tomgamber
Well-known member
That guy had four arms and mad skills!
Rod Build Thread
- Thread starter JimNovo
- Start date
6xAdams(Jones)
Well-known member
He did and his dad before him. His dad actually tied flies, built leaders, and built flyrods in the sporting goods section of Horne's Department Store (Pittsburgh or Greensburg - I can't remember which) while dressed in a suit and tie.
JimNovo
Well-known member
Started wrapping…
Colors aren’t quite right because it’s Chestnut thread with a black accent. Very pretty in person.
Colors aren’t quite right because it’s Chestnut thread with a black accent. Very pretty in person.
6xAdams(Jones)
Well-known member
I like the gunmetal color guides... Goes nice with the accent wrap.
laszlo
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2012
- Messages
- 1,006
Does anyone know of a reference for guide sizes with respect to guide spacing. I'm building a 10 Ft 3 Wt which has 11 guides. I have the spacing set but would like some guidance on the correct sizes. I like the idea of two snake guide near the tip and the rest single foot.
czechmate18
Member
Attached is my current guide position for my nymph rods. I drop the stripper guide to the 4th section to reduce sagging
12 over sized or 12
5 5
4 4
3 3
3 2
3 2
3 2
2 1
2 1
2 1 Snake
2 1 Snake
Attachments
Last edited:
JimNovo
Well-known member
bigjohn358
Well-known member
Interesting! I see you are doing the 2 snake guides at the end. My personal experience I rarely if ever get tangled on the guides. Someone else just told me about doing the 2 snake guides at the end a few weeks ago!
6xAdams(Jones)
Well-known member
A guide with a ceramic insert (i.e., spinning rod guide) has a smaller hole than does a single foot fly guide with the same stated size. There's a balance between (larger) guides that allow line to shoot and (smaller) guides that prevent line from flopping back and forth. I'm not such a good caster that I would notice a difference. Some builders tape the guides onto the blank of the proposed sizes and spacing and then give the rod a test run on the lawn to see how it casts - before wrapping everything.
I generally use Art Scheck's method - adjusted for ferrule locations.
Regards.
I generally use Art Scheck's method - adjusted for ferrule locations.
laszlo
Well-known member
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- Jun 5, 2012
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- 1,006
Nice, I like the underwrap on the single foot guide
czechmate18
Member
It comes down to preferences. You normally would use a 1 or 1/0 for the guides by the tip on a 2 or 3 wt standard dry fly rod. I got into nymphing by using a Cortland Comp Rod and they stated they over sized their guides. I was lazy and never took my calibers to them to check. So instead of using a 1, I would use a 2 and then update accordingly.
Now you have me questioning my guide train choices, I will take my calibers and check the 12 to 5 transition. I do not like using 2 stripping guides on a nymph rod since I am not shooting line.
Ceramic insert - I use RECs so there is not insert. Plus their snake guides are flexible and in my opinion does not impact the tip like regulars snakes as much.
John
6xAdams(Jones)
Well-known member
No need to question your choices unless you really want to know how big your guides are. I almost exclusively use dry flies, so I generally stick with (ceramic, single foot) 2-3 size six guides starting at the tip and progressively open up one size 2-3 guides at a time as I progress towards the butt. I haven't found that having two stripping guides causes any issues (usually size 8 and 10 for up to 6 wt) - but have no idea if it would be so on a nymphing rod. As long as a doubled line passes through all guides when stringing up, and the leader-to-line knot or loops pass through when I reel in too far, size six single-foot guides are big (and small) enough for me. Again, a lot of it is based on personal preference... we like making our rods custom after all.
Regards.
BradFromPotter
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- Oct 18, 2006
- Messages
- 1,495
Do you cut a part of the butt section of the bank then insert a smaller diameter graphite blank to deal with the large diameter of the blank fitting the reel seat insert? I just want to make I'm seeing it right.
Do you cut a part of the butt section of the bank then insert a smaller diameter graphite blank to deal with the large diameter of the blank fitting the reel seat insert? I just want to make I'm seeing it right.
bigjohn358
Well-known member
You have to make the hole of the insert bigger. I have several reamers that I can attach to a power drill to use to make the holes wider. DO NOT do it how its being showed in those photos! Thats not the correct way of doing it!
JimNovo
Well-known member
So yes I cut the butt end of the blank off because it is way too big to go through the wood part of the reel seat. I insert a stent and then can fit the reel seat into the stent and maintain the uniform length of the sections.
This is how it is presented by Proof fly fishing. The stent method is shown for fiberglass rods, not for graphite rods which have a thinner butt diameter.
Building a fiberglass rod
In this video series we walk you through every step of the way to building your own fiberglass fly rod. What differinciates this series from, say building a graphite rod, is we cover installing a stint (to fit reel seats on larger blanks), we will also be using varnish to seal the wraps, and...
www.proofflyfishing.com
PennKev
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2006
- Messages
- 3,421
Reaming the seat to fit the blank is the preferable method, but cutting and plugging the rod butt with a "stent" causes no real issues when done correctly. In other words, gluing it in there really well.
In the case of relatively large diameter fiberglass blanks used in conjunction with modern wood insert reel seats, the stents are arguably easier than removing a TON of material from the insert. The observant builder will note that vintage glass rods rarely have wood insert seats, opting for larger diameter, hollow metallic seats.
I'll add that i do not like the solid glass rod stock that Proof sells for this purpose. It is overkill and fairly heavy. Instead, I've purchased tubular glass or cabon stock for this purpose the handfull of times I've gone this route.
In the case of relatively large diameter fiberglass blanks used in conjunction with modern wood insert reel seats, the stents are arguably easier than removing a TON of material from the insert. The observant builder will note that vintage glass rods rarely have wood insert seats, opting for larger diameter, hollow metallic seats.
I'll add that i do not like the solid glass rod stock that Proof sells for this purpose. It is overkill and fairly heavy. Instead, I've purchased tubular glass or cabon stock for this purpose the handfull of times I've gone this route.
JimNovo
Well-known member
I’m on rod build #2, so by no means am I an expert on any of this…..
jeffroey
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2019
- Messages
- 353
Me too Kev. I opt for carbon fiber tubes that are readily available on Amazon or EBay or other sites.
Each rod will cover one build. assuming your seal is about 3" long, I'll usually masking tape arbor about 4 additional inches and epoxy it into the blank ID.
Harry3
Member
Just curious about how to get started building your own fly rod. Buying blanks etc., and anything else needed to complete the build. What is a good resource for that?
