justtrying

thanks for the kind words, i really appreciate them. i know, however, that a novice rodbuilder doesn't even know what it takes to be a "10" rod. Your years of experience have taught you things that you do automatically, that i don't even know how to do. i just want to enjoy trying, enjoy building rods that will bring happiness to those who use them. my grand-daughter & i went fishing one day last month & caught 29 bass. there were no giants, but, we had a blast catching them...all on topwater. So, that led to me building her a rod. i built it using threads of her favorite colors to wrap the guides & then put her name on it. She's as proud of that rod as she would have been of a new car (almost! LOL) so, i get the joy of building them, & they get the happiness of using "their" own fishing rod ....pretty cool. you & flechero have really been an encouragement. ...come on down here to where the "pore people" live & i'll take you out amongst them! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

David, i had a chance last week to finish a couple of rods & do some "specialty" work on a few. i experimented w/the one thread inlay, like you illustrated, worked great. then, would wrap the one thread maybe 5 or 6 wraps & Really made a nice looking wrap. i've got a few rods that i changed over to spiral wrap & i would wrap black & gold on some guides, especially the tip & "WOW" ..a little change makes a Big statement. so, once again, Thank You, Thank You ****addendum ..i'm going to begin "rotating" some reels to you pretty soon. i want you to put the "touch" on them, clean, polish, etc.,,, ..while you've got them, if you think ceramic bearings would help them, i'd like you to change them out. the reels i'll be sending are: all shimanos - calais, metanium xt, chronarch 50mg, new & old curado. ronnie

kb, you're making some Very good looking lures. ..remember, this is how the "big O" got started...just think, one day, maybe we can read about "KB SPECIALS" winning a tournament. best wishes for you

i try to always keep an ultra-lite outfit in my boat. ..and, since i've begun fishing longer baitcasting & spinning rods, i've been looking for a 7' ultra lite. ..have NOT been able to find one. Sooooo, i talked w/andy & he hooked me up w/a "Beautiful" 7 foot CTS extreme ultra-lite blank. ..and, man, it's as flexible as a buggy whip. seriously, you can almost touch end to end with it. well, it makes fishing "FUN" ..a bluegill feels like a whale, but, i've been wondering what a bass would feel like. ....today i found out, it feels Great & the rod just whipped mr bass, big time. this is a couple of pics of the rod & one of the bass i caught this morning. and: and, mr bass:

FAN - TAS- TIC!!!! i hope you guys catch lots & lots of "good 'ol big 'uns" with the baits, & i hope this will be an encouragement to all the other "young bassers" on board. Congratulations to all involved!!!!!

hey ronnie, glad you liked the "bling" ..i actually use that on quite a few rods now...it was an accident that has turned out to be kind of a "signature" thing. bro, we have Waaaayyy, too much in common ...won't get into it on this board, but will probably pm you one day. speaking of work, i've got a couple of rods on the bench now, but, i stopped last week & "re-did" my building area ...built a new wrapper stand ...added what i think is a pretty unique feature - a tip holder to help in wrapping those small & end guides. then, i just cleaned up & re-organized things. got a lot more to do, but, hey, my fishing & work is getting "far, far, far" behind! LOL ...i took off this morning & went to a new lake i got permission to fish. caught 3 & missed one ...all, pretty nice fish. ..reminded me why i building these things! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ronnie

kb bro, those lures are FAN -TAS-TIC!!!! great job thanks for sharing

my wife's favorite colors are gold & black. every since she's seen the st croix avid i "modded" she's wanted a rod with a split grip fixed like that. i just went out to the shop & took these pictures ...they did NOT come out the way i wanted, but, anyway, you get the idea of how the rod looks. ...it is a 6'6" ml rainshadow that she'll use to throw jerkbaits (rapala, rogue, etc.) & trick worms. ...i know, i know, the spincast reel is "mickey mouse" but, she won't touch baitcasters. #1 - wow, even the reel matches! LOL #2 - the gold fish is made from a link from an old bracelet,,the wood is a piece of dogwood #3 - pic didn't turn out too swift, but, it is spiral wrapped & yup, the guides match #4 - w/o the reel --- & yea, i take lousy pictures, but, it's too late to walk back out there! Wheeeeeeeee

reelmech is right (big surprise ) in the last year, i've bought a few THOUSANDS of dollars worth of reels. they work, look & feel, Great, but, their duty is to reel in the fish. the rods duty is to feel that subtle "tic" & enable you to distinguish it from a myriad of other sensations that have been transmitted to your hand/brain. that's one of the reasons custom rods are worth the time & effort they take. no, off the shelf, rod, can match the person, the reel, the type of fishing, etc., like a custom rod. i may never become a rod builder, but, the time i've already put into it, has shown me how important a rod really is.

congratulations, there has got to be a lot of personal satisfaction in catching a fish on a lure YOU made. have fun

david, your suggestion is dead on as to what i did in the beginning. however, this particular rod has most of it's flex in the top 1/3 of the rod, so, when i spaced them as you suggested ...then, put pressure on them, the 2nd & 3rd eye would pull completely out of the rubber bands i had supporting them! the only way i could get them to follow any pressure contour was by placing the eyes:1= 4" - 2=3" - 3=4" - 4=4" - 5=7" - 6=8" - 7=8" - 8=8" that's the only way i could get them to follow the curvature of the rod ...on all the others i've done, the guide spacing you show has worked fine, but, this rod?????? ????if it were yours, would you just follow the equal distance guide, & ignore the pressure points, or, would you leave them close together??? --- but, hey, it's gonna have a lot of sparkle...so, who cares how it Works? LOL Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee

i've read that i'm supposed to prepare my blanks w/scotchbrite pads(7448 or 7446) to create a better bonding surface. i've been using very fine sandpaper (have been unable to find scotchbrite locally) to scuff where each guide goes. 1 do you guys scuff each area where guides go? 2. if so, what do you use? thanks ronnie

i'm building my wife a new rod w/some "bling" but, i'm having trouble w/what i think the correct guide placement should be. i use the static guide placement article on rodbuilding.org to space guides & this is the first time that i've really questioned it. the rod is a 6'6" med w/fast tip. to really align line w/rod curve, it places first 4 guides much closer to tip than any i've done before. i'm using 8 guides & a tip - the fourth guide is only 15 inches away from tip. i'm using spiral wrap, & line seems to run well, but, since most of the action is in the tip, it takes 4 guides where i would usually only use 3. i've got it ready to coat, but, really seek advice before i put epoxy on & then have to take it off because i've done it wrong. is this common w/rods w/fast tip, or, have i done it wrong???????? thanks ronnie

hey, cool looking outfit. that 'ol stella stuck on the handle ain't so shabby either. they really make a nice match. ..i haven't tried any foam yet - still having enough trouble w/cork! LOL ...i am turning some wood for a few special rods, however. ,,,man, this rod building Kills your fishing time. **ps - and, apparently, our parents burdened us w/the same first name, so, just send me all the things you own, 'cause they belong to ronnie & they're Mine! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ronnie

aggie, i agree w/reelmech & flechero about tom kirkman's book - it is a "must have" tool. HOWEVER, there is some FANTASTIC help, right here on this board, e.g., look at the articles that reelmech has posted where he Tells you & Shows you trick/hints, etc., that will be invaluable in your building. then, just browse some of the posts made by flech (esp, the ones to me! LOL) and you've got Tons of help. i'm telling you, you don't have to go far to get Good Info! also, i've found that i can read articles in the library @ rodbuilding.org that are Super - e.g. "New Guide Concept Primer" by tom k & "Static Guide Placement" also by mr kirkman. .....DO Yourself a favor & read both of these before placing guides! to me, it was/is, So overwhelming, til i didn't know the questions to ask. however, i found that if i would ask specific questions, there was always someone willing to give me an answer. ...i've printed out many posts & have them on my work table, just so i can have them close at hand when i need them. you're at a good place to learn how to work on/build rods!

danekM - THANKS for the info. ...i'm entertaining grandkids today (& will be for the next few days ) ..so, i can't look into all this stuff right now, but, Very Soon ... ..actually, i've got three on the table that i'm bulding now, so, i'll be busy for awhile ...but,. again, thanks for all the info. ronnie oh, yeah, as roadwarrior said, WELCOME to the site...

first, not to sound redundant, but, i sure want reelmech to know that i thank him for sharing his expertise with us. it is SO NICE to be able to go to his step by step thread about building & check/re-check progress in the rod building process. ---(especially for "us busy rod builders" LOL ...i'm no more a rod builder than i am a helicopter pilot, but, i'm having fun! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee) now, a question. i see the wraps where there is just one single thread of a different color in the wrap. ...how do you do that? ....it looks good, but, i can't/don't get mine to turn out right. ****just a note ...i'm an old man, a man from an era when people said/say, "yes sir, yes mam, thank you, etc.," ..also, along that line, i'm just not used to people doing things for me without doing something back in return. ..if you'd come to visit me at my house, e.g., i'd make sure you left with Something, if it was only a mess of squash or cucumbers,,,,it's just the way we were raised... but, here, i can't do anything but just type the words, so, again, Thank You.

WOW, Tiberio, augie said it, "Sweet!" ...or, since there are four of them, "sweet, sweet,sweet, sweet!" the only thing that would make them look better is to sling a stella underneath each one. LOL did you build them?

when speaking to andy, he told me he really liked a lathe made by RIKON. i really went back & forth between it & the jet, but, saturday afternoon, i decided to go ahead & get a lathe, so, i ordered the rikon. well, i don't know how it will work, but, their delivery time sure is good. it arrived this morning! ..i took it out of the box (that thing is HEAVY), & set it up on a work bench. ..it may be called a hobby lathe, but, you could do some serious work on that thing (it's a lot more than i had envisioned.) ...now, it's just sitting there, daring me to turn something on it! LOL ....and, i've got Nothing relating to rod building to turn! ...but, hey, i ordered lots of cork, a blank, etc., from andy last week, so,,soon.

it may sound crazy, but, just because the water is black, doesn't mean that you can't see very deep in it. the tannic acid does turn it a beautiful dark color, but, sometimes the clarity is amazing, especially on the sandy bottoms. around here, the black river, mingo, the little pee dee, big pee dee near the coast & the inter coastal waterway are just a few of the rivers like that. and they count for lots of bass, also, lots of panfish. this time of year, topwaters, esp lures like rapala's, rogues, bang o lures, etc., are Very good. ..since most of these rivers are tidal, worming is also especially good around creek mouths, rice canals, etc. ..and, i have killed them by pulling a firetiger balsa b out of the ditches as the tide runs out. IMO, they're some of the prettiest rivers in the world.

i was fishing w/a buddy of mine at bulls island, off the coast of charleston. i stuck a bang o lure treble hook in my left index finger DEEP! ...the fish was still on the lure & he helped drive it down to the bend. the bad thing about fishing there is that you can only enter & exit on high tide, so, we had a five hour wait. ..after "nipping" around the edges w/knife, i got my buddy to tie my hand securely to my leg, tie a loop around the hook, & then told him to "PULL IT OUT!" ...well, he was chicken & couldn't do it. ..finally, i just reached a conclusion that it had to come out, i had to do it by myself, so, i took my knife & sliced my finger in one quick stroke - past the hook. i removed the hook, but, today, the finger is not as wide at the nail as my other fingers & the scar runs almost to the first joint. it was a terrible thing to have to do to myself, & if i had to do it over today, i'd just cut the hook off at the bend & leave it in til i could get to a doctor.

ok guys, i see by the instruction pics that reelmech has what i think is a flex coat lathe, andy dear uses a jet, he recommends the ones by grizzly or rikon. i understand that a lathe is not a necessity, but, it's just another tool. i'll probably never make enough handles, etc., to justify one, but, i think i just want one! what kind of lathe do YOU recommend? ..if you were buying today, what kind would you buy? thanks ronnie

thanks, i sure did bookmark it - it's one of the things i was really looking for ...btw - i sent in an app to bingham & mentioned you. ..sent in company's info w/license, etc., to get set up so i'll be ready when i finally order some equipment.

Maybe. But her sexy avatar sure don't look like a bass to me. AND, the entire photo gallery called "the softer side of marcia" may remind you of some things, but, i bet you it's not fishing! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

thanks keith, i've had family over the last few days, so, my "quest" is kind of on the back burner right now, but, i'm trying to think out the things i'll need. your ideas sound pretty much along the line of what i'd thought about. i'll probably wait a few days & see what other input i get, then, my plans are: 1) call 2 or 3 companies & talk w/person(s) who sell equipment (andy, bingham ent., etc.) 2) also, as you suggested, put my request on the .ORG site 3)"re-check" some guides - the Allpro rods i have all have titanium guides & i really like them ...in the oposite direction, i Don't care for the recoil guides, like the ones on the loomis..they may be good, but they just look & feel Cheap. 4) i'm also debating reel seats - most of my spinning rods have tennessee handles (that i've split) and, i like the size (grip) of them. if i go w/the one like t mike has (to make it lighter), i'll probably build it up w/tape or something to make it more comfortable. ...this is probably the hardest decision i'll have to make. anyway --- these are just some things i'm tossing around before i begin ... what i BETTER be worried about is wrapping those guides near the tip on that small rod. man, i have a problem with the end wraps, esp. if there's a few different color decorative wraps. THANKS for the help! ronnie