[wullie42]

Hiya All

Just about finished building a new fly rod has taken a long time but just need to varnish the eyes now and will be using it next season for the first time.

will be tying some new flies to go with the new rod and hopefully im can remember how to do that bit

[Jim Eddie]

How about some photos of the rods Wullie

 

Jim

[Bronzebommer]

Just finished my 5# 10'6" Barrio Lock Style last night. Hope to have it out at Haddo when I get back form playing at Oil Rigs

Matt

[stickleback]

Well done to both of you for finishing your first builds  .  It would be great to see photos of your finsihed handiwork, and also hear if it all went smoothly.

 

[Sandy Nelson]

I think all this rod building is fantastic.

Well done to everyone for giving it a go, you are ending up with some awesome stuff
And i'm loving watching it all unfold. Mr B has a full rod building guide i made months ago to put on the main site.
I do wonder if there may be a market for interesting componants.

Visited Mudhole in the US and i would love to create something like that in the UK. Guides and Blanks is the closest thats there just now
But it would be nice if they had a retail store to visit though I picked up a cork inlay kit which could prove a lot of fun

More pictures please

Sandy

[Rob Brownfield]

I do wonder if there may be a market for interesting componants.

Yes, but small just now, and possibly already filled by Mick Bell and his "new" venture??...if he ever posts the website up  He had some very interesting items including £10k reel seats that were solid gold and encrusted in diamonds...now thats an interesting componant

Also Solway Custome Componants seems to be picking up..go to his blog and there is some interesting stuff.

I would LOVE to see a Mudhole, Shoff or Sandys Custom Bits in the UK

[Bronzebommer]

Just a few comments and pictures from my build. Everything went very well apart from the Varnishing of the whippings. I have 'overhauled' a couple of rods before so I am not totally new, but have never built one from scratch. I have had trouble in the past trying to get a straight line on the edge of my varnish, and after reading a tip from Rob (thanks mate ) I decided to mask off the bits where I didn’t want the varnish to go with masking tape. After I had applied the varnish to the first ring and removed the tape the varnish had seeped underneath the tape and made a rite mess in some tricky places I got it sorted out in the end though. So I just went for the steady hand option and it came out better than I thought.

Struble U15 Salt water reel seat with Fighting butt, Black Anodized finish


American Pattern DLC coated

Note the ring where I had it locked in the Chuck

Drying the whole rod at once, no messing around

[Jim Eddie]

Nice job 

 

Jim

[stickleback]

Matt

Very nice and I really like the look of your blank.  I fancied a 10' #5 as well but was too slow of the mark to get one from Mike. 

Sorry to hear about the varnish / epoxy creeping under the tape but it's great that you managed to rescue the situation.  BTW, what make of varnish / epoxy were you using ?

Re the compression mark in the cork of your fighting butt.  Have you tried wetting the mark and seeing if it swells back up to almost normal ?  Many moons ago someone showed me how to French polish (now mostly forgotten) but the one thing I do remember was 'painting' the wood with water to make the grain rise, letting it dry, then sanding it down to give a mega smoth surface.  We did this process three times and I was surprised how much the grain swole up with each 'coat' of water.  Worth a punt ?  Would be interested to hear if it works.

For my next build I fancy a lighter two handed salmon rod, around the 12'6" #7/8 size and was thinking of the Struble U15 real seat that you've used.  My only concern is that it's an uplocking seat and I'd prefer a down locking one, so my proposed solution would be to just turn it upside down thus making it downlocking    Any idea if there's any reason why I couldn't do this ?

Cheers

Cammy

[Sandy Nelson]

Nice job Matt

Two comments for the future, steady hand i've always found the best approach too However close scrutiny of the photo
show a few tiny bumps on the outside of the epoxy, if you slice them off with a razor blade and coat it a agin it will come out like glass.
They look like fuzz from the thread, if thats what it is, the next time you build, quickly flash a fag lighter over the finished whipping prior to epoxy it gets rid of any tiny hairs that stick up and make the little bumps on the finished whipping.

I always wrap 3-4 turns of masking tape around the cork if its going to be in the chuck, or if its a removable butt then take it off and wrap the tape on the reelseat and clamp it instead

Keep it going, its great fun though

Looking forward to hearing if the swelling works, never tried it before, could be a very useful tip cheers cammy

I would LOVE to see  Sandys Custom Bits in the UK

now i'm afraid  just thinking about the poor monkey
 



Sandy

[Rob Brownfield]

Matt.....

Not masking tape mate, Electrical tape...forms a better seal on the blank and gives the perfect edge to the epoxy.

As for the cork...steam it...just hold over the kettle...and it wil pop back into shape. I do as Sandy does and wrap the cork in tape first.

[Bronzebommer]

The tape is not going on my rod again!!! It was far too fiddly and took far to long for me, and as it turns out I think rather unessary. As for the Struble reel seat it has a section that fits into the cook handle so you would strugle to turn it round. Have a look on guidesandblanks.com and you can see for yourself.
When I applied the second coat of epoxy I did put some tape on the butt and it worked a treat, no more marks. As for the type of epoxy, it was the light version. I'm offshore at the moment so I cant check, but it's the same type as Mike uses. Thre were a few small bumps in the epoxy where i did'nt trim the locking thread off as tight as I would have liked due to the lack of a sharp blade. I did flash the whippings with a lighter but may have missed a couple. The whippings have only had 2 coats so I will clean it up when I get back and add another coat. I will alo try to steam the marks from the butt.
Keep the comments and tips comming!

[stickleback]

As for the Struble reel seat it has a section that fits into the cook handle so you would strugle to turn it round. Have a look on guidesandblanks.com and you can see for yourself.

I was wondering about that, but as I'd be making a two piece handle for a Spey rod, so long as I had a ring of 'recessed' cork to fit the reel seat, that bit of cork would form the top part of the lower handle.   If everything was glued together properly it would hopefully be okay   

Well, it's a theory, perhaps I'll just have to test it in real life   

[Bronzebommer]

I was wondering about that, but as I'd be making a two piece handle for a Spey rod, so long as I had a ring of 'recessed' cork to fit the reel seat, that bit of cork would form the top part of the lower handle.   If everything was glued together properly it would hopefully be okay   

Well, it's a theory, perhaps I'll just have to test it in real life   

I thought it was for a single handed job, so thinking about it, it should be fine. The cork ring spacer supplied that slips over the seat was of a rather poor quality, which would have detracted from the nice cork handle that I already had (supplied with the blank from Mike) so I did not want to use it. Insted I recessed the cork myself using an apple corer!  It just so happened thet the one I had in the kitchen was the perfect size. The slightly untidy edge that was left was covered by the reel seat, so it worked out quite well.
Just another tip. I could not get any Rubbing Alcahol from the chemists (where do you get it from?) so asked my wife who is a nurse and she suggested Alcahol wipes (the ones they use when you get injections). And with her being a nurse there was plenty in the cupboard. They worked a treat.

Matt

[Bronzebommer]

It was the Flex-Coat lite epoxy I used.

[Rob Brownfield]

Rubbing Alcahol from the chemists (where do you get it from?)

You answered your own question ..It has to be ordered though. I got mine from Michies in Banchory, 3 day turn around.

[Rob Brownfield]

I was wondering about that, but as I'd be making a two piece handle for a Spey rod,

Have you seen the "skeleton" reel seats made especially for Spey rods?

http://www.meadowfishery.com/prods/680.html

Rou can have a cork insert as in the picture or have a wood one turned to fit. The cork ones are extremely light and really look nice.

[stickleback]

Insted I recessed the cork myself using an apple corer! 

Excellent - it's amazing the 'tools' you find lying around your home that allow you to improvize 

Re the "rubbing alcohol".  That's a term used mostly on the American websites / forums but as I found out when I went round local chemists, it's not a term used on this side of the pond.  I think most of the female members of staff thought I was a jakey perv massage artist until I explained what I wanted it for  .  What you have to ask for over here is isopropyl alcohol.  As Rob says, the chemist will probably have to order it in for you - I was lucky and got the dregs of a bottle for a couple of quid.  Alternatively it's readily available on Fleabay.  The bottled stuff is pretty potent and degreases / dries out your skin so if anyone is going to use it I'd recommend they wear gloves to protect themselves.  The wipes sound a great idea and would probably be a weaker less harmful strength.  I read somewhere that the bottled stuff is supposed to be good for treating midge bites.  By dabbing it on the bite it apparently "sucks out" all the moisture/bacteria and prevents the usual itch but I haven't yet tested it in this way. 

[stickleback]

Have you seen the "skeleton" reel seats made especially for Spey rods?

http://www.meadowfishery.com/prods/680.html

Rou can have a cork insert as in the picture or have a wood one turned to fit. The cork ones are extremely light and really look nice.

Yes, I'd seen them but don't have a scooby how to fit them    That's why I was thinking of turning an uplocking seat round - I'd sort of have a bit of a clue what I was doing !!

[Mike Barrio]

Yes, I'd seen them but don't have a scooby how to fit them    That's why I was thinking of turning an uplocking seat round - I'd sort of have a bit of a clue what I was doing !!

I like your style Cammy 

Best wishes
Mike

[Rob Brownfield]

Yes, I'd seen them but don't have a scooby how to fit them    That's why I was thinking of turning an uplocking seat round - I'd sort of have a bit of a clue what I was doing !!

Its actually easy...I take the insert, and araldite the fittings to it (its obvious when you get the bits). From there you just fix it in the position/orientation you want, much like a normal reel seat...and glue. Sorted

But, you can also turn a normal seat around There are plenty on the market that do not have the recessed hood bit. 

[Bronzebommer]

I just tried steaming out the chuck marks on the butt cork with the kitchen kettle and it worked a treat! One to remember.

Matt

[Mike Barrio]

I just tried steaming out the chuck marks on the butt cork with the kitchen kettle and it worked a treat! One to remember.

Matt

Excellent

Speaking about kettles, mine's a coffee please
Cheers
Mike

[Rob Brownfield]

I just tried steaming out the chuck marks on the butt cork with the kitchen kettle and it worked a treat! One to remember.

Matt

Glad it gave you the result you wanted.

Have you tried the rod in anger yet? Mine is stil sitting waiting to be built 

[Bronzebommer]

Just put the last coat on last night, hope to get it up to Mikes in the next few days. Cant wait. I just need to but my new black reel to match. Call me a tackle tart but going to all that bother to keep all things sliver off the rod I couldnt well salp a silver reel on it.
Im going for the Vision Koma, should look the buisness. Now if I could only find my black ninja suit......

Matt