I want to try building some rods. I think it's intriguing and rewarding to catch fish on something built by myself. I'm hoping that you can give me your top 3 to 5 (or more) suggestions, based on your experience, to help reduce my learning curve. I appreciate any feedback.
1. When using power reamer, ream little and dry fit lots. I’m constantly reminded of this.
2. Don’t use high end blank and components on your first build.
3. Buy a hand wrapping kit with a dryer just to make sure it’s something you enjoy. If you want to, later you can sell the hand wrapper and get a power wrapper.
2013 BassCat Cougar
Serial # 1B962763
I will agree with apdriver for #1. But will add go with power reamers you can put in a drill makes life easier than hand reaming.
Can see the point with #2 wont agree or disagree. But will say if you are use to using high end commercial stuff you might not be impressed with low end blanks.
#3 I can see that to a point but I went the other way and skipped a hand wrapper and straight to power. There is a learning curve but to me it is so much easier to wrap with a power wrapper. Part of the learning curve is knowing you can't go full speed to wrap. You have to kind of have soft touch with the pedal. Kind of like driving a car you don't slam the gas to the floor just ease into it till you are going fast enough.
#4 read as much as you can about components try to get a good understanding of how each piece fits together to make a complete rod.
#5 don't be afraid to ask questions. But take every answer with a grain of salt. We all have our own opinions, myself included as I have laid them out above. There is no 1 right/wrong way to build a rod.
As a bonus what part of East TN are you located? I am in Southwest VA and can offer to show you what I know if we are close enough.
1. some really good videos on youtube if you spend enough time finding the right ones. shortens the learning curve.
2. hand wrapper can build all you will ever need for personal use.
3. i learned not to put the rod on the dryer then try applying guide coat while the blank is turning. apply guide coating in two thin coats allow to dry between coats, while on supports and turn rod 180 degrees every 5-10 minutes... let the guide coat level as it's designed to do and remove excess that starts to drip off the bottom of the blank. after you've removed all excess guide coat and are happy with the application, you can put it in the dryer.
4. I practiced wrapping on a broken rod blank section over an over again until I was comfortable... no need to practice wrapping on your first build and accept it's okay. practice then build the first rod.
5. keep lots of paper towels and rubbing alcohol readily available. I put alcohol in a small spray bottle to wet small sections of paper towels for small clean ups.
6. I over reamed a few cork grips initially and learned to slow down.
7. I like to use the small diameter rubber tubing to position/hold guides on the blank. Helps with positioning and load testing, plus I find it a total pain to try and only use to tape to hold them down. Once you get the guides spaced properly, you can lock them down with tape and actually go cast the rod to make sure it performs as expected before thread wrapping.
8. Don't over tension the thread when wrapping... be very careful if you wrap any thread around the tip top.
9. ask questions and have patience
10. I have the benefit of a rod component supplier close by, most have to order everything online. Order extra and make sure you have a good understanding of everything you need so you don't get into the build and get stuck waiting on parts. Rod building kits from mudhole might be a good option, but I bypassed that and built what I wanted piecing everything together.
11. Try to duplicate a production rod you are currently using... this can be helpful, provided its a decent rod with appropriate guide count.
Aside from those... choosing thread color is the hardest part...
Last edited by jbabin76; 05-26-2021 at 08:04 AM.
2018 LEGEND 211R | 250 MERC PROXS
Having recently gotten back into building I can agree with what the people above have listed,
1) Reamers was a great new item for me makes sizing of cork and seats much, much easier a very good investment
2) videos, I relearned a lot of "stuff" watching these before I started back into building
3) Product research, again there is so much out there and so many new products, seats, guides, threads, epoxies, resins, oh yea and blanks check things out before you buy.
4) On small single foot guides I have started using the guide hot glue, from what I can tell it is not standard hot glue it seems to have a lower melting point (I may be wrong but that how it seems to me)
5) On gluing my cork and seats 10 minute epoxy was recommended to me by someone on this site and I have been using that, it works great but if you use it mix in small amounts if does set in 10 minutes...lol
I was going to glue up three handles at one time so I mixed a larger amount glued up the first one just fine then pretty much tossed out the rest it had gotten to tacky by the second rod.
6) This group is a great source of building knowledge, if you have questions just jump on and ask, I have received some great advise from the people here on anything and everything, it is a world of building wisdom.
Now a question to jbabin76 on number 8 above, Don't over tension the thread when wrapping what is over tension and why not, I thought tighter is better? I hand wrap and I wrap with A thread and tend to wrap pretty tight, is that a problem?
While I am not jbabin76, from what I have seen/read you run the risk of damaging the blank if you wrap too tight. If you can still adjust your guides before epoxy then you haven't wrapped too tight. I have also seen you can break thread if you go too tight but not always.Originally Posted by harrys
While I don't proclaim to be an expert rod builder, I found a few problems it causes/can cause. 1. For beginners, too much tension makes it much more difficult to start the wrap. 2. Too much tension makes it more difficult to pack threads tightly. I've had issues where my burnishing tool slips while trying to pack threads, slides down the thread wraps, and undoes the beginning wrap, forcing me to start over. 3. Wrapping too tightly can prevent movement of the guides for final adjustments/alignments prior to thread coat. 4. While I haven't experienced it, I don't want to damage the blank.
Don't get me wrong, I keep good tension on my thread. It's a fine line between too much and not enough which I think only really comes with experience. Again, I'm no expert.
2018 LEGEND 211R | 250 MERC PROXS
I'm surprised no one said RUN.
I really appreciate everyone's advice and feedback. It seems that there are common issues to look out for, so I definitely picked up some valuable advice. It's nice to know this place will be a good source of knowledge to help me out. Thanks guys!
Another thought. Buy a pair of digital calipers.
Again this is just my process.
I buy a blank and get it in my hands, mock up where I want the grips to be. Then order reel seat, winding checks, and tip to fit. (I prefer pac bay minima seats) It is a slower process since I might have to do 2 orders. I might keep a stock of reel seats and winding checks on hand.
Also don't expect to save money. You can build a top of the line rod some cheaper than retail but It is difficult for me to keep cost under $200 on a rod, granted that rod is better than any $200 retail rod on the market. Unless you get a wholesale license then I expect you can really beat retail.
I disagree on the savings part.. I haven’t spent $200 on a build yet. As an example I’m in the middle of building on an NFC X-ray with SiC guides. Total cost is around $185 and the rod would retail for about $500 (Kistler ZBone when he actually used NFC blanks).
ive also built on a RodGeeks Carbon2 blank and total build cost was $90 compared to $150 for the St Croix Premier (not a huge savings but savings nonetheless. Imo that rod out far performs my St Croix premier (casting distance, weight, balance, etc) and I’d put it on par with some of my $200 production rods.
That said, someone shouldn’t get into rod building to save money since it is time consuming. But the rods you build are better than those off the shelf. I just got into it last year because I wasn’t happy with the quality control, components, or design of most of the rods I owned. I figured I can make a better rod with the exact components I want and the fact I save money is a bonus
Last edited by ECobb91; 05-27-2021 at 05:40 AM.
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp
Very similar to my story as well and I agree with you. Once you get past all the sunk costs of equipment and supplies, get a few builds under your belt, you can build a very nice high end stick for half retail and build to your specifications and tastes. Most of my sunk costs were offset by selling some production rods. If you can get the NFC X-RAY blanks when they run the 65% off sale, then you get a NRX level rod blank for under $100.
2018 LEGEND 211R | 250 MERC PROXS
Truth...I'm surprised no one said RUN.
I talked myself out of it a few years ago, but the itch to build came back around and I finally bit the bullet. Glad I did, it's enjoyable. Catching that first fish on a rod you build is very rewarding. Additionally, getting a customer's picture of their fish on your build with a big smile on their face is priceless.
2018 LEGEND 211R | 250 MERC PROXS
1. I would suggest an all-in-one beginners kit to start. 2. Watch lots of videos and ask questions here. 3. Go slow, measure, remeasure, think, rethink. 4. After the first rod you'll have a much better understanding of to what level you want to take this.
Invest a day or 2 to take a class offered by a few of the suppliers - ie:Mudhole tackle. That way you can find out if your intrigue turns to frustration or a dislike. After sitting at your bench working on a rod for many hours, you may find out it’s not the direction you wanted to go good luck
Reply With Quote
