has the makings of a great site, hope you can help me with these queries about my first bamboo rod build! I already have the components listed below, so I'm already now to assemble. 2 Piece 7'6" LineNo4 Impregnated Bamboo Blank 1 Nickel Silver D/L Reel Seat with Wood insert Cork Rings One Nickel Silver Winding Check Pair Nickel Silver Ferrules, fitted but not glued Set of Se
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