Rods worth a re-do?

[Gunnin4fish]

I rescued a couple of rods from my neighbor who was about to trash them. The brand says "Daiwa VIP 7" The rods look old and the line guides look primitive (not your Fujis at all).

I was wondering:

How easy is it for me to replace the line guides? Do I know enough by just looking on the internet? Or am I heading to disaster by not taking a class?

How the heck do I get the tip top guide off?

The rods look okay and work well from what I've used them. One of them is crooked. I think the guy who put them together missed the spline on some of the sections. The guides are caddywhompus too. But basically I think there's a couple of good Muskie rods in here somewhere.

Are these worth a tune-up?

[harvey lee]

You can heat the tip top with a cig lighter or something with heat like that and then pull it off. Don't burn your fingers as it can get hot. You don't need to much heat as it should be only hot glued on.

The guides are easy to cut off. Take a razor blade and slide it along the thread and epoxy lightly and they should peel off.

You should have a wrapper to wrap the new thread on the guidees.

Go on the internet and you may find some page to show you how to build one.

Without the correct tools, this could be a bit of a job.

[upnorth]

If you want to just give this a quick try on the cheap, you can take a box and cut Vs in the side to set the rod in and put the spool of thread in a cup and use a couple of books for tension. That is what I did for my first couple rods. If you find you like it there is a thread from a while back that has some equipment shown in it.

check this out

[Gunnin4fish]

Thanks! Those ideas solve most of the sticking points. I already bought a cheapo motor that ought to put the right spin on the rod. Thanks for the link.

[Kris Kristufek]

I am not familiar with the rod described so my comments may be off base a bit. One should be careful about destroying the antique value of old rods by cutting off and replacing components. The values can go down dramatically and quickly.

Now, as indicated above replacing parts is not unnecessarily a big difficult job "if" you know how to do it. Taking a reel apart is not difficult "if"...

My suggestion is to take a rod class, build a rod with someone who knows who to do it, this will shorten your learning curve big time and could lead to a productive hobby in the off season.

LakeLady Custom Rods schedules several rod building classes during the winter months in the Brainerd/Baxter area and we would be honored to have you a as one of our builders.

[Heartman]

The epoxy/glue used to cover the guide line wraps will leave little ridges on the blank - when you try to re-wrap, it may be difficult to put new thread on in an orderly manner. After carefully cutting through and removing the guides, try rubbing with an acetone dipped rag to soften and remove the glue 'ridges'. If you can remove them, the new wrap will be that much more attractive.

[Dark Cloud]

If you like the action of the blank and feel like getting crafty then it may be worth it. Heres a link to a basic guide wrap.

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1302146/1/Step_by_step_guide_wrap

A class would be a real advantage but we could walk you through things also...

[Gunnin4fish]

Thanks for that helpful info. I'm combing through the past threads on this topic and finding a lot in there too. I'll rig some stands and a coupler for the dryer motor and go forward from there.

What thread would you recommend?

[upnorth]

I would suggest for your first rod to get actual nylon rod thread. NCP(no color preserver) doesn't require you use color preserver but doesn't have the brilliance of regular nylon. If you get it into there are other threads, namely embroidery threads that give you a lot more variety of color. But these tend to be a bit smaller/finer and harder to work with. You really don't need a dryer to start if you have patience to turn the rod manually every couple minutes for the first couple hours, it is not so bad and actually allows the finish to spread out and lay flatter than putting it in a motorized turner. I have one and for the first hour to hour and a half I turn it by hand and then into the turner for the rest of the time.

[Kris Kristufek]

Rod wrapping threads do not contain wax as is in sewing and embroidery threads. The wax substance and thread epoxy finish will not adhere and sometimes looks like molted jelly. Not good. If you use these threads, you also must use color preserver.

Purchase some regular nylon rod wrapping thread from your supplier in several colors. These threads when coated with epoxy will become more translucent and will darken a bit. I really like the look. For example Gudebrod 326 red in reg. nylon darkens to a bing cherry look. NCP (no color preserver required) on the other hand stays the same color even with epoxy finish. So with regular nylon threads you really have 2 color choices with each color. The application of a liquid color preserver to reg nylon maintains the original color but creates another step in the building process.

While on the subject of threads, be cautions about using metallic threads a a wrapping thread as they do not have then tensile strength of nylon. The metallics are super great for trims, inlays, weaves and cross wrapping and other decorative thread work.

I have well over 300 spools of thread in my 'cash'and add to them all the time. You can never have enough thread! lol.

[upnorth]

Not all embroidery thread has that problem. I have been building almost exclusively with mettler size 40 embroidery thread for my last 15 to 20 rods and have not ran into a problem. If any does try any of the embroidery threads, DON'T use Rayon, stay with the poly. Rayon is not very strong and poly is much stronger.

[Kris Kristufek]

upnorth: I professionally and respectfully disagree that embroidery threads will not molt.

Those threads are coated with a wax substance so they will flow through needles with out bunching. Wax, silicon and the like are certainly gremlins in rod building. All embroidery threads are not designed for the use we use them for in rod building. There is a solution but not for the beginner in rod building.

You will have a problem, maybe sooner than later. Been there done that.

It is false economy to tell others just beginning in this craft that those threads will work.... They certainly will not without extra steps in the process of completion.

[upnorth]

Kris for me has nothing to do with economy. It is the variety of colors that is available in that type of thread. Instead of just a gold like you get in rod building thread you get 5 different shades of gold. And that is not all, you get a finer thread and if you do intricate designs it really shows the detail of the work. And yes I do CP everything I do. With the type of butt wraps I do I need to to keep the colors what they should be and not bleed.

If embroidery thread doesn't fit your style of rod-building so be it, but please don't tell me it won't work for me when it has worked so well for me and others whose style it does fit.