Rod building equipment

[harvey lee]

I have always considered building my own rods.

What does it take for equipment to do it right?

Approx. what is a guy looking at to purchase all the tools and such to build rods. I'm looking at the average to better tools.

Thanks

[upnorth]

Harvey, I have built most of my own stuff. I will take some pics and post them later. Personally I would start out simple, and make a few rods before a person goes too gung ho buying equipment. Some people don't like the pain staking work it takes to make a Rod and then you have a couple hundred bucks worth of equipment just laying around. I started out with a couple of V-Blocks made of and mounted on 1x6 to support the rod blank, a cup to hold the thread and some books that I ran the thread threw for tension. Some people use power wrappers, but since I am just a hobbiest and fussy at that, I won't use a power wrapper, as you tend to lose track of how well the thread lays against itself and get gaps.

[MUSKY18]

Quick question.....after you wrap your guides with the thread and get them glued down, what do you put over the top of the thread?

[upnorth]

Well...let's start off you don't glue them down. I am not sure what you mean by that. You lay the thread along the bland and wrap over the starting thread to start and you use mono loop to pull the end back under the thread to finish. And then trim them off carefully with a razor blade.

Depending on colors and thread you may need to use a color preserver to keep the color of the thread after that you use a special 2 part epoxy thread finish, it is not regular epoxy it is specially formulated for thread finish.

Hope that answers your question.

[bassNspear]

how much time does a guy put in when it comes to building one

[rodmaker]

For rods I asssume. It all depends what type of blank you want. St. Croix starts out with their premier series for around $70.00 or so.

G. Loomis would be the way to go!!

You could tie a rod up for around $125.00 or so.(St. Croix, G. Loomis maybe the same or a little more).

Call Scott, or Lonnie @ Thorne Bros.

[upnorth]

Bass N Spear, That really depends on what you are going to do. To do a fairly basic rod with no fancy butt wraps or anything of that nature. Probably about 4 to 6 hours at first and probably 2 or 3 when you when you get a little more proficient. Add a custom turned handle and some complex butt wraps and you are going spend about 8 hours on it even after some experience. The more detail you add to the rod, the longer it takes.

[MUSKY18]

Thanks Upnorth.....you answered my question exactly. Guess i just phrased it a little bass ackwards. Been doing a lot of research on this and it seems that once you get the skills, a person SHOULD be able to create thier own rod easy enough. I am going to give it a try and see how good of a hand I have. I plan for it to take me probably around 8 hours, as I plan to move slowly and cautiously at first.

Guess the only other question I would have for anyone....do you really need a rod holder that will spin the rod for you, or can you spin it by hand and have the same results?

[bassNspear]

ya, thanks for the information! I have always been interested to see if its worth learning it and doing it on my own. Give me something to do in the winter time

[so haaad]

You do not need to spend a lot of money on tools to get started. You can "spin" or actually wrap your own guides by hand. Here's the first rod wrapper that I put together with mostly stuff I found in my garage. The metal piece in the middle is a thread tensioner that I got for maybe $5 or so.

[Jackpine Rob]

I've built around a dozen or so now, and have no equipment. I hold the blank, sometimes against the couch, sometimes against the dinner table, or sometimes in my LaZBoy, and do what needs doing.

You don't need any equipment to get started, just an understanding of how things need to work.

Last year we were up in Canada and the guide had two rods that putzed up on him. Busted eyes. He was ready to toss them in the garbage, but with a trip to his workshop, a couple of beers, and a little tall-tale telling, the old eyes were removed and replaced with ones cannibalized from some "garbage" rods.

When you work free-hand like I do, the only thing you need to learn is the basic wraps, and the right tension. Too tight and you can't pull your wrap under. Too loose and the eye can sag when you hit it with the color preserver.

Start off with the D size thread. Many go straight to the A thread, but the thin diameter of the A thread makes the tension factor absolutely crucial. D has a little more forgiveness. Once you put on the color preserver and epoxy, you can't tell the difference.

[upnorth]

 Quote:

Guess the only other question I would have for anyone....do you really need a rod holder that will spin the rod for you, or can you spin it by hand and have the same results?

As a couple people already posted you don't need something to spin it for you aka a power wrapper. I don't use one, I personally think you can build a better, nicer rod spinning it by hand. If you are going into production and building 10 to 20 rods a week then yes, but if you are going build a few rods here and there no. So haaad posted a pic of a very functional wrapping stand that will do very well.

[bassNspear]

so it more time then it is money to build them. I should try and get into this more!!

[rodmaker]

Agreed, turn your wraps by hand.

[upnorth]

Oh...if you want to spend money you can, you just don't need to. It can be done pretty simply especially when you first start out.

[bassNspear]

I have seen it done before i guess, i just never wanted to have the time to make them on my own, and now i think it would be cool to get into it.

[Mike Wallace]

Spend your money on the rod components, not the stuff to wrap them. Build for yourself what you think you need or want. I like turning by hand because you can feel what is happening better than on a power wrapper.

Be careful. Once you start, it kind of gets addictive.

[muc33]

I just ordered my first 3 blanks and equipment for my first rod building excursion!!!! One of our buddies teaches a class on rod building in his school and is bringing it home to his buddies on Opening weekend. So we are excited. We will start on Friday afternoon, celebrate my birthday that evening with the wives, fish the morning, then finish the rods Saturday afternoon. If we have any left to do, Sunday will fill the weekend out. I am excited, I said last year, it would be cool to go on my Canadian trip this June with a rod I built and and catch 100 walleye's on a rod my hands made!!!! I hope that comes true!

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

To practice wrapping cut eyes off an old broken rod, and wrap them back on, wooden dowels work too.

For tension I started out using The Encyclopedia Britannica volumes a-f put the thread in volume A then stack the others on top .

Now I use a small C clamp thread holder/tensioner, and it works great.

Wrapping by hand is awesome.

Handle kits are nice at first, someday you will want to do a custom handle.

the only time you need to use a machine is once you epoxy the guides, put it on the rod spinner, which will make the epoxy even.

For epoxy I use the 5 minute (from the hardware store) for handles. the guides I used the lite finish epoxy it takes 3-5 coats, but in the end it looks nicer than than heavy coat finish.

Hope this helps,

Dan

[rodmaker]

The epoxy, that Thorne Bros uses after the guides are wrapped only requires two coats. They are not thick applications at all.

[upnorth]

Thread epoxy is a science all it's own. There a many brands most have a thick and thin version. Thick is fine on a heavy rod and thin is nice on a ultra light or fly rod. Probably the most recognized brand is Flex Coat, and it comes in a thin and thick version. Thick you could probably get by with one coat, but it is prone to bubbles especially if it is cooler.

I also have found that it is better to turn the rod by hand for the 1st hour to hour 1/2. Turning it letting it sit for a few minute to let it flow and sag then wicking off the excess a couple times will keep the epoxy flat and keep you from getting the football looking finish on your wraps. After the hour or so I put in the slow turner to finish curing. Depending on the finish and temp it will take between 6 and 12 hours.

[rodmaker]

That's what's nice about building one at a place with all the tools.

Thorne Bros. Has an enclosed rod rack that turns the rods after the epoxy is on the guides.

Another thing they do to get the bubbles out and make sure the epoxy is on even, is they take a bic lighter and go over the epoxy. Works awesome!!!

[upnorth]

I have used a straw to blow on the bubbles or if it is a chilly day down in the workshop I use a propane torch on low CAREFULLY

Rod dryers are nice and I use one, as the last stage of letting the epoxy cure. You can get a decent finish in the rod dryer from the get go, it is just you will get a better finish if you hand turn it the first hour or so.

[Fullmoon]

There's a lot of good info on this post already but I'll add just a little of my own. I've built for years and taught classes as well. You can use anything to rest your blank. Cut a couple V's into a cardbord box. Run thread through book, magazines, under your leg, under something weighted, to get tension you need. It's not hard. With a littel patience and practice you can turn out a great rod with whatever you happen to use for tools.

I've used and owned all kinds of tools and gadgets. Like lures, most are for the person. Attention to deatil and patience can make it turn out the same no matter what. True, there are fators that can get in the way such as temps, quality of components and supplies, cleanliness, moisture level, etc. A straw works, an alcohol lamp, a torch, a heat gun, all will work but you must be careful regardless.

You can turn your rod to dry by hand every 5-10 mins to dry the epoxy or you can make a drier using many items. An old grill rotisserie or any other low rpm motor (8-18 works best for me) and a home made chuck. Many ways to make one too.

It's a GREAT hobby!!! I love to teach it to kids. Great to do with your kids too. You can get "kits" on the cheap too. Best of luck to all.

[Dark Cloud]

All great advice! I simple jig to hold the rod and some kind of tension device does the trick. I have a power wrapper and never use it, just turn by hand on a jig I built from a 4x4 and some eye bolts bent out to hold the rod. I'll get some picts up later..

Those classes that Thorne offers are great for the beginer. I learned the hard way with a little booklet that came with a kit about 15 years ago. Probably had 10= hours that rod that would now take less than 2. Also alot of great info avail on the net which now includes FM.