Building  7'6" worm/jig rod for brother Kent. This is my first build on one of the new Rainshadow Eternity blanks. Also my first attempt at acrylic turning.

Kent wants a 7'6" rod to be tip light. There are two ways to do that. One is to make a stupid long handle. That is out of the question. That leaves making a heavier handle; thus the use of acrylic parts. i basically taped cork rinsg and acrylic pieces onto the blank with the reel seat taped on, and a reel mounted, until I got what was required. Took a while. Here's what we have so far.

The handle assembly, glued up and clamped on the blank.

 

 

I love acrylic.  An acrylic butt grip makes a nice weight to lighten up the tip.

8 minutes ago, S Hovanec said:

I love acrylic.  An acrylic butt grip makes a nice weight to lighten up the tip.

I've decided I like these materials too. My next shop investment is gonna have to be some carbide tipped tools. The HSS tools I have now are just not good enough for this stuff.

The acrylic spacer with decal and trim thread. No epoxy yet, but CP has been applied to the thread.

other side of the spacer

Acrylic trim piece in front of reel seat, with thread work, CP, but no epoxy yet. This is where Kent's name will go when the decals I ordered get here. I forgot to order decals before I went on vacation, so I will be waiting for them.

This is one of the new unfinished Eternity blanks from Batson. Me likey so far. Very straight and blemish free. Feels very very crisp and responsive in hand with the guides all wrapped on. All the thread is done, cp'ed, and the first, seal coat of epoxy is applied. I used Alps F series titanium framed guides for this build. Kent will be using braid on this rod so it's a size 6 stripper, and size 5 for the rest, simple spiral, and Fuji BMNAT size 5 tip.I like these guides. They are a little bit taller than comparable Fuji guides. They also took almost no prep before wrapping; about 4 seconds each on the WorkSharp, with a 1000 grit belt. I'll be using these again, for sure.

All the thread is Fuji #11 brown and Prowrap teak color. This is the second of three rods for Kent. The first had the brown/teak combo for the thread work, and Kent said attsa nice, do it again.

 

                                    WOW!  

                                                                             

 

The guides are Ti framed Zirconium rings, correct.  I've always wanted to see them compared to Fuji Alconite.  Any chance you could shoot a picture of like sized guides sitting side by side? 

3 hours ago, Jeff H said:

The guides are Ti framed Zirconium rings, correct.  I've always wanted to see them compared to Fuji Alconite.  Any chance you could shoot a picture of like sized guides sitting side by side? 

Let me see what I have. I know I have some Alconite BLAGs. I think I bought just enough Alps guides for this rod. I know I'll be buying more of them. I'll try to remember to send you some pics when I stock up.

The main difference, size wise is in height. The Alps guides put the line further from the blank than BLAGs.

Oh man, I'd appreciate it.  I guess now I'd have to try to figure out if additional height would be an advantage. 

Very clean work!  Using all burl/burnt cork is another great way to add weight to the handle area.  It is considerably heavier than regular cork.

Looking good, nice job!

22 hours ago, Jrob78 said:

Very clean work!  Using all burl/burnt cork is another great way to add weight to the handle area.  It is considerably heavier than regular cork.

That stuff is fantastic for split grips!  Great texture and it never looks filthy!

 

here's the best I could do Jeff. I have left over F guides and left over Alconites, but, as luck would have it, none the same size. so you got two size 5 guides wrapped on different rods. The top is an Alps F, titanium frame, Zirconia ring, size 5. The boorm is a Fuji BLAG alconite, size 5. Hard to see the height difference, but it is there. Sorry for the dust on the wraps. Didn't realize it was there until I looked at the pic full size

 

Those wraps look great, Gary! Very tight and flat. I think you've got the whole "building a custom rod" thing. Let me know about that ul blank we discussed, as soon as you get by there to put hands on them.

So what's the deal with these new Eternity blanks? Are they being manufactured in Woodland, WA or what? 

8 hours ago, Hogsticker said:

So what's the deal with these new Eternity blanks? Are they being manufactured in Woodland, WA or what? 

You know Batson will not disclose that info. And whoever is making them will not either. You also know how this crazy interweb thing works. Somebody will say I bet they're being made by NFC. And by the time goes from two more eyes to typing finger, or ears to mouth, it will be " common knowledge" that  these are NFC blanks. In this realm there is a fine line between speculation and outright BS. 

The two I bought have a Rainshadow sticker, a part number sticker and a made in the USA sticker on the butt end. Nothing that indicates a manufacturer.

The only thing I know for sure is, these will not be last two I buy. They are top shelf.

 

 

 

On ‎10‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 0:50 AM, Hogsticker said:

So what's the deal with these new Eternity blanks? Are they being manufactured in Woodland, WA or what? 

those and the judge crankbait blank

Looking sweet Gary! Where are you getting the acrylic turning blank material?

On 10/22/2016 at 4:18 PM, .ghoti. said:

here's the best I could do Jeff. I have left over F guides and left over Alconites, but, as luck would have it, none the same size. so you got two size 5 guides wrapped on different rods. The top is an Alps F, titanium frame, Zirconia ring, size 5. The boorm is a Fuji BLAG alconite, size 5. Hard to see the height difference, but it is there. Sorry for the dust on the wraps. Didn't realize it was there until I looked at the pic full size

 

Thank you much Gary!  The height difference is... well, it isn't much but you can see it there.  I don't think that would be enough to worry about. I've always preferred Alconites but next time I have the choice I'm going to get those Alps F guides.

51 minutes ago, Alpster said:

Looking sweet Gary! Where are you getting the acrylic turning blank material?

Hey Ronnie, how the heck are ya? Haven't heard from you in a while.

Penn State Industries. Nice small wood blanks, stabilized wood blanks, and a bunch of different acrylic blanks. Good service, fast shipping, and decent prices. 

You may want look at getting some carbide tipped turning tools. I will have some before I turn any more acrylic pieces.

Ask Scott Hovanec about this. I think he has done a lot more than I have, and will likely have some better advice.

Here is the blank I used for this rod.

https://www.pennstateind.com/store/WXRB02.html

And this is a nice way to get a good finish. 

https://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKFINKIT2.html

18 hours ago, .ghoti. said:

...You may want look at getting some carbide tipped turning tools. I will have some before I turn any more acrylic pieces...

 

 

Doing great Gary, I have been turning resin stock for shaving brush handles. I have found the key to turning resin and some hardwoods is keep the belt sander running and sharpen, sharpen, sharpen. LOL I also have been using round stock to avoid having to cut the corners off of square stuff, but its hard to find longer lengths.

Ronnie, try one of these. Great tool for rounding square stock. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Saw-File-S/dp/B001AX0X12/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1478058463&sr=8-16&keywords=Shinto

Looks good Gary! I will order one. Thanks.

While you're at it, order one of these for drilling out those square blanks, if you don't already have one, that is.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085VYYS0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=9W13O3KK9AR9&coliid=I9T8W44EXWVRP

 

This what I drill and turn pipes on....