Building a rod this winter

KeithS

KeithS

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Joined
Jul 18, 2010
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1,227
Short and sweet:
Can I get any experienced opinions on these blanks?

http://store.hookhack.com/Two-Piece-Blanks/products/741/

http://store.hookhack.com/Four-Piece-Blanks/products/742/1/0

http://store.seviermfg.com/product.php?xProd=30&xSec=18

Thanks for the help in advance.
 
There are a few guys on here that have built poles, I personally don't have any experience with PAC bay, but I would look at the rod building forums and search them. That would prob get you your best answer, for them and dsmith1477 said he likes the tiger eye poles. He will prob give you a word on them.

Good luck and let's see it when it's done!
 
I have built a fair share of Pac Bay and Batson blanks. Not bad rods for the $.
 
I am in the process of building a rod from a 4/5 wt tiger eye blank now. After the 4/5 wt I will be building a rod from a 3/4 tiger eye blank. This is only my second build and I have no experience fishing them but herd good things in the rod building section of the North American Fly Fishing site. I held it up to my early 90s vintage St. Croix and they look the same. As an inexperienced builder, I wanted a reasonably priced blank. Also, both rods are for beginners. When finished, I plan to test the blanks using the Common Cents System.

Don
 
Thank you. The tiger Eye looks interesting.

dsmith, is your rod a 2-piece or 4-piece? How would you rate the bend, tip flex, mid flex,...?
 
The last 4 rods built, were Pac Bay Quickline.
They are some pretty sweet blanks.
 
I can attest to Jim Batson's Rainshadow blanks. In general I think you'll find their ratings high and they are not much more expensive. If you want to get an alternative to the 3 choices you have listed, check them out here;

http://www.jsflyfishing.com/cgi-bin/item/RK-010202-0000/41100/J.-Stockard-Rainshadow-Fly-Rod-Building-Kit---2-piece.html

I think the Stockard components are better, and you have options for which seat insert & finish you'd like to go with - they will match the guide's finish to the seat you select.

I built a 7'9" 2 piece 3wt and like it a lot. For tighter situations, it handles a 4wt line very nicely.

I have found that on blanks of this price, the 2 piece generally have an edge, and are a lot easier to build from the standpoint of wrapping and spine alignment.

JMO ....
 
Hey Kieth, read this, http://www.common-cents.info/ scale the poles you have, note what you like and don't like, and what would change them effectively. this could really help you find exactly what you want in a pole.

some blank manufacturers post dbi info and that would be your best bet plus when dsmith is done and he scales his you will know what he means when he posts the dbi(also referded to as ern, though that is only the weight rating of the pole, dbi is weight and flex action) of his poles.

good luck it's a short read filled with tons of info.

also http://www.sexyloops.com/eric/database/rodtablesorted.php

is a collection of people classifying poles and posting it as public knowledge.

 
One more thought .... no matter which you buy, do not put the blank pieces together and test their flex until wrapped.

If you really want to put them together for a test, temporarily wrap and light coat the female ferrule(s). You can later remove to then finish wrap with the thread you want.

This will prevent the ferrule(s) from splitting under stress.
 
+1 for springers point. VERY IMPORTANT!

Another one that just came to mind, Allen's is having a blow out on thier xa blanks this week too.
 
Both blanks are a two piece rod. With regards to rating the bend. I don't know I haven't handled enough rods to make a call. I will test the rod after I apply the epoxy to the windings and report the results for the effective rod number and action angle here.

Don
 
I built a 3wt from a Xa (4 piece) blank last winter and I am very happy with the rod. This past spring/summer I use it on small streams with tight casting conditions. I did a lot or roll casting and I felt it did well.

Don
 
I built a 4 piece 8wt from an MHX blank from Mudhole last winter. I love it. I thought the price was more than fair too.
 
In my opinoin the Sevier blanks are really fast it ya go by there line rating. I built a 6ft 2/3 wt. & a 4/5 wt. You can easily go a line weight or two above. I really would like to build a 6ft 5 and a 10wt on there blanks also. There beautiful blanks with transparent tobacco color & look really sharp with yellow, orange and blue thread wraps.
 
springer1 wrote:
One more thought .... no matter which you buy, do not put the blank pieces together and test their flex until wrapped.

If you really want to put them together for a test, temporarily wrap and light coat the female ferrule(s). You can later remove to then finish wrap with the thread you want.

This will prevent the ferrule(s) from splitting under stress.
Click to expand...

The ever increasing demand for lighter fly rods has driven manufacturers to create rod blanks with thinner walls. Therefore, it is important to reinforce or protect the blanks at the ferrule sections when testing the blanks for guide placement and test casting. However, simply wrapping the ferrule sections with masking tape should provide adequate protection for this preliminary testing.
 
You my want to ask Brad from Potter or Sandfly about blanks. I've always used Loomis Blanks for my rods, but I'm partial to Loomis.
 
G. Loomis hasn't offered a blank commercially since 2010 I think. Gary loomis began developing his own line of blanks called north fork composites. He did this after selling the loomis company in 1997.
 
OK. Brad from Potter, or Sandfly - any input?
 
Earlier, I mentioned I was building a rod from a Tiger Eye 4/5 weight blank and I would post the ABI using the common cents method. The results are as follows:

Effective Rod Number: 4.90
Action Angle: 63

I would give my opinion on how it casts but it is too cold and windy today.

Don
 
Thanks D, I appreciate the update. Now my own update:
I'm getting the Cabela's Three Forks. As much as I'd like to build to my tastes, I can't justify spending more $$ than the sale price of an entire combo for just the blank,components and supplies and still having to buy a reel and line.
 
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