First rod I made was Dan Craft's ft809-4. I used it for stripers in Mass. Being the first rod, I'm not too happy with how it came out.

Guides are not totally lined up and I can see some rust spot on the foots as well. Question is, would I be better off to start another 809 or should I try to redo the old one. I never removed guides before... is it a lot of work?

How long does it take to remove guides and what would be the best method?

Thanks,
Pat

Hi Pat,
If you are not happy with the way the rod turned out my advise is to rebuild it. It is not difficult to remove the guides a re-wrap.
Start by placing your knife against the base of the guide ring and cut through the thread and epoxi along the top of the guide
foot. The guide will now just pop off. Now peel off the thread and epoxi finnish with a thumb nail. Use a scotch-brite pad to
remove any remaining finnish. You should now have a clean blank.

Also, I would suggest you look into guides that will resist rust rather than putting the old ones back on.

Good Luck and have fun!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Use a hair dryer to heat the old finish. You want it to be uncomfortable to the touch, not painrul. Do not over heat. This will make the old finish much easier to remove. Ralph

If at first you don't succeed, go fishing, then try, try again.

Yah, it's going to be a long winter, so I'll redo the rod, it will be well worth it.

I have a single foot wire guide on now but I'm thinking about switching to ceramic inserts.

Can anyone recommend other ideas? How about sizes?

Pat

Pat,

I have re-done many of my personal rods and am completely satified with the results.

Obviously, we' ll never make a dog of a 'blank' much better. So this is your first order of business.

But, if the handle mount and the basic blank are 'sound' I think you'll be rewarded for your effort and
'that' effort and elapsed time are a lot less than the full build.

I've tried to rebuild, only, those rods that had had an underlying blank that, itself, is a 'cadillac'.

And in these instances (about a dozen), I have chosen to rebuild spinning rods to the 'new guide concept' (NGC) with few exceptions.
Many of these were, formerly, Cone of flight (COF) rods and consequently have had fairly 'heavy' front ends.
So for me I went NGC.
This is because doing so, also, very much improves the action since lighter guides (eg Fuji BLAG) near the front end would be used.
Also, I'd highly recommend, in advance, 'choosing' THE reel which you intend to use for the rod & reel rebuild'.

More advice:
o Use no chemicals except 'armorall' at the END of work; use no heat; instead make only parallel, 'planing-type' of cuts to remove epoxy deposits;
o I, even, avoid Dremel cutting wheel which might impart (a hunch) too much (hunch evolved from the only time when I have had a rebuilding failure);
o At some point, I have used Permagloss to 'clean-up' re-surfacing imperfections;
o Check that spine even if you did it in the original build; If its bad enough 'GO' with a whole new handle;
o If the basic 'blank isnt junk' try to make certain (& buy) good guide hardware; not junk , as well;

I believe you will be pleased with your rods 'new life'.

Good luck, Pat,

Bob

Pat,

I have re-done many of my personal rods and am completely satified with the results.

Obviously, we' ll never make a dog of a 'blank' much better. So this is your first order of business.

But, if the handle mount and the basic blank are 'sound' I think you'll be rewarded for your effort and
'that' effort and elapsed time are a lot less than the full build.

I've tried to rebuild, only, those rods that had had an underlying blank that, itself, is a 'cadillac'.

And in these instances (about a dozen), I have chosen to rebuild spinning rods to the 'new guide concept' (NGC) with few exceptions.
Many of these were, formerly, Cone of flight (COF) rods and consequently have had fairly 'heavy' front ends.
So for me I went NGC.
This is because doing so, also, very much improves the action since lighter guides (eg Fuji BLAG) near the front end would be used.
Also, I'd highly recommend, in advance, 'choosing' THE reel which you intend to use for the rod & reel rebuild'.

More advice:
o Use no chemicals except 'armorall' at the END of work; use no heat; instead make only parallel, 'planing-type' of cuts to remove epoxy deposits;
o I, even, avoid Dremel cutting wheel which might impart (a hunch) too much (hunch evolved from the only time when I have had a rebuilding failure);
o At some point, I have used Permagloss to 'clean-up' re-surfacing imperfections;
o Check that spine even if you did it in the original build; If its bad enough 'GO' with a whole new handle;
o If the basic 'blank isnt junk' try to make certain (& buy) good guide hardware; not junk , as well;

I believe you will be pleased with your rods 'new life'.

Good luck, Pat,

Bob