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!
https://youtu.be/TFPmfjF8UcQ
Excellent information, Kevin!
Thanks,
Fred
very useful... hope this gets long w/ add-ons & PINNED!
Good information, Thanks !
Pinned & Stickied!
Best,
Fred
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!
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.
I use Pliobond (https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcRwC2MvhNyvNsUbILv8qkbSNj_tLWiBX37lGS7YnIBBMtQ_3v4iL7hNhtI7bL0XWLqdzi7bLtuTSApThg0iS_SCbqGT5sbkBKDYWz6YqrY&usqp=CAY) 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 (https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcQNoVFM7YNFn4HJ3oKTdvYEbjZHv1Mkuqo615SO0AjiLVUolJvScJ9uWldP-xKAtf_B_OAYIvwC6s_SlVtWc9-s3YaeHyCMEQ&usqp=CAc) 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 (https://hw.menardc.com/main/items/media/OLYMP003/ProductLarge/FLD4-04.jpg). 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. ;)
Excellent tips guys, I'm going to try some of these suggestions out myself!
Awesome info!
Someday I hope to try building a rod!
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!
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.
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
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!
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?
hmm... HH mentioned Mylar: an emergency blanket is a 7' X 4' Mylar sheet
That is true!
Quote from: The Fishing Hobby on October 24, 2019, 04:15:32 AM
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?
That's exactly it. Screwed right to pegboard behind wrapper.
Rod building is a disease , it just grows on you . Everything you see becomes usable !
Egg crate for mixing epoxy , can be cut for individual cups . If you have left over add cut off string to it and let it evolve in to something .
I do use local for string but this was to good to pass up.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/40-Colors-Polyester-Sewing-Embroidery-Machine-Thread-Kit-500YD-Each-40WT/113198938066
The little safety ring found on the ca glue tubes makes a great pull string finder and it slides on the dowel for storage
I did make my own thread caddy with longer dowels .
Nail polish , making bands , color epoxy for marbling
A future reel knob and a egg still curing
I like the epoxy string mix! You could turn it up on a lathe and make something out of it.
nice, my kind of post !! ;D
living really away from any rod building supplier store if I want to use what is recommended by the proffesional then I NEED to order everything online, but it became expensive cuz I always do it in small orders since I dont have that many rods to build as many, so I opted to search what I could use from local stores in order to save the most and still be able to do a decent work on rods, I actually asked this few years ago (not too many) when I was just starting in the rod building addiction.
https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=19132.0 (sep 2016)
I got a really nice feedback from the ohana and quickly use few of those recomendations on that thread and still use them on my current rod builds.
to say the true, I try to use some tools, supplies and accesories from the rod building brands whenever I can and try get them when I have to make a new order of components as guides, reelseats, etc
few years back on cheap rods that friends asked me to repair, I used that same upholstery thread and the metallic one too, but the problem with some sewing threads is that they "might" (keyword) have oil or wax or any other lubricant to make it flow better on the sewing machine and that affect the epoxy, making it to dont adhiere to the thread resulting on a ugly job (I learned the hard way), so, I recommend to use at least 2 coats of color preserver to neutralize or cover any lubricant that could be on the thread, if you dont have color preserver then use any of the recomendations by tommy or on your video to ensure a nice finish job on your thread work, specially on long decorative wraps.
some of the things that I completelly stoped to order from the rod building stores are:
- mixing cups, well since living in Mexico is not that hard to find a place where to buy those really small plastic cups for Salsa for the restaurants, so I buy them by 100 qty on 2 diff sizes and still have plenty of those packages, one 100qty pack cost me what a 25pk cost from some stores and brands
- mixing sticks and epoxy brushes, I bought some of those disposable kids brushes $0.99 the pack, I cut them in half and use the brush section for the thread epoxy and the other half to mix the epoxy, after that both go to the trash.
And of course I get the rest of the supplies as scissors, masking tape, blue painting tape, blades, 5 min epoxy from the local hardware store along others that slipped my mind, those sometimes cost 2x on the rod building stores.
Quote from: Midway Tommy on October 23, 2019, 07:19:32 PM
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 (https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcQNoVFM7YNFn4HJ3oKTdvYEbjZHv1Mkuqo615SO0AjiLVUolJvScJ9uWldP-xKAtf_B_OAYIvwC6s_SlVtWc9-s3YaeHyCMEQ&usqp=CAc) 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.
great input Tommy, I also use those small foil pot pie pans for spreading the finish after mixing, the thing I like about them is to be able to add a bit of heat if necessary if the epoxy is starting to setup and feel like honey and I only have one guide left to add the epoxy, with a bit of heat from a lighter, heat gun, etc at the bottom of the foil pan make the epoxy again usable for a minute or two, enough to finish that guide and avoid have to make another batch of epoxy.
I always wondered how that envirotex epoxy might work as a thread epoxy, my wife still have abouth half of a 32oz kit and I though about using it on a personal rod but never found any info about flexibility, UV resistant to avoid getting yellowing by the sun, how hard is once cured, etc, I dont know how different might be if use it for fresh water rods or 40 - 60 lb saltwater rods.
Quote from: xjchad on October 23, 2019, 09:50:50 PM
Awesome info!
Someday I hope to try building a rod!
run away while you can.. its a trap !!!
Quote from: The Fishing Hobby on October 24, 2019, 03:19:16 AM
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?
....
When I've done or seen spiral wraps over silver, there have been solid wraps on each end of the spiral section; I used those solid sections to conceal tiny plain 'ole Scotch tape pieces underneath to hold the Mylar/bag material down. If pulled tight, the Mylar won't bag out or show any kind of gap under the spiral section, and, of course, the spiral wrap will help hold the Mylar down too. The seam blends in pretty well under the spirals. and your wrap finish will help hold it all together
Frank
As far as any "lubricant" on certain threads, I've heard elsewhere about problems it can cause; somewhere, I read something about running a "cleaner" over that kind of thread to remove the lubricant; I wanna say it was vinegar, but that doesn't completely sound right. Sounds like a bit of a hassle anywho.
Frank
I'm. Not sure this belongs here, I purchased a never used deck hand 25-35 lb rod built In the 90's it's a beauty the cork handle kind of rotted so I removed it and replaced it, when I. Took the cork off I found the original Sabre sticker in poor shape I tried to remove it but it fell apart.
I used it on the recent 8 day trip with Penn TRQ 12 reel it was fantastic.
What I am looking for is a Sabre sticker/ emblem I can put on the rod does any one know where I can get one.
joel8080
Quote from: joel8080 on December 26, 2019, 02:04:57 PM
I'm. Not sure this belongs here, I purchased a never used deck hand 25-35 lb rod built In the 90's it's a beauty the cork handle kind of rotted so I removed it and replaced it, when I. Took the cork off I found the original Sabre sticker in poor shape I tried to remove it but it fell apart.
I used it on the recent 8 day trip with Penn TRQ 12 reel it was fantastic.
What I am looking for is a Sabre sticker/ emblem I can put on the rod does any one know where I can get one.
joel8080
You may want to start a new topic in the Rod section (this thread is about locally sourced rod building supplies). If you can find the digital version of the sticker online, you could have it printed out on water slide decal paper and use that 👍
I believe someone suggested it on here, I finally got around to trying it and i cant find the comment, or remember who made it, to thank them. But pinstripe tape is a game changer for attaching guides for testing and wrapping. Already cut thin, sticks well, removes clean. Also doesn't lose its stickiness if you touch the adhesive side during attachment. $3/40' roll at AutoZone. A rod with 7 guides used about 3"
Overwrap.jpg
If I get an oldie with nasty but still intact guide wraps I'll just clean up the glass and rewrap right over the old stuff. This is Jo-Anns nylon upholstery thread finished with latex spar varnish. Not for trophy collectable rods but fine on fishers.
This old girl was a change over with both Montague and True Temper on it.
Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on November 03, 2021, 12:14:19 PMI believe someone suggested it on here, I finally got around to trying it and i cant find the comment, or remember who made it, to thank them. But pinstripe tape is a game changer for attaching guides for testing and wrapping. Already cut thin, sticks well, removes clean. Also doesn't lose its stickiness if you touch the adhesive side during attachment. $3/40' roll at AutoZone. A rod with 7 guides used about 3"
I'm coming back to this to follow up. This tape is awesome for rod building. It took 25 rods to run out of tape, at which point i enthusiastically went and got another roll.
Here's the version of Coats I use on bigger guides and Saltwater Flies. Look for "upholstery"
back when I started building rods and jigs in the early 90's, there was no internet and I'd no idea rod catalogs existed...I used Coats upholstery nylon from Wally as OG illustrates above. I used Devcon 5 and 20 minute epoxy, 1.99 a tube (EPOXY IS 7 BUCKS NOW. WANKERS). Those rods are bubble free and intact 25 years later. Tip, tho: seal upholstery thread with clear nail polish, poly or varnish before epoxy. In raw state it will suck up a lot of epoxy, and you will wake up to big voiding in the finish that looked pristine last night. It's really strong and great on jigs / flies too, as OG stated.