Well, after a bunch of newbie mistakes and challenges, I finished my first rod today and it's turning/drying as I type this. A special thanks to ReelMech, who has patiently answered so many questions and gone out of his way to help me. You are a true asset to all of us in the forum, thank you.

The wife let me off of work early today so I was able to wrap and finish the whole rod this afternoon. It's not perfect but it's as good and clean as most of my factory rods so I guess it's a great start in rodbuilding. Except for the nice St.Croix sticker... oops! I pretty well butchered that, oh well, I don't think the fish will mind. ...lol  I guess it may need a second coat on the threads but won't know for sure until morning.

It's amazing how thread finish highlights even the smallest of "imperfections" in the wraps.

To anyone interested, this rod is a St. Croix SCIII blank, 3C66MLF with Fuji SiC guides in gunsmoke. It's labled as a casting blank but I built it as a spinning rod, to use for dropshot, small cranks. etc.

I'll try to get a pic or two tomorrow, have to charge the camera batteries, and figure out how to post a picture!

Next up: swimbait/ledgebuster rod or a new pitchin' rod.

I am addicted!! ;D

Awesome Flech!

Hope all is well after drying.

and kudos to reelmech (as usual,lol)

L-B-H,

Thanks........  

flechero,

That is so cool I know how you feel the first one is always special. Wait till you catch the first fish on it, you think you feel good now........Just wait....

Except for the nice St.Croix sticker... oops!  I pretty well butchered that, oh well, I don't think the fish will mind.

If you contact St.Croix and give them the blank model they will send you another decal, but that is up to you. I only worry about them on a customers rod, some of my personal rods have them some don't.

I'll try to get a pic or two tomorrow, have to charge the camera batteries, and figure out how to post a picture!

Yes yes hurry...........I wanna see..............LOL

Next up:  swimbait/ledgebuster rod or a new pitchin' rod.

Ummmmmm........yeah spiral wrapped pitchin stick. Split grip, no fore grip. Now you got me wanting to build one of the blanks I have hanging. Ahh but the reels come first.

Your Hooked Now!    

ReelMech,

I went ahead an used the sticker anyway... there was going to be no waiting another week for a sticker! ...lol I had to cut it in half and then ended up getting the goofed half usable again... it looks fine now except is cloudy underneath part of it of it from my fingerprints... it got pulled against the rod from static and literally jumped from my fingers... and of course it landed at about a 45 degree angle... and now i know to be more careful with them! I give St. Croix credit for not skimping on adhesive!! I didn't think I'd even be able to remove it, let alone actualy salvage it. ...lol

I inspected the rod closely this morning under a bright light and the finish (I used Andy's Theadmaster) turned out great!  The only flaws I have are a few fuzzes from the tread sticking up... I admit not using a fresh razor blade when wrapping.   : It leveled unbelievably well considering how uneven I applied it. I see the immediate need for a finishing stand with hand rest to keep steady. And much to my surprise, I couldn't find any bubbles... all I did was breath the bubbles out when applying the finish. I guess I need to give Andy the credit for the finish! I did find 3 spots where I didn't get the Forhan locks completely coated on the backside so I touched those up about 6am and gave the butt wrap a second coat since threadmaster is a light build, I wanted it a bit thicker on the butt wrap.

Have you tried Threadmaster yet? I am curious how "user friendly" it is compared to others. I was impressed but have no basis to compare it to.

Ummmmmm........yeah spiral wrapped pitchin stick. Split grip, no fore grip. Now you got me wanting to build one of the blanks I have hanging. Ahh but the reels come first.

Your Hooked Now!

You got that right!! I have those All Star blanks I bought... they are dancing around the garage screaming "pick me!, Pick me!"

I took another piece of your advice last week, since you are sold on alconites, and they are affordable, when I placed my last order I got enough guides to do 3 rods (already have the cork and reel seats) So I'm ready to start a pitchin' rod as soon as I catch up on my "honey-do's"!! And yes, it will be a bumper wrapped, split grip, no fore grip...

Can you tell that I'm fired up?!?!?!? ;D

I'l try to get some pics when I get back to the house.

Thanks again, for everything!!

Keith

flechero,

I went ahead an used the sticker anyway... there was going to be no waiting another week for a sticker!  ...lol  I had to cut it in half and then ended up getting the goofed half usable again... it looks fine now except is cloudy underneath part of it of it from my fingerprints... it got pulled against the rod from static and literally jumped from my fingers... and of course it landed at about a 45 degree angle...  and now i know to be more careful with them!  I give St. Croix credit for not skimping on adhesive!!  I didn't think I'd even be able to remove it, let alone actualy salvage it.  ...lol

Yeah that is one thing I forgot to tell ya. The peel and stick decals seem to be charged with static when they come of the backer. I use a pair of tweezers and a straight pin tip to hold the decal and bend it slightly before laying it on the undercoat. Once in place they will not come off and like you found out all it will do is mess the decal up.

Have you tried Threadmaster yet?  I am curious how "user friendly" it is compared to others.  I was impressed but have no basis to compare it to.

Not yet. I have been a dedicated Flex Coat High Build user for 15 years and have a good system in place. I learned a long time ago that once you have a system working with a certain product don't try and change it on a new rod, use a practice rod first.....

I wannnna see pics.........LOL

Tight Wraps!      

Well, here goes attempt #1 at posting a picture...

I can't get a good pic yet since the rod is still turning, I tried to time the delay in the camera to catch the butt wrap and sticker. I'll set it against a good background when it's dry and try to get a few decent shots for you.

Well that didn't work.   How about I just email it to you.  I don't know how to edit the photo and the size limit here is 150 kb.

Sorry about that.

so you built your first rod?  now you won't beable to stop.  the best part about building your own rod is catching fish on it and then when you are ate the lake and people start asking about building them one.

Congrads I remember my firts rod.  It wasn't the most perfect rod ever but it looked pretty good.  People said.  You will find out that when you build a rod that you notice every little flaw when you build it and others don't.  Just keep and and and take pride in what you do and those mistakes will become fewer and fewer.  I agree with ReelMech once you have a system don't go to changing it around it will mess you up.  You won't be able to wait and go try it out.  You will also find out that you will have more satisfaction fishing with something that you hand made.  

Good luck and keep up the good work.

Scott