Rod building supplies you can find locally

Started by The Fishing Hobby, October 23, 2019, 11:49:22 AM

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The Fishing Hobby

Thought it might be a good idea to put together a video about rod building supplies you can find just about anywhere. I don't live near a rod building supply company so most things I have to order online. It is nice to be able to pick up things locally too, so I put together a video with those items plus some tips on using them. It is really geared towards beginners, but even experienced builders may pick up an idea or two
Hope it helps someone out!

foakes

The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

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The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

philaroman

very useful...  hope this gets long w/ add-ons & PINNED!

Crow

There's nothing wrong with a few "F's" on your record....Food, Fun, Flowers, Fishing, Friends, and Fun....to name just a few !

foakes

The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

The Fishing Hobby

Thanks guys! Please leave similar items here for others to see. I always like to hear about what other people are using that is easy to source!

thorhammer

Kevin, great work! This has been on my mind awhile, while helping some guys get started doing simple repairs etc., that don't want to go full-blown building. Like yourself, I grew up, and even where I live now, in areas with basically Lowes's and Wally for resources for this type work. I have used or still do about everything in your pic. I would add that medicine cups also are great disposable epoxy units and very cheap. I usually buy those paint brushes, cups and popsicle sticks all at the same time when I go.

To readers: re thread Kevin has shown: nylon upholstery thread and those Coats metallics work well, and are a lot cheaper than rod catalogs- let alone paying shipping. The nylon is really strong, if limited in color selection, and I built a lot of rods early on with it and two-part devcon epoxy as thread coat. Those rods are just fine, over 20 years later...A note: if you use those threads, be sure you apply a couple coats of the varnish or the clear nail coat to seal the thread, or you will get voiding when the epoxy soaks in. Fabric shops and craft stores like a Michaels or hobby lobby are also good places to look, as they have bulk sizes on thread, and other things like leather scraps I have purchased for grip material.

One can also find metallic ribbon way less expensive than ProWrap rod builder material, and there is very little difference in performance and aesthetics. Very likely made in same factories.


Marbling can be done plenty well with testor's model paint; let it settle and pour off most of the solvent so the color will rich and it will set in the epoxy.

Sine cord, para cord, nylon twine, etc. make great grips. Coat with varnish or polyurethane to seal.

These are all things one can use to repair a guide or tip, or rebuild a flea market find on the cheap, with a solid end result. Those nylons are always available in maroon and black, and silver and gold metallic- you can always match your Penn's nicely with these :)

Also, feathers and decorative tinsel for jigs  / flies are pennies on the dollar vs. rod building suppliers, and are basically the same! Lettering from craft section is, as well.

Midway Tommy

I use Pliobond to tack my quides prior to taping because it stays flexible even after the color preserver and wrap finish set up.

I use water base urethane thinned 50% for color preserver. It's easier to work with, dries fast and does a great job. It does, though, take about four coats to get a good build because, being thinned, it soaks in deeply.

I use Envirotex Lite Pour On for wrap finish. It is crystal clear, never yellows, stays flexible, has a long shelf life (mine is over 10 years old and still works and looks great), creates less air bubbles than the standard finishes and is much cheaper over the long haul than most rod builder two part finishes.

I save the small cups that come with NyQuil, Pepto, etc. to mix my wrap finish and use the small foil pot pie pans to hold the finish after mixing. The epoxy spreads out so air immediately disintegrates. I just go ahead and leave any excess in the pan to harden, turn the pan upside down, wipe the hardened epoxy off and pour the next batch right on top of the old stuff. I get 10 or 15 completed rods out of one pan before I end up pitching it.  ;)  

I build all of my rods with cork handles, generally Tennessee type split rings for better rod/reel balance, and seal all cork grips with Flood Penetrol. I also use Penetrol as a finish on matte graphite rods. I hate matte finishes and Penetrol wipes on easily and is a great protect-ant.

I might add that, because I only fish fresh water and never use rod holders, my main focus on my own custom rod builds is final weight and sensitivity. I use the highest modulus graphite, usually SC IV or higher, the lightest guides available, almost always FUJI SIC, just enough wrap to secure the guides well and little, if any, decorative blank wrapping. A couple of decorative trim wraps, hook keeper and written information is all I need. Since my main goal is sensitivity and weight I try to eliminate as much bulk as possible.  ;)   
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

The Fishing Hobby

Excellent tips guys, I'm going to try some of these suggestions out myself!

xjchad

Awesome info! 

Someday I hope to try building a rod!
Husband, Father, Fisherman

The Fishing Hobby

Quote from: xjchad on October 23, 2019, 09:50:50 PM
Awesome info! 

Someday I hope to try building a rod!
You should, you might really enjoy it!

thorhammer

Forgot to mention- i got great thread caddy at hobby lobby for about 14 bucks and it holds 60  spools on pegs where I can see them mounted to the shop wall above my wrapper- great tool. I think I sent one to Nick and Alex.

happyhooker

#12
I have used the nylon upholstery thread for guide wraps fairly successfully; it is very strong, although the colors are mostly darker ones--gray, greens, black, etc.  It is kinda thick, which some might not like, especially on small rods, but I like the "beefy" look it imparts.  Very slick thread with little fuzz.

I was working on an old rod last winter that had variegated thread (black and white) over silver Mylar for wraps and decoration.  An old-fashioned look, for sure, but, hey, retro can be good.  Unfortunately, I had neither the needed thread nor the Mylar handy.  My solution on the Mylar was to take a used potato chip bag (needed an excused to empty that bag anyway), cut some squares off and washed to clean the oil off, then used the silver side out in place of the Mylar.  Heck, these bags might be Mylar anyway for all I know.  Spiral wrap the thread over the silver to match the old wrap.  As for the thread, got some plain white on a small spool, then used a black Sharpie permanent marker to place dashed black marks on the white thread as it was coming off the spool to be wrapped.  Checked first to make sure it would be color fast with any coating placed on top; yeah, permanent marker in this case really meant permanent.  I could not tell the difference between the homemade wrap and the original factory one.

I gotta look at Tommy's Envirotex Lite product; have used water-based poly before with some success, but it takes many, many coats to do the job (lucky it dries fast for each coat).

And thanks, TFH, for starting this post; nice vid you made and I look forward to more DIY tips going forward.

Frank

The Fishing Hobby

These are some great ideas guys, thanks for contributing to the discussion! I thought about the inside of the chip bags myself believe it or not!!! How did you stick it down to the rod?
The marker on the thread is one I hadn't thought of before!

The Fishing Hobby

Quote from: thorhammer on October 24, 2019, 01:01:30 AM
Forgot to mention- i got great thread caddy at hobby lobby for about 14 bucks and it holds 60  spools on pegs where I can see them mounted to the shop wall above my wrapper- great tool. I think I sent one to Nick and Alex.
Is it something like this one?