Wrapping my first rod.

[Wolfram M]

Hopefully I finish this one, I have an older one that I never did finish. (thought I did, but nah. there are two guides missing.)

Started on Monday with a nice Batson ultralight blank, a set of Alps guides that Ron at the Rod shop picked out for me, and a nice short cork handle with hidden lock nut. I got the handle on, which required no reaming as it was right on size out of the box.









I wrapped the rod with masking tape, and packed the cavity between the tape rolls and then the gap between the cork handle and the rearmost tape roll with rod bond paste. I made sure it's as sealed up as much as possible, as the foregrip is also the reel seat lock nut.

I did get some squeeze-out onto the grips and the reel seat but I cleaned it up the best I could. I'll polish up the reel seat scratches later.

I built a new wrapping jig today, and will start tomorrow by wrapping the hook keeper in place. If I like the way it fits, I'll tackle the first guide, and we'll go from there.

[steelfish]

Keeping an eye (one) on this !!

[JasonGotaProblem]

Sandpaper is your friend. And acetone does a great job of removing epoxy overruns as long as it hasn't already dried.

Prepare yourself. The entrance to this rabbit hole is slippery. Soon every rod you own is fair game for improvement. But at least its fun.

[philaroman]

interesting blank -- how does the tip look?  (can't find RX7 UL spin -- guessing DISCONTINUED)
do you think the specs are a misprint -- 1/52 instead of 1/32 oz. MIN lure?
otherwise, if it can throw 1/52 (<1/2g), wouldn't it handle line well under 2#?

[Wolfram M]

Nope. Rabbit hole avoided-I was finishing the LAST eyelet, I had all the wrapping finished and was pulling the tag end under, and the electrician who was working in my classroom dropped his toolbag on the counter I was working on. I was doing good, too.





The handle end of the rod bounced off the 3rd stand, into the floor, and snapped the last 12" of the rod tip off. Right at the second-to-last eyelet.



Since the last 12" of rod tip is missing, the rod is so stiff now that I doubt it'd ever cast worth a damn. I've spooled it up and mounted the reel, and I'll go out this afternoon and see how bad it really is.

[Wolfram M]

It's pretty bad. The line flows nicely through the four guides left on the rod but it has very little flex. I'd call it a "heavy" action but it's not strong enough for heavy fish. If it had the same action but was 7ft long and around 0.600" at the butt it'd make a good heavy bass fishing rod...

It does catch fish, though. Took it out and with a 1/8" split shot and a short shank hook, it'll sling a red worm and a light float about 35 feet, max.

[Wolfram M]

interesting blank -- how does the tip look?  (can't find RX7 UL spin -- guessing DISCONTINUED)
do you think the specs are a misprint -- 1/52 instead of 1/32 oz. MIN lure?
otherwise, if it can throw 1/52 (<1/2g), wouldn't it handle line well under 2#?

Yeah I think it's a misprint, the tip was 1.75mm but now it's a hollow 3.5mm OD. Even after catching a few small fish on it I'm super disappointed that it is broken off.

[steelfish]

dang, that was a really short life of the rod   
 
time to find another blank

[philaroman]

interesting blank -- how does the tip look?  (can't find RX7 UL spin -- guessing DISCONTINUED)
do you think the specs are a misprint -- 1/52 instead of 1/32 oz. MIN lure?
otherwise, if it can throw 1/52 (<1/2g), wouldn't it handle line well under 2#?

Yeah I think it's a misprint, the tip was 1.75mm but now it's a hollow 3.5mm OD. Even after catching a few small fish on it I'm super disappointed that it is broken off.

12" off the tip is CATASTROPHIC for a UL
might as well break off neatly cut off some more
& turn it into a butt section for a 2-pc UL
the 2nd UL blank could be well under 5', so S&H is much more reasonable

[happyhooker]

Tough "break".  Probably could repair the blank, and since the break is right at a guide, you would hardly notice the repair.  Have done this to rods, including ULs, with some degree of success.

Frank

[Wolfram M]

This 2-piece rod thing is a good idea. It's a pretty skinny rod but I'll look around and see what I can find.

It does catch fish, though.



It only casts about 35 feet with 6lb test mono and a 1/4oz combined float+sinker+hook.

Frank if you think it can be repaired, how would you go about doing it? it's broken right at the start of the most flexible bit of the rod. I still have both pieces.

As it is now, It fits very neatly behind the seat of the truck...which was an original desire for this rod but the 6ft 6in blank didn't fit.

[oc1]

Bummer.

Find a 2.5 inch long piece of stainless rod or wire that will just fit inside the broken ends.  Epoxy it in place and then wrap over a 3 inch long section.  It will hold, but you will still hate it.  An short UL rod with a three inch dead spot right in the most important section won't load correctly.

[philaroman]

the 2-pc option may not be as easy, as pre-Covid 
don't know what happened to fleaBay  
astronomical prices & no selection
once upon a time, you could get a no-name 4' UL blank 
for little more than $20, shipped...  less, for 3' UL Ice blank

[Wolfram M]

Yeah, but Get Bit has carbon ice rod blanks for 8 bucks right now. This seems like the way.

[philaroman]

read closer: no UL option & they're solid -- not, hollow
can't make a tip-over-butt ferrule