Had to show my son's first wrap trimmed by gold, he did a bit better than me

Mine below,

glad we did this, we learned alot on it, that way our first attempt to finish it should go good with no unwrapping problems ;D

WoW, he did a good job ***** 5 star

All he has to do is learn the rest of the rod building tricks/tips .

An both of you are set

memo

Looks very nice.

Eric

Smooth and tight...  looking good!  Did you use forhan locking wraps to finish it off?  Can't really tell in the pic, but it looks like you didn't.  If not, you should take 5-10 minutes and learn it...  you'll be glad you did!  I use it on every single foot guide I wrap, period.  

The tutorial is here:

http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/forhan.html

Can't wait to see the first joint build from you two!  

thanks guys, flechro thanks for the info on the secure tie, I was trying Tom's way in the book but needed to practice a bit more, I stopped it to let my son try a wrapp, I'll pick it back up.

Got a question, I want to know if this will work with no problems down the line. I oredered some 1/2 inch Rubberized cork ring for the butt cap, I'm considering to expoxy it straight flush to the blank and handle, I do not have a burrow bit system set up yet to drill out the appropriate depth, so I think this should work fine considering its 1/2. kinda why I ordered this one, its gonna be a split handle system

let me know

bump

Hey, what you described is how I put my butt caps on - use the rubberized cork discs from Mud Hole.  What I do is install the butt/rear grip.  Once set up, dried and passes the twist test (I try to twist the grips off), I use 5 minute flexcoat epoxy to attach the butt cap.  I mix a good amount and smear it all over the mating side of the disc and the mating side of the butt/rear grip - making sure to get quite a bit inside the blank.  When its good tacky I squeeze the cap on and hold it - find a comfortable chair and sit and hold it.  Usually takes about 5 mins to be solid.

I do not worry about epoxy squeezing out as I sand/shape the cork and cap as one at the same time which of course gets rid of the dried epxoy.  Of course, if you do not shape like this and already have grips and cap shaped and just want to glue up, can clean up the epoxy after it sets - the 5 min epoxy peels right off.

Recently, I messed up shaping a butt grip and had to pull it off.  Just for grins, knowing that it was coming off, I tried to twist off the cap.  Now, I test the butt caps by trying to twist off, but, for this I tried to REALLY twist, break it off.  It didn't budge.  I felt like I was going to torsion the blank before the cap came off.  

After that I have NO concerns attaching the cap in this manner.

COOL!  nice to hear it works thanks

whats your oppinion on wieghts for balance, it appears I need to do this and it will be 2 1oz wieghts(already tested it, I don't want to do this for added wieght but, the rod is off balance pretty good in my oppinion, tips heavy on the tip-top end, I have tried relocating the reel seat and handles but nothen better, I can't remember if it was reel-mech or Tom Kirkmans book that said something about when to consider added wieght, I'm a bit stuck on it, 2oz wieghts balance's that baby just nice but don't want to add if I don't have to.

I'd say that if you see a rod horizantle, then the tip lowers down about 10 to 12 inches, is that too much? I think maybe so :-/

The short answer: tip drop of 10 to 12 inches, IMHO, is acceptable. In all likelihood you will have the tip down farther than that while fishing, unless of course you are going to be flipping/pitching.

My apologies for the length. Started writing this and it just kept growing. Hopefully you will find something useful here. In the short time that I have been doing this, the subject of rod balance is a religion to some and a discussion of this subject often turns into a "religious war". I am expressing my opinion only, hope more experienced guys jump in and give you more perspective.

First I will get my opinion out front and out of the way: Depending upon the technique, I just do not put a lot into achieving "perfect balance" of a rod. Unless it's a flipping/pitching rod, and other tip up techniques, IMHO, lower weight (and greater sensitivity) of the rod are more important than achieving "perfect balance". That is not to say that I slap everything together and hope it's balanced. No. I pay attention to balance, but, I give more consideration to other characteristics; mainly sensitivity and the overall weight.

I say "perfect balance" because some feel the rod has to be *perfectly* balanced right over the reel seat. This is so the rod will "feel light" in the caster's hand. I read an article on this a while back and it was talking about that in order to achieve "perfect balance" on a rod that an additional 1.75 oz of weight was added. However, to achieve slightly less balance, where the balance point was a couple of inches behind the reel seat, guess how much weight was needed? .25 oz. Yes, a quarter of an ounce. Not saying there is anything wrong with "perfect balance", I, IMHO, just do not believe in adding weight to a rod as it cuts down on sensitivity - once again unless it's a pure "tip up" technique rod and this is just my opinion.

Other reasons I do not aim for perfect balance is because things change.

Changing lures alters the balance. Pulling a 3/4 oz buzz bait through the water is going to affect "working balance" as compared to pulling a 1/2 oz spinner (weight, drag, etc.). Swapping out a reel to a heavier/lighter one is going to change the balance - switching from 20 lb mono to 20 lb braid will (slightly) alter the balance point. Also, people are different. Some folks palm a baitcaster, some hold at the foregrip. Same with spinning rods, some hold the reel seat, some foregrip, or like me with their pinky around the shaft. No matter how it is held, the positions will change through out the day as well.

Unless the person holds the rod at the "perfect balance" point, I just do not see it making that big of a difference. However, to achieve "perfect balance" in building of the rod, they could be holding a much heavier rod that is less sensitive. Some folks want the additional weight for the balanced feel, some don't - all personal preference which is good and why they come to a custom rod builder to get the feel they want.

With that said...

With split grips, you lose some of the mass and weight on the back. This, among several other reasons, is why I now use Burl Cork (or EVA) as it is more dense and heavier than regular cork and helps offset some of the reduced weight. I also make my handles a little longer to compensate for the reduced weight behind the balance point. Can also bring things back into balance by going with single foot guides towards the tip and a lighter tip-top. This will not only help with the balance but reduce any "softening" of the action.

If you do have to add weight, the recommended place is at the very butt of the rod. The recommended approach is to use lead wire and wrap around the last 1/2" of the butt and shape the grip to fit over the lead wraps. You are going to get more benefit from having the weight farther out on the "moment arm" (hey, I finally used something from my mechanical engineering degree) than closer to the reel seat (fulcrum). Of course there is also the option of the removable counter weights that can be used in place of a permanent butt cap. I have seriously been considering those.

Are you trying to balance the rod by the blank itself, or, do you have the reel seat, grips, reel, etc. in their rough locations? Should try to balance with everything in place. You will find it is remarkably different - even with/without the guides in place.

Once again, sorry for the length. Hopefully there was something useful here. Easy to see why this is a religion for some.

totally appreciate it ejtaylor822, it makes sense on what your saying about the tip being mostly used down in fishen, This is my daughters rod and its going to be  for wormin and some top water action.

I know I read it somewhere about that you should try to avoid adding wieght unless its necessary, and I was sure about a worm rod, thanks again.