Rich G

Hi everyone, I want to say thank you for your compliments. I would like to add a little about the handles I make for my rods. They are hollow center bored and filled end to end with Flexcoat lightweight reel seat arbors so they are pretty light. The actual wood is just over an eighth inch thick for the main handle and less than an eighth inch for the fore-grip piece. The end part of the handle has a one inch long circular flocked open cavity that is there to add balance weights that I make for my rods and is capped off by a rubber end cap that completes the balance compartment. I think that the perception that wood is overly slippery is a kind of myth, I guess it would also depend on what finish is used on the wood. Rod balance, rod components used, blank type, builder experience are some things to consider for a sensitive fishing rod. Generally lighter is better, but if a rod does not balance correctly, I feel you loose more than you gain. Thank you for your compliments, have a great day, Rich.

Hi Daniel, Thank you for the compliment. The grips are really not slippery, even if they get wet they are no more slippery than cork would be. The grips are finish with Tru-Oil gun stock finish which has a tacky softer feel to it than you would think. Tru-Oil is a great finish and makes it easy to re-coat if needed. Have a great day, Rich

I may be parcel to split grip rods since that is what I like and make for myself. I think split grips enable adaptability to different size reels and types of fishing, also the size of a fisherman's hands which makes a rod that is very comfortable to fish with all day long. The center rod in my photo I am building on a St Croix Avid 68MXF blank. I made the handle longer and larger for my hand to allow for a more relaxed comfortable grip with a larger heavier reel, also I left more room between the grips for what I know will be a very comfortable two handed casting rod. The area between the split grip will allow the rod to be braced under my arm if I am fighting a larger fish. I am looking forward to finishing that rod it seems like it will be just what I was trying to build. When my back ordered thread arrives I will be good to go. The other casting rods are similar to a pistol grip rod that you cast one handed. The rod on the top is very comfortable for one or two handed casting because of where you hold a spinning rod. I guess I will just say I think split grips are very adaptable capable handles. Have a great day, Rich.

Hi reelmechanic, you are right a combination of things. At first when I got the reel I added a drop of oil to the spool bearings, it seemed like it would not hurt. Adjusted the casting cap and was happy and did not hear any noise for a while anyway, maybe a half hour, then the reel started to make noise no matter how I had the casting cap adjusted. Finally when I got fed up with hearing the noise and re oiling the bearings that had no effect. I disassembled and noticed the chrome metal fragments in the left side plate bearing center. I think if the ceramic shim was smooth side to the spool at the start all wood have been OK. I know that it took two tries to get the ceramic bearing shim to stay smooth side up when I replaced it, it wanted to roll over real easily. Thank you for your help reelmechanic I do not think I would have ever checked for a smooth side to that shim if you would not have told me about it. I think that I may give the ABEC 5 Ceramic bearings a try someday to see if I can notice a improvement, I do not mind having to oil more often as long as it is not more than twice a day when out fishing for a ten to twelve hours a day. I do cast a lot so I may be better of with the type bearings I have that will hold oil longer. I can not find where to order Daiwa spool shims from, the older Daiwa I always used could use them but the one I had in the attic they are like new probably because they are I guess. Thank you again for your help reelmechanic, have a great day, Rich.

Hi reelmechanic and Lubina, I want to say thank you for all your help and advice. I got to do a little casting today after I had the ceramic spool shim turned with the shinny side toward the spool shaft. It seems that almost 100 percent of the noise is gone, I am so happy I can not believe it. Thank you reel mechanic for telling me that there was a smooth side to the ceramic bearing shim. When I noticed the spool shaft was ruffed up and the wear mark on the ruff side of the ceramic spool shim I thought that the brass shim must be meant to go against the spool, but as reelmechanic so nicely pointed out the shims where in the right order and that there is a smooth side also to the ceramic shim which did not even dawn on me to look at closer. My eyesight is not what it used to be. Thank you both again for your help, have a great day, Rich.

Hi reelmechanic, thank you for all your help. I was going maybe a tad loose on the cast control setting, I thought that maybe a thousandth of a inch or two would not harm or cause problems. The last time I was out fishing to see if I cured any noise I did adjust the control cap so that the lure would fall to the ground and the spool would not keep rotating, it seemed to make the whirring noise the same as when I left a thousandth or two end play. I will fish with the control cap so there is no lateral movement from now on. I have not casted the Alpha reel since I faced the smooth side of the ceramic shim to the spool so I may some luck yet. Thank you for all your help, have a great day, Rich.

Hi Lubina and reelmechanic, I want to say thank you again for your replies, they are very helpful. I was not to sure if it made a big difference but the reel I purchased was a Alpha 103 Type-F . I think they may have different bearings than the Ito Alpha model. A description of the noise it makes would be a whirring or whizzing type noise when casting, after a hour of casting a whirring, screeching noise mix. It is kind of hard to describe, I can tell there is a big difference from the noise my reel makes compared to other fisherman using similar bait-casters, my reel seems like a siren compared to there,s. I use mostly quarter ounce baits so I do not think I am over powering the reel. I have tried different lines thinking it could just be noise from the line going through the line guide, I tried spooling less line so the line would have a straighter line path entering the line guide. ( P-Line and Gama 8 lb. ) I think maybe that I just put to much into my cast and that maybe any reel I buy will make the same noise. I make my own fishing rods and I wanted this reel to work as a lite weight run and gun reel, I used on a ac68mxf blank. When I purchased this reel I had the Daiwa zillionare and the Revo STX in mind also. I think maybe I should have chosen the Daiwa Zillionare. I think the next reel I purchase will be from a local business like Bass Pro Outdoor World, I think they told me they have a thirty day return policy that they will replace or exchange for another product. I know that I can do some serious testing in thirty days. I think after a few casts I will know if the reel is a keeper. I am not absolutely sure that is what they told me but I think so. I have a couple old Daiwa ProCaster X 153i reels, five ball bearing reels. One is like new but was in the box in a hot garage attic for ten plus years, the other I used off and on over the years, and did not remember that reel making the kind of noise my Alpha reel makes, I cleaned and re lubed the bearings in those reels and they make noise now also, maybe it is that I have better fishing rods know that just accelerate the lure much faster than what I used to fish with and that is where all the noise is coming from, just the spool turning faster than the bearings can handle. I am going to try and find someone in Colorado from a Colorado fishing forum that uses bait-casting reels and let them use my rod and see if maybe they notice more noise from there reel also. I just cannot remember bait-casting reels making so much noise, maybe it is because I have mostly been using spinning reels for the last few years and it is all my imagination or perception of how much noise a bait-casting reel makes. I admit when I fish I do go for the longest cast possible most of the time and bring my lure back threw the targeted area. Sorry for the long posts and thank you again for your help, have a great day, Rich.

Hi reelmechanic, I did not read your response before I went fishing to see if the reel made less noise. It did make a little less noise but I still was not satisfied. I came home and checked for posts here about my problem. I want to say thank you for your response. I removed the the left palm plate again and removed the bearing to arrange the shims for the palm plate bearing as you suggested. I did notice there is a dull ruff side and shiny somewhat smooth side to the ceramic shim, it originally was definitely the dull rough side against the spool shaft when I took it apart to look at the bearing. I put the ceramic shim shiny side to spool shaft and will see if there is a difference. reelmechanic could you tell me what would be the best bearings to buy for this reel in hopes that new bearings would help keep the noise down when casting, also what oil would make it through a day of casting, (if any) I like to throw lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaites to find actively feeding fish and then switch to soft plastics if the conditions are right. Thank you for your response and have a great day, Rich.

Hi Raul, I will see if changing the order of the reel shim spacers has any effect. I never adjusted the spool tension so that the spool would stop when the lure comes in contact with the ground, I always left just a very very small amount of end play in the spool to try and get the farthest cast possible. I think that now that I have a smooth spool shaft spacer shim against the spool shaft that it just might make less of a humming noise when casted. I was a little surprised to find the bearing end washer is a soft material, I may try a different material for that washer also, I can see a hum coming from a bearing that is allowed to oscillate side to side at the end of the spool shaft. I will post if I have any luck testing the reel tomorrow. Thank you for your help and advice, have a great day, Rich.

Hi Lubina, you must have been typing at the same time I was. Thank you for your reply. I was thinking about upgrading the bearings to ceramic because I like the reel I just do not like the noise. While reading some posts about reel maintenance, it seems you should not have to oil your reel after every fishing trip, like I tried to do to get rid of the noise. Lubina which kind of ceramics did you buy and from who did you purchase them from, I may want to upgrade if i can not cure the noise with what I just changed as far as the order the spool tension washers was in. Have a great day, Rich.

Hi Raul, thank you for reel maintenance link and reply. I tried the Quantum Hot Sauce first, then the Pen reel oil, then Abu Garcia reel oil. The Pen reel oil seemed to deaden the noise the best and longest. Non of these oils stopped the noise for a day of use. I did download the schematic for the Daiwa Sol since I could not read the Japanese schematic that came with the Alpha. The Sol schematic has the parts I am in question about as Spacer A, Spacer B, and they do not look any different to me on the schematic, I can tell that Spacer C seems to be the O-ring spacer that rests against the edge of the spool bearing. I am thinking that the Spacer B should be the smooth Brass spacer that lightly makes contact with the end of the spool shaft. The spool shaft was pretty rough and probably should not have been that rough from a reel that has only been out fishing probably six times. I will know more tomorrow when I use the reel again. Thank you again for your link and reply, have a great day, Rich.

Hi, I recently purchased a Daiwa Alpha bait cast reel from Japan Tackle. The reel has made noise since the day I purchased it. I did add a drop of oil on the spool bearings before I used it the first time. I was reading a post about the Alpha reels ( any new reel ) that said to check and oil the spool bearings before you use the reel the first time because they could be dry, they did seem a little dry and did not spin too freely. After I oiled the bearing I still had noise and thought that maybe i should try a different oil. I re oiled the bearings and have tried three or four different reel oils and it is still noisy. So i finally decided maybe I have to much oil built up or something so I removed the clip from the magnetic cast control bearing to remove and flush out the bearing and check for wear. Of course the little retainer clip popped off and was lost.( I thought I was being careful not to loose it ) I proceeded to remove the bearing. When the bearing came out I looked inside the bearing cavity and noticed what looked like small very fine metal particles. I proceeded to remove the the spacers from the bearing cavity to remove the particles and clean out the cavity. I noticed there was three spacers, first being a oring type spacer, second being a what looks like a graphite spacer with a pattern across it that was in contact with the end of the spool shaft and a smooth brass spacer behind it that contact's the screw that removes the magnetic brake. I am thinking that the smooth brass spacer should be next to the spool. I am wondering if anyone can tell me if the brass spacer should be next to the spool end and the graphite spacer should go behind the brass spacer ? I made a new clip to retain the bearing and put the brass spacer next to the spool, I also lightly polished the end of the spool with 1200 grit emery cloth to remove some pretty substantial roughness on the end of the spool shaft. Does it seem that I am on the right track? I was thinking of trying the reel again tomorrow to see if it makes less noise. Thank you for you advise in advance, sorry for the long post, have a great day, Rich.

Hi Syfer420 and Triton9, I want to say thank you for your compliments. These rods are for my own use, rod building is a very fun and interesting hobby. Rodbuilding.org is a great place to learn and ask questions about rod building. Building rods is almost as fun a fishing, almost. Again thank you for your compliments, have a great day, Rich.

Hi, the handles are made from wood. The wood used for the two tone handles are Wenge (Dark Hard Wood) and Che-Chen (Gold Colored Hard Wood). The fly rod handle is Cherry. The handles are turned around a expanding mandrel, the reason for that is I bore out the wood before I turn it to shape to make it liter. When the handle has been finished (Tru-Oil) I glue Flexcoat Arbors inside of them to give them a lite but solid surface to ream for final fit to the blank. The Blanks I used for these rods are, (Spinning) St. Croix V (Legend Elite) 66MLF, the guides on that rod are Recoil Spinning guides. The Bait Casting rod was built with a Rainshadow IP844 Inshore crank bait blank, I shortened it from seven ft. to six ft. six, for the purpose of making a heavy spinnerbait rod, large plastic finesse rod. The Casting rod is Bumper Wrapped with a DF #10 Alconite butt guide and all the rest #6 Alconites to the tip, including the Bumper guide. I used a #7 Alconite tip top, think the one size larger, lines up better to the rest of the guides. I have the most fun using the Bumper wrapped Bait casting rod, it will subdue large Pike and Bass like they are very much smaller, nice to be in charge when the big ones hit. The fly rod blank is a 8 ft. 4/5 wt. Tiger Eye blank, I think the Tiger Eye blanks are a excellent value, not expensive and cast really well. I have only built the 8 ft. 4/5,s and the 8 ft. 3/4 wt. blanks. The wood handles are not slippery unless they get very wet. I think that if you go to the extent of boring out the wood handles and filling them with solid Flexcoat arbors they are a combination of lite weight and very comfortable. I like wood over cork for rod handles, wipe them off with a soft towel, they look like new and ready to go fishing next time. I will try and post another photo later today of the guides to show how I set up the Recoils and show the bumper wrap rod a little better, hope I answered a couple things. Thank you for your nice remarks and have a great day, Rich.

Hi ReelMech, Thank you for the welcome and the compliment, have a great day, Rich.

My favorite spinnerbait for night fishing is a eighth ounce black spinnerbait with a Colorado black nickle blade. With a small trailer hook. A very slow retrieve they catch allot of fish. Have a great day, Rich.

Alpster, Thank you for the welcome to the forum, also for the compliment on my rod handles. I look forward to browsing through the forum and see what tips I can pick up, fishing and rod building. Have a great day. Rich.

Hi, I am new to this forum and wanted to say hello. I built a few rods last winter and have fished them all summer. I have began planning my next rods for the winter. A very addicting hobby. Have a great day, Rich.