while I still not ready to go back to building rods, this one was almost done, it only needed the epoxy job to be finish so, its now the latest of the lathe ready to show.
A friend saw the fishing rods I have made and asked me to build him a Heavy jigging rod for Tunas with the Vikings theme (TV show series), he wanted a lot of names of the vikings and logos, etc so, I have to tell him, man, this is a fishing rod not a billboard ;D ;D
anyway, just wanted to share that in case you see the fishing rod kind of "busy", but hey, thats the main reason to have custom rod, you can make it at your wish.
Rainshadow knife jiggin rod 508-600
Fuji HN running guides
Amtack Virtus high frame striper guide
custom spiral textured grips
ALPS centra-lock window reelseat
As a Swede I approve of this fishing rod !!!! Nice work. Loved the show.
Cheers:
Todd
Too visually busy for my taste, but I love the concept and skillful application thereof.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/17471-240522184538-36798580.jpeg)
No wounder why your eye took a vacation !!!! That is a lot of detail .
Very well done , true talent you have ...
thanks Joe
meanwhile I have fun building them with my own times and rules I will continue doing it, if it becomes a job I will stop.
Nice one Alex, love the colors. I've use a few sets of those guides, looks clean on that rod. Amtac has really stepped up their game on components
Are the grips cork tape with cord?
beautiful... put a patch on your ailing eye & make an Odin-themed rod 8)
Alex - It has been said so many times but honestly cannot be said too much - you mare gifted and make some beautiful rods! And I honestly have to think for all of us lucky folks here on AT that get to see your work and comment on it; that when the rods you are making are out there on boats being fished that a lot of guys take notice and there are probably many spirited deck/galley conversations that start with "hey, that's a neat looking rod...."
here's wishing you a speedy recovery Sir, I suspect you have many more cool wraps ahead. - john
Steelfish, you are really nailing it, that thread work looks great and the epoxy is like candy. Is that epoxy on either side of the reel seat? Anyway to get a closer shot of that and some details? I like it!
Alex buddy, we love your work, I,m glad you finished it..... you have a good eye for attention to detail. Now, truthfully how many cotes of finish did you get on before it was right?
Keep up the great work. And keep having fun 🤩
@ Sheridan, yes amigo, thats correct, corktape and cord to get the spiral textured grip, I dont like the X cris-cross patterns with cord because of the high bumps where the 2nd cord cross the 1st line of cord.
Quote from: philaroman on May 26, 2022, 02:04:07 AMbeautiful... put a patch on your ailing eye & make an Odin-themed rod 8)
Odin face was considered, but the blank ran outta space to put it haha but it has the Odin logo on the back before the 1st guide, not in the 1st pictures
20220522_110521 ss.jpg
@ Brewcarfter, amigo, THANKS A LOT, I really appreciate your words. To tell the truth its REALLY cool to see guys on their 50's and 60's get anxious and exited waiting for their rods to be ready and take them to their 1st fishing trip, many of them are more exited to show it to their friends than actually fishing with it ::) ::) :P , some of them have even told me, "I will see how many time it will take to my friends to note the theme on my custom rod", some others have called me to tell me their custom rod was a conversations starter on my trip.
I have just two more custom rods to build and one for my arsenal, I finally sold my trevala XXH and got me a UC Zeus 3 blank, still thinking on the way I will build it, hint-hint, it wont be black on black or any bored thread color >:D >:D
@Breadfan, yes amigo thats epoxy on both sides of the reelseat, I call them "epoxy bumps", are made just like the epoxy ramps, not much detail to add on them other than clean the part on the shrink tube where you are going to pour some epoxy really good with DNA in order to clean the zone from any grease or contamination and get that even job on the epoxy, (secret here so, sshhh) I dont do them on every rod but only on the ones that I need to cover some mistakes or "details" (that dont pass my OCD) with the connection of the shrink tube and reelseat ;D 8)
@Gari, some parts of the rod have just 2 coats and other have 3 coats of epoxy, I really like this "new" UV-formula Diamond II epoxy, its just a bit thicker than normal formula and with just 2 coats I have the correct amount of epoxy for the guides.
@ Todd, somehow I missed the part where you said you are a Swede, cool to have the approval from someone with Viking bloodline . :d
Outstanding!
Very Cool!!
@Breadfan, yes amigo thats epoxy on both sides of the reelseat, I call them "epoxy bumps", are made just like the epoxy ramps, not much detail to add on them other than clean the part on the shrink tube where you are going to pour some epoxy really good with DNA in order to clean the zone from any grease or contamination and get that even job on the epoxy, (secret here so, sshhh) I dont do them on every rod but only on the ones that I need to cover some mistakes or "details" (that dont pass my OCD) with the connection of the shrink tube and reelseat ;D 8)
Oh, I get that. That was the reason I was asking. Every now and then mine don't look just the way I want it to and this makes it all come together. Thank you for explaining this. It is stored away in my head for future builds when its called for.
Great Alex, they say, very cool, outstanding, & so on, there is know way I would fish with a rod that nice, getting back to the diamond epoxy, were can I get it & what quantities can we buy it in, keep well, cheers Don.
Quote from: Donnyboat on May 27, 2022, 10:22:46 PMwere can I get it & what quantities can we buy it in, keep well, cheers Don.
hey compadre, you can get Epoxy D-II with the guys of voodoorods.com
https://voodoorods.com/t/diamond-ii-epoxy
thanks for the comments amigo.
Thanks for the update, only just got back to this, cheers Don.
also if I buy to much of the diamond ii epoxy, will it set in the container, I see they sell it in a 2oz pack or a 32 oz pack, 32 oz maybe to much for us hobby blokes, but 2oz not quite enough, cheers Don.
Don
if 2oz is too small for you, you can 4oz or 8oz kit, the epoxy will not set in the container as long as you dont mix the two parts.
Quote from: Breadfan on May 27, 2022, 01:59:56 PM@Breadfan, yes amigo thats epoxy on both sides of the reelseat, I call them "epoxy bumps", are made just like the epoxy ramps, not much detail to add on them other than clean the part on the shrink tube where you are going to pour some epoxy really good with DNA in order to clean the zone from any grease or contamination and get that even job on the epoxy, (secret here so, sshhh) I dont do them on every rod but only on the ones that I need to cover some mistakes or "details" (that dont pass my OCD) with the connection of the shrink tube and reelseat ;D 8)
Oh, I get that. That was the reason I was asking. Every now and then mine don't look just the way I want it to and this makes it all come together. Thank you for explaining this. It is stored away in my head for future builds when its called for.
Compadre, outstanding work! Something I do on those ramps: One coat to get a profile. Paint black with testor's. Second coat (I prefer D2 as well these days) to finish. Gives a really nice, professional look, whether I'm going on cord, cork or shrink. Very difficult to get an exact straight edge on heat shrink, let alone cork tape, and cord is going to be asymmetrical due to whip pull. This is very important; fish WILL NOT bite on rods with crappy grip transitions. Fact.
Quote from: thorhammer on June 21, 2022, 06:48:35 PMCompadre, outstanding work! Something I do on those ramps: One coat to get a profile. Paint black with testor's. Second coat (I prefer D2 as well these days) to finish. Gives a really nice, professional look
thanks Amigo, thats a nice tip
Quote from: thorhammer on June 21, 2022, 06:48:35 PMfish WILL NOT bite on rods with crappy grip transitions. Fact.
yep, its an established fact, so, please dont do it.
well, $h1ts happens from time to time and this time it was for the owner of this rod.
on his 1st fishing trip taking this rod for the 1st time (he actually sent me pictures of him using the rod ), next day I got a call from him telling me the Ice cooler on the back of his pick up truck slid directly to the fishing rod which broke one guide and twisted a bunch of smaller running guides, so, the rod is back on the shop again for a restoring job :-\ :-[
I did my "trademark" dead weight lifting test to check for a problem on the blank but it seems to dont have any damage, I could lift 12# highsticking the rod and bounced the weight 3 times, rod survived so, it has the approval from the owner to install the guides and the tiptop that were damaged.