I have a few All Star blanks, that are unfinished. They don't have a "normal" matte look to them, Do I need to finish them or can I build them w/o finish?

Can you guys that have some experience wrapping in colors other than black give me a few suggestions of good looking thread color combos? I nave no eye or imagination for colors... what thread combinations have you used in the past that looked good? I have a few matte black blanks and a few of those all stars which are matte but look to be a super dark washed out blue... (almost a light black but you can see it's blue ) The one I need the most help on is a St. Croix SCV... in sunlight it is a glossy brownish with some maybe green, brown and yellow sparkle. Hard to describe but if you have built or seen them you'd remember the color. It stands out. I could be beautiful or horrible, depending on the colors put with it and I don't want her to be a goat!

On a telescopic handle flipping rod how far back do I need to wrap the joint with thread? Is it like a standard ferrule where I'd wrap about an inch? Will a single layer of A thread suffice there?

Thanks a million for the help!!

-Keith

flechero,

I have a few All Star blanks, that are unfinished.  They don't have a "normal" matte look to them, Do I need to finish them or can I build them w/o finish?

The factory should have finished them some matte finishes don't look like other matte finishes ie: black matte and charcoal matte, I would build it anyway.

Can you guys that have some experience wrapping in colors other than black give me a few suggestions of good looking thread color combos?  I nave no eye or imagination for colors...

I have wrapped with Garnet and Gold, Blue Dunn and Silver, Royal Blue and Silver, Candy Apple and Gold, Charcoal and Black, Chestnut and Gold, etc.

The one I need the most help on is a St. Croix SCV... in sunlight it is a glossy brownish with some maybe green, brown and yellow sparkle.

I use to build on the St.Croix E-glass blanks back when the were a tan color with a gold speck added, I used Chestnut and Gold on Gold guides that turned out really nice.

On a telescopic handle flipping rod how far back do I need to wrap the joint with thread?  Is it like a standard ferrule where I'd wrap about an inch?

Yup maybe a little longer, on a flippin stick I would use a D size, but the single layer of A should do it.

Tight Wraps!      

Thanks ReelMech! I struggle with colors. ...lol I was just going to use all black and or gray but then I decided that since I was putting so much effort into them, at least I could add some charactor.

I wondered about that matte blanks because they had that powdery look almost like they sanded and didn't finish it in any way but it might just be really dirty since it wasn't packed and shipped in a bag. I'll give it a good wipe down with a lint free rag and some alcohol.

I did some work with Any Dear's exotic burl cork the other night... that stuff is great to work with and looks sweet, too! It is really heavy compared to regular cork, I can see why you guys use split grips with burl... the rod would be way tip light if you used a whole grip of burl.

One more question, is it possible to get a reel seat and cork off once it is (epoxied) installed? I use a premade grip on that spinning rod and now wish I had used the exotic burl. :'(

Keith,

I struggle with colors.  ...lol  I was just going to use all black and or gray but then I decided that since I was putting so much effort into them, at least I could add some charactor

You could also travel to your local tackle shop and check out some of the different rods and the colors the factories are using.

I wondered about that matte blanks because they had that powdery look almost like they sanded and didn't finish it in any way but it might just be really dirty since it wasn't packed and shipped in a bag.  I'll give it a good wipe down with a lint free rag and some alcohol.

Don't freak out if the rag has some of the graphite on it when you wipe the blanks down, when I first started by blanks in matte finish I thought that the factories had forgot to finish the blank also.

I did some work with Any Dear's exotic burl cork the other night... that stuff is great to work with and looks sweet, too!  It is really heavy compared to regular cork, I can see why you guys use split grips with burl... the rod would be way tip light if you used a whole grip of burl.

I definitely have to get some of Andy's exotic burl, he has some good looking stuff. Yeah I like that dense feel of the burl, when I was building full length grips I would use the burl as an accent in conjunction with the natural cork rings, but as the quality of the natural cork started to get worse, I decided to go all burl. I have built full grips with burl, there is a spinning grip (Tenn style) on my site that is full burl, and the rod balances just slightly tip down, the wife loves it.

One more question, is it possible to get a reel seat and cork off once it is (epoxied) installed?  I use a premade grip on that spinning rod and now wish I had used the exotic burl.

Yeah the guys on the RB site tend to answer that question with, place the grip and seat in boiling water, but be careful not to lean the blank against the edge of the hot container. I have never had to take the seat off of a rod so I'm not sure how long to keep it in the water. As for the grip I have had to remove them but I cut them off and build another.

Tight Wraps!      

I took a seat off afew months ago soaking the seat in boiling water.  It took about 5 - 10 minutes and was I amaized.  It slid right off with little effort.  I am with ReelMech on the original questions also.  Lamar's exotic burl is really nice stuff.  I like the Burnt burl for trim and checkers.

Yup I have to get me some of Andy's exotic burl. But right now I have so many reels on the bench across from the rod table that I don't want to start any new projects until I'm finished with all of the cleaning solvents on that bench.

;D

Thanks for the answers!  I realize that it only takes 212 degrees to boil water (maybe 225 for a good rolling boil) but that is still a lot hotter than my rod boxes ever get... have you ever heard of blank damage or weakening from it?  I wouldn't even hesitate to try it but this is a nice St. Croix blank.  

If I do this, I'll be going to a split grip so I assume the blank will be ugly where the epoxy was... do you know where I can find an atricle on how to do the marled epoxy?  That seems like a great way to hide what I did and look like it was intended.  I guess the alternative would be to try some sort of diamond wrap or something.  

Thanks again!!

Keith,

I read on the RB board that it was around 300° that the blank would be effected. The boiling temp is at 221F but the edge of the container could be hotter than that. The reason not to let the blank lean against it.

Now for the marbling.....

First under wrap with a black or charcoal A size thread (match the blank color) plus read this

Tight Wraps!        

Here is another article on marbling.  http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/marble.html

Awesome info!  Thanks!!

Keith,

Did you get the grip off?      

Haven't tried yet, I had work and a funeral today.  And I have out of town guests until Sunday... it will be Sunday night or Monday before I get a chance to try.  

ReelMech and Jim,

Well I balked on taking off the grip & reel seat, since my "learner" rod is an SCIII I was afraid that I'd hurt it.  Once I got it taped up and did some test casting I decided that the grip was too short.  I ended up taking the butcap off with a razor blade and adding 2" of new blank (which I pre-corked) to the butt and reinstalled the cap ring.  I took the butt area to my bench grinder with a featherlike hand and shaped it all up.  Finished with some real fine sandpaper and presto, problem solved and it looks like it was always one piece grip.  (a woodworking bacground has proved invaluable to cork work)

Oh, I also balanced it out while I was extending it... it took only anout 1/4 oz to balance it with the new Diawa Fuego I bought for it!!  Since the Dr. cleared me to start fishing with a spining rod, I decided to spoil myself with a good reel!   ;D  

I got all my guide feet prepped last night and got them back into proper position with tape... so now all i have to do is wrap the giudes with thread and finish!  I'm getting pretty fired up!  I started some butt wrapping last night, but ended up removing it... didn't like the color combos.  I may just wrap this one in black and charcoal, so I can get it done... and worry about pretty stuff on other rods.

Keith,

Sounds like you have made a lot of headway. What color are your guides? I would use the black as the main wrap and use the charcoal as the trim. Reason if you aren't going to use CP on the threads the charcoal will turn the same color as the blank and you may not see it, if you use it as the main wrap. Remember the older Loomis wraps for the OLD IMX were charcoal and black trim.

Now get out the digital and start taking the pics of the build I wanna see..........

That's exactly right... I was looking at several of my older Loomis' last night and they were charcoal w/ black trim. My newer ones are black with a few single strands of metalic gold for accents.

My guides are the (fuji concept w/ SiC) gunsmoke finish and at the moment all my thread is NCP and metallic so I don't think it will wash out the colors too much. The SCIII blanks are pretty dark so I think black and charcoal thread will be a subtle but classy look. I'll get you a pic asap but it may be the weekend before I get to do any more work on it.

I was pretty worried about guide foot prep based on some of what I had read but I took my needle files and some 600 grit wet dry sandpaper from the gunsmithing box and fixed em up in no time! I assume the thread will hide the shiny areas from foot prep, I haven't tried to recolor them.

How close to the foot should I begin my wraps? I've read anywhere from 1/2 inch down to 1/16, I was thinking about 1/8 or 3/16 would be plenty on a med spinning rod. What do you think?

Thanks again!!

keith

Keith,

That's exactly right... I was looking at several of my older Loomis' last night and they were charcoal w/ black trim.  My newer ones are black with a few single strands of metalic gold for accents.

I have done a ton of guide replacements on the older Loomis rods so I keep a lot of standard Black and Charcoal A thread on hand for that.

My guides are the (fuji concept w/ SiC) gunsmoke finish and at the moment all my thread is NCP and metallic so I don't think it will wash out the colors too much.  The SCIII blanks are pretty dark so I think black and charcoal thread will be a subtle but classy look.  I'll get you a pic asap but it may be the weekend before I get to do any more work on it.

Yeah the NCP doesn't need any CP added, the SiC's in gunsmoke should look great. Being as you will not have the translucent look from the NCP thread, you could wrap the main as charcoal and use the black as the trim.. Hurry and get the pics shot I wannna see......LOL

I was pretty worried about guide foot prep based on some of what I had read but I took my needle files and some 600 grit wet dry sandpaper from the gunsmithing box and fixed em up in no time!  I assume the thread will hide the shiny areas from foot prep, I haven't tried to recolor them.

Yea if you were using standard threads I would worry about the guide feet showing through. But with NCP threads you won't have to worry about it. When you do get into the standard threads and the guide feet show through, just hit the preped area with the Marks-A-Lot marking pen, it dries quick and won't come off in the finish. I do all my guides this way.

How close to the foot should I begin my wraps?  I've read anywhere from 1/2 inch down to 1/16, I was thinking about 1/8 or 3/16 would be plenty on a med spinning rod.  What do you think?

If I'm going to be adding a trim (3-4 metallic wraps) to the outer edge of the main wrap, I would leave the same amount off of the main wrap for them, If I'm going to use a single wrap metallic inlay then I would start my main wrap at about 3 turns from the guide foot end and add the inlay somewhere on the guide foot. I hope that didn't confuse you....

Tight Wraps!        

Well i got to do some wrapping last night before bed... I wish Ihad read your post before I started....  I only started about 1/8" or so from the foot but with A thread packed down, that is about 12-15 wraps.  I need to remove it so I can make it shorter and add trim wraps.  I like the overall length but it would be too long if I added trim to it.  The first couple guides have really long feet so the overall wrap is long anyway.  

Hopefully I'll have a couple hours free this weekend to get into it, I'd really like to fish this rod next week!!