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[mabr]

Alright im a newbie at this But im doing alot of studying online and have learned alot so far. Actually did my first wraps tonight on 2 older AllStars that I broke guides on along time ago. And they turned out pretty darn good looking, with the exception of the epoxy i put on ( question #1). Ive got a lot of questions so if i need to ask them seperatly, let me know OK?

1st question - I havent made an order from anyone for supplies yet, so I went to menards and bought some 60 min 2 part epoxy and put it on. It looks nuthin like what I see on finished rods, Not smooth and doesnt flow good at all. So what is the differences between Flex coat and this stuff i bought? I think this would only be good for glueing on my seats and cork am I right about that.

2nd - Wrap material - I used untreated Nylon as this is what I have gathered by reading is to be used. Why must it be nylon? I see all types of stuff put on custom rods to make them different (snake Skins etc tec.) all that I have seen I believe are covered in epoxy as well. It doesnt make sense to me.

3rd - Blanks- Im a Bass guy mostly. My perfect rod is a 6'6" - 7'0" MH, fast tip.I will use these rods 80% of my time fishing. With the exception of crank baits. I will be using Batsons 844 blanks on my first 2 rods. I like the feel they have but I wish they were just a little bit lighter. Do I have to jump up XXX dollars to get lighter? What im trying to get too is the feel of a carrot stick. These are by far the lightest rods i have ever put my hands on. Is there anything out there close without breaking the bank.

Last one - Seats, as I said im trying to keep weight down. Has anyone tried the minima unltra lights by PACBAY? Is it worth it or is a standard fugi exposed blank better?

Im feeling the itch to get into this in a big way and its scarring me LOL. Guess all my relatives will know what they will be getting for xmas, bdays etc. from now on.

One sign im hooked, I went through the garage looking for old broken rods to make into ice rods. man am i going to be set for ice fishing now.

[rushing]

I can help with the first two.

Flex Coat and other "finishes" are formulated to be put on thread wraps and other on blank decorations. They are meant to cure clear and semi flexible. They flow more easily which allows for thread penetration and to set up uniformly when slowly turning with a drying motor.

"Epoxies" are used to glue handles and reel seats on the rod and not meant to be seen.

As far as threads go. Well you can use any thread you want but i assume nylon is preferred for its durability and color properties.

There is regular and NCP thread. Regular wrapping thread needs a coat of color preserver to be put on to save the the color of the thread prior to covering with a "finish". NCP doesn't require color preserver.

Hope that helps a little. I'm no expert but I have built a few rods over the years.

Biggest piece of advice I can add is....don't be in a rush to finish your build. Take your time! Enjoy the process and you'll come out with better results!

Good luck on a successful build!

[upnorth]

1. As stated prior, there are specially formulated epoxies for covering threads. The epoxy you are trying to use is not what you need. Buy the right stuff and read up how to use it. Flex coat and others are formulated to cure slowly and allow itself to self level and stay somewhat flexible and clear.

2. The reason that nylon is the thread of choice is strength, Polyester works OK too. Cotton, rayon etc is just not got the strength needed for wrapping guides. If you are going to use regular Nylon or Polyester thread you need to use a color preserver or it will go translucent on you, which at times can be a nice effect, but if you want your blue to stay the same blue you need color preserver.

3. Blank weight? Not sure how to answer this one. Are you talking the ounces of the blank or the action of the blank. If you are talking ounces, more $$ will usually get you slightly lighter blank up to a point, you can only make a MH blank so light. Action is totally different subject and you need to scrutinize the blank actions, lure and line weight to get what suits your style of fishing. Vague yes, but not exactly sure what you are looking for.

4. Reel seat, I would go with an exposed seat and do a split grip to keep the weight down. But you are getting into some real personal preferences here. I would concentrate on keep the weight on the other end of the rod down as that is were you will see the most improvement in performance and fee. The weight in your hand doesn't have nearly the affect on a rods as the weight on the other end.

At tip to help keep the weight down, keep the amount of wraps before you wind up the guide foot to a minimum, same with trim wraps. Anything extra thread you put on the guides will need to be covered with epoxy, huge no, but every little bit helps.

And for the most part you really don't need to use double foot guides either. I use only one on casting rods and I also do spiral wraps as that allows me to use less guides than you would need to keep the line off the blank under stress with a conventional wrap.

[mabr]

How does the spiral wrap work? Ive seen it mentioned on other boards but dont remember anything about less guides.

Weight, Im talking about ounces. Like I said the carrot stick is the lightest rod i can remember ever picking up and I would love to build on as light as it is. Never really considered the wrap as adding weight, but i guess it all adds up. What are your thoughts on counter weights toward the butt? Why I ask is my wife fishes with me 90% of the time, and thats alot. But she has carpul tunnel in her wrists, so after a long day she pays for it. I want to build her one that will help her fish longer and my thoughts are weighting may help her. I also thought about the rods that have offset handles (seen at sports shows, the handle angles down from the rod) Anyone know anything about these and are they available to build?

[upnorth]

1st a spiral wraps is used on bait casters where instead of all the guides on the top of the rod blank you start out slightly off to the side with the 1st guide from the butt and then the 2nd guide a bit further around the blank and then the 3 literally on the bottom of the blank, the rest are on the bottom of the blank like a spinning rod. If your wife is using a casting blank that would have less stress on her wrist as it wouldn't want to turn on her.

If you are thinking of counter weighting the butt, I wouldn't worry too much about the weight of the seat. You could actually go with a heavier material such as hardwood of some sort for the butt section of the rod too. But other than than make sure you glue/epoxy anything that you are using to balance it in place so it doesn't shift around on her later.

Pic of a spiral wrap I did, it should give you an idea of what I did.

[rushing]

How much does spiral wrapped guides affect casting?

[upnorth]

It doesn't.

[Jim Uran]

I always thought they looked funky and wondered why anyone would do that, now I know. But they still look funky.

[upnorth]

You are right they do look a bit strange but are more comfortable to fish with over the course of a day. It is also easier when fighting a fish.