Just get a cheap wood lathe to make rod handle . Looking for wood turning instruction book or e book . Try to make a butt cap today with a piece of pine , turn out not bad , should look better if I use red cedar for material
Cool. Gotta see how this comes-out. Cedar probably strong and light.
:) If you are new to turning wood , there are hundreds of U tube videos to learn from .
There is a lots of free wood to turn , tree parts , packing crates ,pallets .
Have fun turning small bowels and spindles first , to get familiar with the cutters and how they work .
I will be happy to post pictures of some fixtures to help with butts and foregrips . And glue up jigs for different pieces of wood to make up turnings .
Looks like you did well from the photos. I have a few lathes myself. Like Joe mentioned, there's tons of stuff online to go off of and learn from. Looks like there's a mandrel in there too. You can turn a pen real quick on one of those. That's what I had started on first.
Would like to see how your rod handle comes out. Please post some photos later on.
I watch some video on Youtube for basic chisel function , need to learn how to clamp a long piece of wood perfectly on 1 side to reel a hole in center
Quote from: quang tran on April 04, 2026, 02:38:10 AMI watch some video on Youtube for basic chisel function , need to learn how to clamp a long piece of wood perfectly on 1 side to reel a hole in center
That is the most challenging part . Even with extra long shank drill bits and working the hole from both ends . That`s if you are doing one piece long turnings . Segmented glue ups are easier with pre drilled center holes .
Got it Joe , I just do some short pieces and glue them together just like cork rinds . Now I need to set up a place for these toys
Looks like a winner. I was gonna build a lathe a couple years ago; as far as I got was to store a bunch of cedar in the garage. Maybe yet. Planned on turning some lure plugs.
Frank
Looks like a winner. I was gonna build a lathe a couple years ago; as far as I got was to store a bunch of cedar in the garage. Maybe yet. Planned on turning some lure plugs.
Frank
There are something That I don't know what are for
I think these are for making pen
I think these are extra parts to hook up on grinder to sharpen tool .I use the one already hook up on grinder and it work good
Quote from: quang tran on April 06, 2026, 12:37:06 AMI think these are for making pen
Yes, that's your mandrel. The thick part goes into the headstock on the lathe or the side where the motor is. The thinner part will slide into what's called a mandrel saver that slides into the tailstock, which spins freely and is opposite the headstock. I thought I saw a mandrel saver in one of your original posts. Looks like you have quite a few bushings to make some pens in that bag too.
Went out to the pallet company yesterday ,they gave away lots of scrap hard wood and as Joe said we can pick up material for free when you run the lathe . I cut them out to 1.5x1.5 square for easy to turn ,most of them are oak some are walnut ( I think ) .It cost me a new blade , old blade worn out just burn the wood
Start turn a 3 pieces handle today and it look OK to me
Looks really good ! If we don`t hear from you for a while , we know that the rabbit hole got you .
Looks like some great work and projects coming up, Quang —-
Wood turning is an art all to itself —- and each finished piece gets a little better with experience. Plus, the variations can be endless.
I have had (4) lathes, and am down to one now that works for everything I do.
Started lathe turning when our schools offered "woodshop" as a class in 7th and 9th grades.
The important things are safety first by using a face shield along with no long sleeves, and a clear understanding of exactly your body position in relation to the tool rests and angles. These are high speed machines that can catch a sharp chisel or chunk of wood and throw it out at instant high velocity.
And, of course Quang already knows this —- but one of the most important things is to always keep your chisels razor sharp and ground at the proper angles.
Best, Fred
Fred, I learned in junior-high shop class too. But, they only had one lath so it took a while before all thirty students in each class ever got a crack at it.
I never hand on the lathe until now . It's very nice to teach the kids all skill needed in school so when they graduate they ready to get to work . I wonder they still do that in school now ?
Put these grips on a rod today . It was a 6' blank that broke off 2" . I never can install this kind of grip on rod with cork because it require to bore quite big hole ,sidewall is too thin and broke off .Oak is much stronger with only 3/16 sidewall it remain strong .However the handle quite heavy , next time will try cedar wood . Using used gold guides , I collected lots of used guides over years by save the guides from broken rod that people throw away , have to use a silver tip because can't find gold tip this size
That looks really good Quang. Nice job.
If you ever see some koa, cocobolo, acacia or rosewood, pick some up and turn something with it. There's a lot of nice curls in those woods and they are very dense and water resistant.
Just make sure you're not breathing in any of the dust.
Looks good, Quang!
Does the additional lower end rod weight affect the combo balance?
Or is it not an issue?
My ShopSmith has a horizontal boring feature where the wood can be secured square and solid —- I have only needed that feature maybe 3 or 4 times in 46 years for furniture, lamp construction, HD work benches, and a few other specialty situations.
Beautiful work!
Best, Fred
Keep a eye on the import stores , like floor and wall tile , motorcycle dealerships and anything from South America . Their pallets have a lot of exotic woods .
Good advice from Reelynew, don't breathe in the dust, it'll make you cocobolo. Dominick
Does the additional lower end rod weight affect the combo balance?
Or is it not an issue?
Hi Fred ,I normal use heavy butt cap ( chair tip or alluminum cap ) on long rod for better balance but this is a short rod and adding weight at handle just carry extra weight . I remember you have a post about 2 Daiwa GS-13 ,Do you still have them ?
Just make sure you're not breathing in any of the dust.
Hi Matt , As you know I run the lathe outside and when using lathe dust always flying to your face so I put a fan in my back to blow dust away ,I hear cedar dust also not good
Keep a eye on the import stores , like floor and wall tile , motorcycle dealerships and anything from South America . Their pallets have a lot of exotic woods .
Thank Joe , I will keep an eye for that
That sounds good, Quang —-
With your mechanical skills, I look forward to your rod creations.
Yes, the (2) matched pair of Gold Daiwa GS13s are still available.
Just haven't had a chance to sell them since we took a 8-Day trailer camping trip over to Death Valley. It takes a few days to get packed and prepped properly —- then the travel and time on site —- then a post cleanup, stowing, and prep of all gear for the next trip.
Price is $100 each or both for $150.
They are in boxes, unused, and with the paperwork.
These are high quality and excellent reels from the golden age of reel quality. A great size.
The gold series of Daiwa reels from this era are of course gold anodized instead of silver —- plus they have bearings instead of bushings.
Let me know.
Best, Fred
Today I was cutting back the winter kill in the yard . Some of it was Plumeria , so I cut some pieces to try for rod handles . It has a very soft fleshy center . Almost like bamboo without the dams As a side note Harbor freight has long 24 inch drill bits for deep center drilling .
You remind me a natural pre-reel wood : bamboo .Also flexible along rod
Wow! That's a really cool rod handle, QT. I have to admit I didn't think it would turn-out that well.
Joe is a master with wood.
I have seen his work.
- Steve
This is better than AI,if you wanna know how to do something this is the place to find out how to anything looks great QT.
The spinning top as I remember
When I was a young kid we don't have lots of toy ,we play with marbles ,fish with cane pole and catch mostly small fish ,we play same game with wooden stick and spinning top
The spinning tops selling in store most are made of cheap scrap wood and small in diameter like 1 1/4-1 1/2 inch . We play with top by wrap it with a piece of string , swing it out and let it spin . Some kids have very good hand skill , they can carve it by hand or their big brother , their father carve for them . They're look nice but uneven so it doesn't spin well
There is a store carry hand turned top with good quality wood , short but wide about 2-2 1/4 in diameter , they only carry for a few months then don't have no more . I like these top very much
These aren't the best design , I just copy as I remember how it look
:) Don` t forget the YoYo`s another kids toy that kept them busy and simple to make .
My oldest grandson 11 loves to carve he wanted to carve baseball
Bat ... maybe easier on lathe.
For young base ball player .The bats at least 25 inches , your son may need longer bat so it needs bigger lathe . Mine can only do 18 inches max . May be small bat for jumping fish
For a whole week ,we have a little rain every day so I can't run electric outside for the lathe .Learning from the last piece that is too heavy , I bore the inside a lot to reduce weight , also make some smaller pieces for UL rods . Get a couple reels from Fred to math with last rod and turn out perfect match , well balance , I'd take this rod if I have a change to go back to Midwest for smallmouth bass
;D Nice work and a neutral balance to cast all day long .
Great work QT. These days, the only way to get a balanced outfit is to make it yourself from scratch. They used to use oak handles to help offset tip-heavy rods.
Thank you Joe and Oc1 , all rods I made I try to get it balance . Have to fight with weight of rod tip will loose to much fell when fish with jigs