Jumping into the custom rod building world as of today. I messed up a little with the winding check but im not to worried about it. This is a Mhx 7'3 mh rod with a minima exposed reel seat. I will update the thread as i progress through it. Im gonna take my time with it

Looking good!

Nice!

Awesome.

Thanks

Nothing wrong with that winding check.

 

After you become more comfortable building, you may find that you want to shorten the length of the threads so that none are exposed when the reel is locked down.

Looks good.  Now take it fishing.

Thanks for the tip about the thread.... Going to work on the guides tomorrow

A little tip from a rookie. Take your time with the guide wraps. If it doesn't look good to you, unwrap it and start over. It will look a lot worse after the finish has been applied and cured. Finish will not hide any mistakes. It will make them more apparent. You know how I know that.

Ghoti thank you for the tip... Yes i have unrapped mulitple guides today and some more then once. I feel like trying to line these guides up is harder then i expected. Gonna finish up tomorrow with the wraps.

Here are some pics

Nicely done. Another tip from a rookie, if youdon't mind. Go to Flec Coat's website and take a look at their "how we do it" video on finish application.

 

Finish is the toughest part of the entire process to get right. It seems that every person has a slightly different technique, and some of them will try to convince you that their way is the only way. Don't know how you spell BS, but I spell it with two L's.

 

You'll need to develop your own way to do this, over time, and with a particular brand of epoxy. they are all slightly different, and quite the same. Stick with the same brand until you get it right.

 

The Flex Coat way is a great staring point.

Okay thanks a lot

Good job!

Thanks 

Well finally got it finished im proud of it... Its not much of a looker but i bet it can still fish??.  Learned something about epoxy less is more lol. 

Looks great!  You will feel like a seasoned pro when you start on your second one.

Thanks jrob that's the best looking one out of the bunch.  I'm taking it out tomorrow to see if it can catch fish.  I'm ready to start another one very soon it will be a drop shot.  I think next time I will put the epoxy on without the rod dryer.

I just retired the first rod I built last year.  I built it about 10 years ago and it did not look as good as your first.  You are off to a great start.  For your first one, how it looks will not matter after you catch your first fish on it.  Congrats on your new addiction.

Thank you

Nice job. To borrow a phrase, it's about improvement, not perfection. 

Yes sir..