grub_man

BF, Your egg beater is wrong-handed! Unless it's for me ;-). I put my spinning handles on the right side because I'm a lefty and learned to crank with my right hand first and it naturally made sense to do the same with my egg beaters. Those Wishing for Less Stiff Casting Rods, If you can't find the casting rod you need on the shelf, BUILD it. Casting finesse lures on casting gear is why I started building rods. My first two builds spend more time in my hand than any other rods. However, once I learned how to make a spinning handle with proper ergonomics to stop the pain shooting up my forearm, I now spend more time with a spinning rod in hand than ever before. When it comes to rods, once you get to the $100ish range, you start getting into true standard modulus graphite blanks with little to no glass involved. Those blanks do tend to feel stiffer than they actually are. As you go up from there and get into the intermediate and high modulus stuff, the blanks get more responsive and they react and respond quicker and feel less stiff during casting and buttery smooth with the right lures. Blanks designed with casting rods in mind are generally designed with more fudge factor built in. Casting rods are generally expected by manufacturers to take more abuse in the way they are used, especially by us self respectin' bass fishermen. Additionally, they experience more torsional forces during the shock loading of hook sets and during the fight. Abuse to the fibers that provide hoop strength which are fewer in number than longitudinal fibers will result in a higher failure rate among casting rods. So, they are designed with more material and inherently more stiff in general. However, if you treat your stuff with at least a little respect, a great casting rod can be built on blanks designed for spinning applications.

You have a combination of things going on. It looks like the lure ratings on the 7' MF Veritas are in the ball park for Senko type baits (1/4-5/8oz.). 1. Your release point is too late. If you are sailing really high on a side armed roll cast as it sounds you are making, then you need to work on releasing the spool slightly earlier. Work on this first to see if you can cut down the height by at least half. 2. You have too much spool brake. If you have magnetic brakes on your reel, they are strongest at the start of the cast and will make your lure rise. Centrifugal brakes are similar but will cause it to rise a bit less. This will account for a bit. You don't need as much spool braking for a side armed cast as you do with an overhand cast. If you start tweaking this before your release point, when you release too early and drive the lure into the ground/water, you will get a larger backlash. 3. Once you are comfortable with your gear, back down your spool tension knob to where it is just tight enough to prevent the spool from wobbling from side to side. 4. When you cast lighter lures than you are used to, you need to release them earlier. Because the light lure has less inertia, it takes longer for them to bring the spool up to speed on the cast. Releasing too late will often result in side armed casts going high, right handed casts going left, or left handed casts going right. With practice, you should get to the point where you can keep the lure down and close to the water. Good luck, and keep practicing.

What size reel are you using? You could drop down to 5mm rings if you want to reduce weight a bit without going to micros.

Go find yourself a Seeker React Pro RPS-706C. It's the production rod on Seeker's popular BS706-Sglass blank that I use for a cranking rod. It will handle the full spectrum of cranks from little SK series 1 up though series 6 cranks.

It's a bit large for my taste, but there is certainly nothing wrong with it. As long as the rod's guide train isn't a hindrance, which it shouldn't be, especially with the limber lines used on UL gear, you may get a tad more casting distance with the larger diameter spool. At worst, you fish the UL with the larger reel until you have some extra cash for a suitable 1000 or 2000 sized reel. Who knows, you might just like it with the 3000.

A little more specificity on which particular weightless plastics you will be fishing would be a big help, as mentioned. Senkos, Super Flukes, 6" trick worms and the like cast just fine on a MH fast action 1/4-3/4oz worm/jig rod. Smaller things like the fluke are a tougher challenge for casting gear. The best casting rod I built for the purpose is a 1 power spin jig blank 6'6" L fast action 1/16 - 5/16oz. It's a great build for bank runners, but really doesn't have the backbone I like for 3lb+ fish. So, most of the time I fish little flukes and such on my 6'10" M power extra fast action 1/8 - 1/2 oz (similar to a St. Croix 6'8" MXF rod). The tip is soft like a ML fast action, but locks up into a solid backbone. Something along these lines will likely be your best bet. I know the St. Croix line matches up best with my expectations in terms of power and action, as well as compares favorably to most of the blanks I build on. I think you should have a few different options from St. Croix close to your budget on SCIII graphite, which is the sweet spot for getting a lightweight sensitive blank without going obscenely over budget. I'm not afraid to take that rod, fling a fluke back in the pads with 8 lb mono (dense weeds are more of an exception on most of the waters I fish). Most of the time a good hook set will get the fish moving towards me as long as you don't let them take the plastic and run with it. If not, then I might need to go in after them. If cover conditions dictate, you either need to be willing to go and extract the fish or use the rod that will get them out, and if that means it's the more powerful rod, then train up that thumb.

Spoon, some very good points. When it comes to handle length, I'll add another caveat. With spinning rods, the threads can either go at the back of the reel seat or the front of the reel seat. This will shift the location of the reel significantly. When I build a rod for a friend, I always ask for a measurement from the butt of their favorite grip to the trigger or reel stem, and which fingers they hold the trigger/reel stem between. With those bits of info, I can adjust the reel seat location to make sure there is the same amount of material behind the hand on either type of build. Before I started building I used Falcon rods, and their spinning rods used up-locking reel seats with the same cork and butt cap as the casting rods. This put the spinning reel about an inch further up the rod than their casting rods. The extra handle length drove me nuts, and is one of the reasons I avoided picking up the spinning rod at almost all cost. Once I started building, I would mock up the handle with the spinning reel in place and match the length to the butt of the rods with the distance between the trigger and butt on my casting rods (I hold reel stem/trigger between my middle and ring fingers). For 6'6"+ rods, for me, I use 9.25" from butt to trigger/stem. For 6'ish rods, I use 8.25". For short rods, I don't drop below 7.25", as I regularly use two-handed casts, and going shorter prevents that. About the only exceptions would be a <5'6" UL or ice rod. That puts me maybe just a little longer than Spoon's preference for handle length.

Reaming that size takes some careful hand reaming to get the job done. I used EVA on the grip for mine, so I had a little give and stretch. Cork will be a challenge, as you end up with a pretty thin wall at the butt of the rod. The weight can be a bit annoying when working walking baits on those rods, but because of the large OD and thinner walls, the rod keeps a good bit of weight back near the butt, and it's not as tip heavy as you might expect, but it's certainly not as light as some of the graphite options out there.

By the way, I'm not necessarily trying to steer you away from a Batson blank, as they are fantastic, and the first place I look for a new blank. I just wanted to share my experience with the glass blanks, as people tend to shy away from them at times, even though they are a great option for the task at hand. 1. Nothing wrong with a full cork grip in the least. On a longer somewhat tip heavy cranking rod, the extra material will help slightly with balance. I will say that a well executed split grip is functionally the same as a full grip in most bass fishing applications. What I mean is that your hands are fully supported when using the split grip. For example, when I build for myself, I have smallish hands and grip my casting rods with 2 fingers in front of the trigger. Behind the reel seat, I use a 3" or 3.5" section (need to measure to remind myself) with a straight taper from 1.05" down to 0.85", modeled after Batson's woven graphite tapered fore grips (my first builds were built with those grips and after tinkering, the design is perfect for me). My palm is fully supported so my hand does not touch the blank. For the butt grip, I use a 4" or 4.5" section, and if I use a butt cap, I prefer the mushroom shaped cork or EVA. The swell at the butt helps find proper hand placement quickly and the grip length supports the whole hand while making two-handed casts. If you take a look at your full cork grips and see where the oil is deposited from your hands, you will notice that there is likely a small section in the middle that you do not handle much if at all. This is the piece that can be removed for a split grip. 2. The taper of a blank is generally close to but not quite linear. It's determined by how the designer cuts the fabric and the taper of the mandrel itself, which may have multiple tapers. However, do not fret, if you order your components from the same vendor, most of them will be happy to help you out with sizing of winding checks, reel seats, etc. If you give them some measurements that you are working with, they can measure your particular blank and get you matched up. It's fantastic service that most offer for free, which helps put your mind at ease a bit when you pay shipping on a small order. If you source the blank first, then the calipers will be your friend. I use a cheap digital vernier caliper from Harbor Freight. It's not good enough for high precision machining, but to get within a half millimeter for rod building components its more than good enough. 3. Those guide foot tunnels can be a pain at times. I generally touch my finish brush where the tunnel meets the blank and let the finish wick in from the front. Once one tunnel is full, do the same on the other side and then finish the wrap. Capillary action is your friend, and it just takes practice to find a technique that works well for you. There is no substitution for experience when it comes to finish.

Spoon, Nice to see someone who has built on the Judge CB blanks. Over on the RBO, everyone seems pretty tightlipped about them, which is surprising. I don't see myself in the market for a cranking rod for a very long time unless my Seeker or Lamiglas rods fail. Sloppy, My first rods were built on Rainshadow RX8+ blanks (equivalent to the Eternity line). Aside from a couple reaming issues hidden behind winding checks, the builds were wildly successful and after about 10 years or so are still the most likely rods you will see in my hand. A, because they are incredible rods and B, because they were built for my confidence finesse techniques. The standard by which cranking blanks should be measured is the Seeker BS706-S-glass (7' 1/2-1oz) and BS756-S-glass (7'6" 1/2-1oz) blanks. They are the same taper with the 7'6" model continuing 6" back from the butt of the 7' model. If you've watched Major League Fishing, you have more than likely seen these baby poop green blanks on the decks of the boats. A couple tips about the Seeker blanks. They come untrimmed so it will be a couple inches longer than the spec length. I took 5/8" off of the tip of the 706 to get the tip to where I wanted it. You can get away with trimming a glass blank a bit much easier than a graphite blank. I fish square bills up to 6XDs on it. For a dedicated DD22 or 6XD rod, I might take off an extra 1/8". Also, they have large diameter butts. You need a 17mm ID reel seat to go on the 706, and you will need to ream the seat to get it into position. A seat without an exposed blank cutout is surprisingly most comfortable, and the seat is attached directly to the blank, no arbors. On the 756, you will need an 18mm seat and need to ream it as well. My Lamiglas blank is an old glass blank from the late 60's that was given to me by a rod building friend. It is very likely that the Skeet Reese cranking rods were modeled after this blank or a modern version of it, though I don't know a modern version of the blank model. When I put it on the duplicator with the Seeker, the Lami is slightly more powerful and slightly slower in action than the Seeker. In use, the Lami is slightly more tip heavy being made of a lower modulus glass. Generally, I'll have a deeper diving crank on the Lami than the Seeker when I'm on the water. It sounds like I should have given the RX7 MH or H graphite cranking blanks a better look. I built on the 6'6" (1/4 - 5/8 oz) M power blank for Strike King Series 1 and Series 3 cranks, but it was underpowered. I will say I don't think I ever lost a fish on it, but nearly every fish I caught was skinhooked by the back treble. It just didn't have the backbone I wanted. It might not be a bad choice for cranking with braid, or a fantastic choice for trolling or casting light cranks for crappie.

Fluoro does stretch in these situations. Unlike mono, it quickly stretches out of its elastic region and does not spring back. When you stretch fluoro, you are effectively decreasing its diameter and decreasing its breaking strength. I wouldn't say its shot after a single snag, but repeated stretching or extreme stretching will kill the line. Plug knockers are great and worth every penny, but I'm not even sure if mine is in the boat right now. I might want to take a look. When you can't get it back, definitely break the line rather than cut it. It's not good to leave line in the lake, but I have retrieved a few nice cranks over the years after catching someone's cut line.

The Casitas seems like a great reel. I'm a huge fan of the older Shimano Citica and Curado from the 90's and early 2k's. Fortunately I hadn't felt a pressing need for anything new after prices got jacked up through the roof on those lines until this year. In the meantime, they discontinued the little Cardiff 100a round reel that would have been my choice going forward. The steeper prices and switch to seasonal updates and planned obselescence is a large departure from what made Shimano reels so great in the past. I now no longer see them offering models for the long term. So it was back to the drawing board. I stopped in a little mom and pop tackle shop this spring in search of a reel to get mounted on a new build to replace my old worm/jig rod and Curado that got donated to the fishing gods last spring. Unfortunately they did not stock the Casitas. In comparing a few options from Lew's and Abu Garcia, I ended up going with the Revo X. The biggest reason was its aluminum frame. The other options I was looking at were graphite frames. It's the first magnetic braking reel I've used since my old trusty Shimano Coriolis reels, and it's really not that bad. With the spool tension set just tight enough to keep the spool from moving side to side and the brakes turned all of the way down, it will reach a cast out there if your thumb is well educated. I've been using it lately on my shaky head rod and casting a T-rigged 5" grub and 1/4 oz. weight to boat docks and other cover. I have to say that so far, I'm pretty impressed. It's the first low profile reel from a manufacturer other than Shimano that I've genuinely liked enough to not feel regret or the need to return for a Shimano. I know it may not have fared the best in the $100 reel shootout, but so far it feels like a solid performer. I still prefer centrifugal brakes for casting light lures for distance, but with heavier loads, I don't feel like I'm giving up all that much with the magnetic brakes in the Revo. They don't seem as strong as some of the magnetic brakes of days gone by. This is just my experience with the Revo X. Your mileage may vary, and I understand the good hard look at a Shimano reel.

Anytime! If you have any questions or concerns don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Angry John, What makes the MB white python so unique? I am sure that if one spends enough time scouring the options in swimbait, inshore, and saltwater blanks, with a little extending and or trimming the action and power can be matched very closely. That's what truly good custom builders do. They make something that doesn't "seem" to exist. The blank is out there, it just may be in hiding. Ariffy, A custom is by far the better value, unless you are looking for some walk-in exchange policy. Even you can build a rod that is better than the vast majority of mass produced rods out there. It's not that hard. A custom build gives complete control over every aspect of the rod. Rod builders also pay particular attention to detail during every step of the construction of the rod. Give a custom a try or better yet, take on a new hobby and build a rod.

After looking at a schematic, it goes cogged gear, fiber gear, main gear, drag washer, washer. Something else must be going on, but tough to diagnose without tearing it down myself.

There shouldn't be a correlation there. Did you pull all of the gears/washers off the handle shaft? Generally there is a toothed gear with a ratchet (AssistStopper as Shimano calls it) toward the bottom of the assembly. They usually put a fiber or carbon washer underneath the cogged gear. If you put them on in the wrong order, as you tighten the drag, you may be getting some pressure onto the clutch mechanism with that gear. That is about the only thing I can think of off of the top of my head without tearing apart a reel to think visually.

The live bait aversion is more of a historical and cultural thing. The popularity of bass fishing historically is tied very closely to tournament fishing. Bass tournaments typically do not permit the use of live bait. As such, bass anglers typically posture against live bait in the same way that avid fly rod fishermen will posture against the use of larger lures and spinning rods or gear that doesn't come from Sage or Orvis (I still don't understand the need for ridiculously expensive reels when the majority of fishing and fighting fish is done by hand-lining, but that is a topic for another day). As far as the preference for casting gear, it's largely a cultural thing, but I suspect that it has a bit to do with the reliability of spinning reels early in the days of bass fishing gaining traction. Back then spinning reels were just beginning to become commonplace in the market and just weren't as reliable as the casting reels of the day. Also, back then spinning reels didn't have reversible handles, and using spinning gear meant switching the hands used for holding the rod and reeling, and is the reason most people reel spinning reels with their left hand. With modern equipment, it really doesn't make a hill of beans one way or the other. Both spinning and casting gear work well. I prefer casting gear personally because it feels the most natural to me at this point, but I pick up the spinning rod and use it when I need to, and it serves me well.

A couple of things. I don't have Curado 200k, but most casting reels and all of my Shimanos have a small coil spring attached to the clutch bar mechanism. Misbehavior in reengaging the reel often comes as a sign a few hours before the spring fails. The clutch spring is the most common part I have had to replace in my Shimano reels, but they're usually good for a few years worth of regular use before they fail. I try to keep a couple on hand just in case. There is a place where the clutch bar mechanism slides on the spool frame. Make sure there is a little grease in there as dry surfaces will stick from time to time causing issues with reengaging reel. Make sure that the clutch bar mechanism is clear of debris. My Cardiff 100a managed to get some muck on and around the clutch bar when I wasn't paying attention and the next time I used it, it gave me fits reengaging the reel. After a little cleaning, all was good.

6lb mono is all you need. Spool up and go to work. If you want, spool up braid and tie direct. Bass are not line/leader shy. If you are having to make compromises in order to fish a line, such as adding a leader or going out of your way to manage the properties of the line, are you really using the right line? We aren't surf casting where a shock leader is necessary to handle high loads for short periods of time during the cast. I'll add a little bit to Glenn's video. Some of the things are rehashed here, but I spell out the way that I handle my spinning reels and line. I don't understand the issues people have with line twist on spinning gear. Yes, like everyone, I dealt with them for a few years when I was learning to fish, but once I learned a few things, it put an end to line twist issues. The issues are purely user error. First, DO NOT reel when you hear the drag clicking. If the drag is clicking, you are either reeling line that is at a dead stop, or reeling against line going out. Either way, you are twisting the line like crazy. Spooling line incorrectly is the biggest issue for line twist. I've tried laying the spool on the floor and checking for twist, flipping it and yada yada yada. It didn't work for me. I finally gave up and decided to try spooling my spinning gear exactly the same way I spool my casting gear. The technique I use is a bit awkward, but I developed it when I was a teenager and convinced that respooling was necessary every few weeks and no one wanted to hold a spool for me. (If I fished for big pay days, I would probably make sure I had fresh line on the reels I expected to use most during the tourney, but I don't.) 1. I put on a nice thick pair of socks. 2. Run the line through every guide on the rod and tie to my backing or my spool. 3. Hold the spool between my big toes, one on each hole on the sides of the spool, to provide tension. 4. With the line coming off of the top of the spool, provide enough tension so it feels like you are fighting about a 12" bass. This packs the line tight enough to keep it from digging too much later on. With braid, a little more tension is not a bad thing. 5. Reel until the spool is full. 6. Tie on a lure and go fishing. The majority of issues that people attribute to line twist generally aren't twist related. They come from a loop of line sticking up perpendicular to the line laying on the reel. When that loop is formed, during a cast, the line coming off of the spool will tug on that loop slightly, and what happens is you end up with line coming off the outer part of the spool and line coming off from a few rows deep on the spool. As the line comes off at the wrong time, nasty tangles happen and are also referred to as wind knots. Prevent loops on your spinning reel spool and stop wind knots from happening. Close the bail by hand and give the line a small tug to seat it on the spool each and every cast. Make your retrieve. Once you do it for a couple of trips, it becomes a habit and a fluid motion. Also, it helps remind you to keep your off-hand close to the spool so you can gently touch the line and feather it, resulting in a bit more control, similar to thumbing a bait casting spool. Prevent line twist. Don't throw in-line spinners without a swivel in front. If you must fish in-line spinners, after you are done, cut of the lure and drag a little over a long cast of line behind the boat to untwist it, or walk out the line and reel it in under tension twice. Rig your plastics straight. If you must rig wacky style, pay attention for line twist and drag the line behind the boat and/or walk it out as necessary. It has probably been close to 15 years since I've had any line management issues on any type of gear. Once you develop the proper technique, things become much more manageable. Another issue that people mention once in a while with spinning gear, particularly with fluoro or stiffer mono is the tendency for the line to want to jump off of the spool. If you spool it under enough tension, it won't want to jump off so much. If you are using a stiffer line, stop a couple layers sooner than you would stop with a limp mono or braid, as the line won't pack as nicely when using slack line techniques. A few fewer yards on the spool will help keep it from springing off.

If you stick with things from known manufacturers, it will be hard to find a bad blank. Most of my builds have been on Rainshadow blanks, as I find their actions and powers to match up well with my expectations. When I want a known commodity, I look at the Batson line of products. The only blank I've built on that I didn't care for was an MHX MB782. It was a very nice blank, but just didn't quite have the power that I expected. I stripped it and rebuilt as a general purpose spinning rod for my brother-in-law. That said, I have a silver metallic MHX MB843 that I picked up at the ICRBE that is going to make a great worm/jig rod waiting for guides to be wrapped and finished. One line of blanks that doesn't get talked about much is the Liberty blanks at Get Bit. I picked up an MB692XF at the ICRBE from the Get Bit booth, and I have to say I was really impressed. I was impressed enough to pick one up instead of a known commodity in the Rainshadow drop shot/shaky head type blanks. I believe they are a multi modulus design with standard modulus tip and intermediate modulus material in the butt. As a raw blank, it is not the most sensitive blank I've ever felt, but judging by the way it handles mocked up before I wrap the guides, it's going to a be a real winner on the water. Seeker's S-glass cranking blanks are top shelf. As mentioned, I've never heard anything bad about Point Blank either. Hydra blanks are very impressive as well. I find them to be a bit more powerful than I typically expect, but they are nice! St. Croix is another known commodity, but I try to avoid paying for brand recognition if I can. Rod Geeks offers St. Croix designs in SCII and SCIV with some awesome paint jobs made in Mexico. If I had deep pockets, I would look hard at CTS blanks. I had to look 2 or 3 times to determine whether some of their blanks were multi piece or single piece. Their ferrule designs are so thin, that you can barely tell. I was very impressed with what I saw, but they are generally outside of my budget for a build.

The lures you are fishing on that that rod are not 'feel' type lures. Unless you are snapping the rod to move them quickly, you won't feel them much. When fishing weightless plastics, you have to watch the line, and even then it's surprising how often you feel the take when you don't feel the lure. Light T-rigs, you should be able to feel, unless you are fishing them in deep water. I would be looking for something with a lure rating of 1/4-3/4oz and line rating of 10-17lb with a fast action at the light end of things, and most likely settling on something with a lure rating of 1/4-1oz and line rating of 10 or 12-20 with a fast action. Basically a pretty typical worm/jig type rod. The cover you are fishing dictates the need for that type of rod. Senko's are heavy and are no issue to cast on that type of rod, as are super flukes. The smaller original fluke will be a challenge on that type of a rod, but what I typically do with them on that type of rod is to fish them as a double fluke rig. Tie the first one on with a palomar knot and leave a tag end of about 12" or so, and tie on the back one about 6"-10" behind. Sometimes I'll put a super fluke at the back and other times I'll fish both the same size. The double fluke rig gets them down a little faster and keeps them down a bit better. When a fish is aggressive and bites when they land, I usually get it on the first fluke. When they are more passive, I'll get them with the back fluke. As far as any of the particular rods in question, I can't really comment on them since I haven't handled or fished them. Something like the ALX Ikos Buzz or Promise would not disappoint in this capacity.

Unless you are regularly fishing your DS in water deeper than 15'-20' you don't really need to go to the spinning rod. If you are regularly in deep water, the spinning gear will help get your offering down a little more vertical. Finesse casting gear is what got me into rod building, and I use 6'10" M power XF action casting rods and reels spooled with 8 or 10 lb. mono for the majority of what I do. After relocating to Lake Norman, I realized a spinning version of those rods would be a better choice to get to the deeper spotted bass, and something a little longer than my 5'8" spinning rod was in order. I picked up a pretty nice 6'9" blank this winter, and I'm now trying to find some time to wrap it and fish it. Go figure a few weeks after picking up the blank I got a job offer I couldn't pass up back in my hometown in OH and will be moving back just as I would have really needed the rod down here.

Gary licensed his name to TFO for a line of blanks, and I'm sure he had some input on their design. Gary's new company after his no-compete with Shimano expired is North Fork Composites. The rod company associated with North Fork Composites is called Edge rods. A little reading on some rod building forums will show that NFC made an abrupt change this spring to a factory direct business model chopping the MSRP, but struggling mightily to meet demand. I don't know how to interpret the abrupt change. It may be a legitimate attempt to cut costs to the end user by reducing the number of middlemen, but given Gary's long term price structure, he has no shame in charging for brand recognition. So, it may just as likely be a serious effort to generate capital in a company that is struggling. Time will tell.

There might be an option in the Hot Shot line of blanks to fit the bill. Maybe the folks at Batson could comment on how say a HS9001 or HS930 compares in action and power to the 7'6" ML Revelation. Based on the specs of the blanks, I suspect that you might find a similar tip strength and a bit more power in the butt with the HS models.

I hear ya. I fish out of a little 14' V-hull. Most of the time I'm solo, but when someone is in the back I have to pay attention. Normally I'll try to get both of us working off of my casting deck. 6' rods are far less common these days. There are still some out there, and a few companies that sell blanks to builders have held onto this niche market. Before Cabela's stopped selling rod building supplies I picked up a couple 5'8" ML XML blanks and built one as a casting rod for a buddy that likes to fish short rods and built the other as a spinning rod for myself. As a raw blank, I wasn't terribly impressed, but man, that thing fishes great! I love it when I'm working in close quarters. If it gets too nasty under the docks, I need to put it down. Yes, the Avids should offer a sweet spot for you, and something that will serve you well without leaving you wishing for more. When it comes to glass blanks, yeah $200 is a bit high, but it's not the material itself, it's what the blank designer does with the material. A well designed glass cranking rod is a far cry from a $15 big box store glass rod, in the same way that a well designed graphite rod is a far cry from a $30 big box store graphite rod.