Rod builders

[harvey lee]

Just curious how many members build their own rods and how long they have been at it.

I personally just took the class from Midwest and will be starting my third rod in a week or so. I love it as its a great challenge to see how nice of a job one can do and how creative one can be.

[upnorth]

Obviously from other posts, I build my own rods. I have been at this off and on(mostly off til the last 5 years) since about 1982. I was one that has pretty much learned this on my own. A guy I worked with built his own rods and gave me an instruction sheet that came with a blank he purchased and I figured "I can do that" and he said if I got stuck he would give me a hand. So off I went to a local bait shop that sold rod building equipment bought a fly rod blank(I wanted to get into Steelheading) and some supplies and I was off rod building.

I am not sure that the learning on ones own is always the best, not everyone learns things the same way, and in a class you will be getting information from a guy who has more than likely built many rods and can give you info that would take you years and years to learn on you own. But if you are a person who learns well on your own and you don't mind doing your own research, then get a book and do little reading and have a go at it. Both ways will wind up being rewarding.

Rod Building is a rewarding craft and there is just something about catching fish on rod you have built yourself.

But everyone needs to be aware that this can be addicting, and I am not just joking about that. As your skills get better you want to do stuff that you have not done yet, you see a new butt wrap and think WOW does that one look cool, or see a new style handle and you start thinking of what kind of rod that would work on. I am building my 2nd ultra light for myself and I am thinking on a new Walleye rod and maybe another fly rod. I must be nuts

[Heartman]

Learned on my own, with a good bit of home-grown instruction from Jim & Elsie Kueten, former owners of Jim's Bait in Duluth. They've sinced passed away, but I can still remember watching Elsie tie guides with the rod in the notches of a cardboard box, using that teeny, tiny NCP thread. Almost always used Sage blanks - Jim had a big part in the development of a number of their blanks.

Quite a story, those two. I consider myself pretty fortunate to have had the pleasure to know them, and to learn from them. Have since built 150-200 rods for family and friends.

I charge materials plus about 30% for labor - I can make enough building 4-5 rods to buy the materials for a rod for myself. You should see my garage at this point in time - maybe 30 rods hanging? Maybe more? It is fun, a big deal for me is having somebody enjoy catching a fish on a rod I made. You never make a ton of money, but it sure feels good.

[upnorth]

 Quote:

Learned on my own, with a good bit of home-grown instruction from Jim & Elsie Kueten, former owners of Jim's Bait in Duluth.

I bought my first rod blank up there!! Small world eh?

[Dark Cloud]

I believe it was 93 that I built my first one. I had been tying jigs and flies for quite a while and figured I wanted to try rods. I bought a fly rod kit from Cabelas to build my dad for X-mas. I was about 18 and living at home and made it in the basement when he wasnt around to surprize him, and he was. I'll never forget the first fish he caught on it was his biggest small stream brownie, 23 inches. Next was a 6'6" jigging rod, then a flyrod for myself, then another jigging rod, then an ultralite, a 7'6" livebait rod, a fly rod for my uncle, a jigging rod for my best friend, a nother flyrod for myself, a noodle rod for a cousin, a bunch of ice rods. About 75 rods later - Yep its horribly addicting!

That 1st fly rod got sent to permanent retiremant 2 years ago hundreds and hundreds of trout later when she suffered a major breakage. Gave me a good excuse to build another rod(not that I needed an excuse)

Craftsmanship and looks aside I love when someone uses a rod I made and really enjoys it. I know how it makes me feel to use one I made but its just as nice when someone else appreciates it.

Most of my rods were gifts or done at cost...

[HOT SPOT]

HEY GUYS, I HAVE BEEN INTERESTED IN LEARNING HOW TO BUILD A ROD.

I HAVE DONE A LITTLE RESEARCH BUT AM STILL LOOKING TO FIND A WAY TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT. IF ANY YOU THAT HAVE DONE IT HAVE ANY EXTRA INFO I WOULD GREATLY APPRICIATE IT.

[harvey lee]

Nice to have you with us. One can learn from a book but if you have a builder that offers classes in your area, that might be the best avenue to travel.

The other option would be to purchase a book and ask many questions here and I'm sure many will chime in and help.

Good luck on your rod building and yes, it is fun and addicting.

[HOT SPOT]

thanks for the info ill be looking into it

[JohnMickish]

I will start my first rod at Thorne Bros on Monday. A G. Loomis IMX 722 jigging rod.

[upnorth]

Hotspot, depending on where you live there may be an outfit that runs classes on rod building. In the metro area there is both Midwest Rod and Reel and Thorne Bros, both of which are sponsors of this fine site so doing business with them would be a good thing. Or if you are not in the metro check the local community education centers to see if they offer some classes. I know up here on the Range there has been a few run since I move here in "99". Or there may be rod builder in your area willing to spend some time showing you the basics.

[upnorth]

 Quote:

I charge materials plus about 30% for labor - I can make enough building 4-5 rods to buy the materials for a rod for myself. You should see my garage at this point in time - maybe 30 rods hanging? Maybe more? It is fun, a big deal for me is having somebody enjoy catching a fish on a rod I made. You never make a ton of money, but it sure feels good.

I am a hobbiest(is that a word? ) but I do build a few rods for friends and acquaintances for a few $$. I don't really publicize it because I don't want it to get so busy that it isn't fun anymore. Many of the rods I do are for gifts and I do some for charity raffles etc. Mostly the $$ I collect just gets spent on more blanks for my own addiction

[rodmaker]

I've been building rods since 1985 up @ Thorne Bros. Probably have tied up 35 rods. Alot of them were for gifts. Great Winter project.

[drowned minnow]

what upnorth said....hobbiest....don't want it to be a >JOB<

Only been building since 96, and still learning

[dps]

Taking a class can be helpful to get your foot in the door for rod building. In theory, building a basic rod isnt hard, but there are a lot of little things that its helpful to have someone point you in the right direction.

For general and advanced rod building, there is a ton of info on the internet, and a few good books out there that can help. There is a lot of trial and error involved the more technical you get.

The most important thing is paying attention to details, it will make a huge difference in your finished product. The bigger/heavier a rod, the more complicated it gets, and the more room for error.

[rodmaker]

You will love that Blank

[Fullmoon]

Be careful who you tell that you're charging anything for labor. If you build or repair any fishing equipment, there is Federal Excise Tax to be paid! It's a complicated issue but it's for real and they do enforce it, even for small guys so be careful who you talk to and how you say it. No one needs that headache!! BTW, most IRS agents know NOTHING on the topic. If you want more info. do a search on [Please-read-forum-policy]. They covered it in detail several times over the past few years.