Rod Building The Rod Building Thread

mcswny said:
Question:

When you're laying out your guides. How do you take the ferule gap into account for your measure measurements. For instance, my 6th guide after my tip top comes in at 35 ¼" and this lands on the 2nd piece. Do I take the 1/4" ish gap into account or do I measure the pieces as if there was no gap? Am I over thinking this?
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what rod are you trying to figure out? you can find guide spacing for most if not all rods.. if you want to modify it and add a guide, or take one off, tape the guides on and see how it loads and flexes.. take your time.. if it's too close to the ferrell, move it up or down and do a test on it or use the "standard" guide placement.. PM me for more, but don't make it overly complex.. just go with how the rod bends and flelxes.. you can always change the guide placement down the road, but will have to clean up your mess..
 
flybill said:
what rod are you trying to figure out? you can find guide spacing for most if not all rods.. if you want to modify it and add a guide, or take one off, tape the guides on and see how it loads and flexes.. take your time.. if it's too close to the ferrell, move it up or down and do a test on it or use the "standard" guide placement.. PM me for more, but don't make it overly complex.. just go with how the rod bends and flelxes.. you can always change the guide placement down the road, but will have to clean up your mess..
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Sorry, I dont know if Im making sense.

The 6th guide is supposed to be placed at 35 1/4" do I measure that with the 2 pieces fitted so that 35 1/4" INCLUDES the ferrule gap, or do I measure without including the ferrule gap.
 
mcswny said:
Sorry, I dont know if Im making sense.

The 6th guide is supposed to be placed at 35 1/4" do I measure that with the 2 pieces fitted so that 35 1/4" INCLUDES the ferrule gap, or do I measure without including the ferrule gap.
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Yes measure guide spacing from the tip with all sections together.
 
Paige said:
I use a piece of regular cork to fill the hole in my composite cork butt, just a little detail that I like.
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I like that idea, could probably cut a 1/4in filler with a small hole saw. I did do a second fill with wood glue + cork dust and it’s almost invisible now.
 
mcswny said:
Question:

When you're laying out your guides. How do you take the ferule gap into account for your measure measurements. For instance, my 6th guide after my tip top comes in at 35 ¼" and this lands on the 2nd piece. Do I take the 1/4" ish gap into account or do I measure the pieces as if there was no gap? Am I over thinking this?
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Like Paige posted, measure as if there were no gap.
 
Just finished building this 10' #6 rod. I bought the NFC blank with still water indicator fishing in mind. It has a removable fighting butt. I went out today and threw a 250 grain Commando Groove with a tip on it and it casted pretty well two handed. I think I'll build a longer handle to swap out with the shorter fighting butt for two handed work.
IMG_4617.jpgIMG_4613.jpg
 
Hillbilly Redneck said:
Just finished building this 10' #6 rod. I bought the NFC blank with still water indicator fishing in mind. It has a removable fighting butt. I went out today and threw a 250 grain Commando Groove with a tip on it and it casted pretty well two handed. I think I'll build a longer handle to swap out with the shorter fighting butt for two handed work.
View attachment 92462View attachment 92463
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I’ve been thinking of the same 10’ 6wt or the 5wt for a beach rod, how do you like overhand casting it? Does it throw a 6wt line well or does it seem to be closer to a 7?

I’ve seen a video of the LMXFAF1004 on YouTube where he uses a 275gr switch line (no tip).
 
Divad said:
I’ve been thinking of the same 10’ 6wt or the 5wt for a beach rod, how do you like overhand casting it? Does it throw a 6wt line well or does it seem to be closer to a 7?

I’ve seen a video of the LMXFAF1004 on YouTube where he uses a 275gr switch line (no tip).
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I haven't had a chance to cast it overhand with anything other than the Commando line and that's always clunky. It doesn't seem like that heavy of a rod. I've got a #5 line I'm going to try on it before I buy anything heavier. I'll try to report back.
 
Hillbilly Redneck said:
I haven't had a chance to cast it overhand with anything other than the Commando line and that's always clunky. It doesn't seem like that heavy of a rod. I've got a #5 line I'm going to try on it before I buy anything heavier. I'll try to report back.
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Look forward to what you think. I called them and they’ll let me wiggle a blank at the shop, so I’ll probably do that with cash in hand. But definitely interested to hear how yours casts that line, maybe how heavy of a swing it is etc.
 
Divad said:
Look forward to what you think. I called them and they’ll let me wiggle a blank at the shop, so I’ll probably do that with cash in hand. But definitely interested to hear how yours casts that line, maybe how heavy of a swing it is etc.
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FYI... my switchrod, which I only use overhead (11' 6#) and 10ft lake rod (6#) are LMX FAF. I'm very happy with them. Very slightly soft, but if you wait for them they cast like a dream.
 
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I’m three wraps in and I’ve finally got the first one I’m happy with. The first two the starting wraps feel a bit loose and I’ll probably cut those off and re wrap at the end. I’m making it harder on myself than needed by using Kimono silk but 🤷‍♂️.

Question. If I wanted to tip these, could I do that all at the end?
IMG_8119.jpeg
 
Looks good! Yes you can add a trim wrap later…..just a little trick I do on thin trim wraps is to put a small dab of clear nail polish on the area where you cut the tag ends….nothing worse than having them unravel when you’re applying the finish!
 
Bambooflyguy said:
Looks good! Yes you can add a trim wrap later…..just a little trick I do on thin trim wraps is to put a small dab of clear nail polish on the area where you cut the tag ends….nothing worse than having them unravel when you’re applying the finish!
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Awesome, thank you! Yeah, seems like 2-3 turn trim wraps would be a bit precarious.
 
I just encountered a new rod making problem. I ordered a trout spey blank and all the parts from Rodmaker 24/7 that was described in the bamboo and glass sub-forum thread. This time, the cork foregrip is bored to a diameter larger than the rod blank. I've never encountered this situation before, as I've always had to ream out the grip to roughly equal the rod blank diameter. I will address this issue the same way I do the reel seat barrel by wrapping masking tape around the blank in several spots for gluing. What I'm not sure about, is what to do with that gap at the front of the foregrip between the cork bore and the blank. The only thing that I've thought of is to fill it in with a mix of cork sanding dust and glue. And then maybe cover part of it with a rod winding check, but I didn't order a winding check.

Has any of you encountered this situation, and if so, how did you treat it?
 
They make Winding Checks for this very issue. Proof Flyfishing carries them. You'll need to figure out the rod diameter at that spot. Or, you can build a thread damn there. Really stuff under the lip and then build a nice clean taper. Finish epoxy the styles and incorporate a hook keeper if wanted.
 
Salmo_g said:
I just encountered a new rod making problem. I ordered a trout spey blank and all the parts from Rodmaker 24/7 that was described in the bamboo and glass sub-forum thread. This time, the cork foregrip is bored to a diameter larger than the rod blank. I've never encountered this situation before, as I've always had to ream out the grip to roughly equal the rod blank diameter. I will address this issue the same way I do the reel seat barrel by wrapping masking tape around the blank in several spots for gluing. What I'm not sure about, is what to do with that gap at the front of the foregrip between the cork bore and the blank. The only thing that I've thought of is to fill it in with a mix of cork sanding dust and glue. And then maybe cover part of it with a rod winding check, but I didn't order a winding check.

Has any of you encountered this situation, and if so, how did you treat it?
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I would wrap more than a couple masking tape rings under the grip since it sounds like the gap is fairly large. That way the cork is being supported in multiple locations, and personally I would be sure two of them are near the bottom and top of the grip. However you want to leave a gap inbetween the masking tape rings so you can coat the tape well enough to encapsulate it in epoxy to prevent rot.

I have a few rubber winding checks laying around that you can take a look at if you dont want to wait/pay for shipping on a $.50 part. And a large grey Batson one with the dimples in the parts bin. PM me if interested and I can meet up with you this weekend or Monday.
 
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