Hello I am looking into building some rods but would like to first strip down an old ugly stik to completely rebuild for practice before I go and mess up a brand new blank. Any help ya'll could give me would be great.

Consult the FAQs page here for some guide removal tips.

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This was my plan too. I regret it. Stripping these things down is no bueno. You can get new blanks for $20, or overruns for even cheaper. that's what i'd do if i could do it all over again. U are going to spend too much time stripping when you could be wrapping and learning. Jim J

What Jim said. It's very time consuming. I've done it twice and I don't like it. Ha!

YouTube has some great videos by mudhole tackle, Batson Enterprises, and Get Bit Outdoors. This is what I learned on. I have much to learn but all my rods have come out great so far and better than any store bought rod I ever owned.

Also would really recommend against stripping down an ugly stick. If you take your time, do some research, ask the right questions, and you are at all handy, you should turn out with a very good rod after it's all said and done.

Take the plunge and do it. You'll do just fine. Worse comes to worst, you make some mistakes, you learn, and are poised to build a great rod the second time around.

When i started many years ago i bought a big bundle of 4ft long wooden dowels in various diametres and practiced on them for 3 months - cost me £12 back then and ive still got a load left in my garage!

After whipping,glueing,varnishing and experimenting away to my hearts content when i felt ready i jumped straight into building on £150 blanks and (with a few small hiccups) never looked back.

Stripping a rod is a skill in itself to learn, so i dont see any harm in your plan but i would quickly move to a clean blank of some sort to learn the basic skills.

Patrick
I think by taking apart an old rod and putting it back together is a good learning curve, and you might be asked to do it one day.

jim jackson Wrote:
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> This was my plan too. I regret it. Stripping these
> things down is no bueno. You can get new blanks
> for $20, or overruns for even cheaper. that's what
> i'd do if i could do it all over again. U are
> going to spend too much time stripping when you
> could be wrapping and learning. Jim J

Well, you did learn how labor intensive it is to strip and redo one...that's something.. I, too, prefer to start w/ new blanks!

Bill Marchisella Wrote:
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> Patrick
> I think by taking apart an old rod and putting it
> back together is a good learning curve, and you
> might be asked to do it one day.


X2

I believe that the best way to learn rod building is to do it the "old fashioned way" ... an apprenticeship.
Find yourself a local rod builder with at least several years of experience. Ask them to teach you. Many will be willing and you will learn faster, smarter, better than you ever would on your own from a book and/or video.

all the comments are good it all depends on you, find a rod builder near where you are an ask ? or ""You tube"" almost all the big supply sellers have videos, or DVD's also check this forum, do start with a cheep build ,remember the only question that is stupped is the one you don;t ask, lots of help here that would just like to help you out ,
do buy the low cost for the frist couple of builds, an if you don't like it give it to some kid he will enjoy it out on the pond fishing with it , PS lots of books out there also

William Sidney
AK

As William said "all the comments are good & the only stupid question is the one not asked".When I first started building rods around 40 yrs ago the first thing I did was to buy a book on rod building by Dale Clements & it became my "Bible'.These days there are multiple learning aids out there including this forum & I would suggest that you purchase at least Tom Kirkmans book called "Tom Kirkman's Rod Building Guide" that will give you all the necessary knowledge to begin .If your budget can stretch to it Dale Clements book "Fibre glass rod making" will not go astray. From there it is just a matter of practice & asking questions.If you can find a Rod Builder near you who is prepared to show the ropes you will be well on your way .I should also mention that this pastime is very addictive & there in no known cure.

Regards Baz

Bundeena
NSW Australia

Thanks for all the help guys. From what ya'll have said I think that im just going to get a cheap blank or two to start.

Patrick Searcy
Columbia, South Carolina

2 more things # 1 there will be a coustom rod show in Feb 2015 plan to go, am make all the demos you can , # 2 if you don't belong to ROD MAKER do join lots of good
info in there [ find it to the left on this page ]

William Sidney
AK

strip the rod down you will learn alot . on a first build I would buy a kit were every thing will fit together nice .tryin to learn what to order at first is hard .

Now if it just wasn't an UGLY STIK. Seriously, they have their fans but I'm not one. Never fished a more insensitive rod in my life!

Look around at yard sales or second hand stores and find something better. Rebuilding a rod is a pain but you will learn useful skills. Fish it first, then do a total strip and rebuild it as light as possible. You should notice an improvment. This will give you confidence that you can build something superior to a factory/store bought rod. But try to find something that will be worth the effort....loomis, st. croix, lamiglas, fenwick, etc. Plenty of great rods from the past.

I wouldn't go cheap but I wouldn't go top line for my first few rods. For many types of fishing you can get a darn nice blank in the $40-60 range. Black Friday is top time to buy. Watch out for overstocks and model lines that are being closed out too. You can often buy around 40% off. That can net you a great blank at a price you can afford. Warning, like fast cars and pretty women...once you taste the good stuff you are ruined for life:)

Utmost Enterprises is a great place for bargins. Do pick up the phone and introduce yourself to a few of the vendors. Don't be afraid to ask about what they have "in the back room" for a beginner to learn on. Also helps to know some of the lingo. Utmost has a SJ781.....that is Spin/Jig.....78 inches long....1 power.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Sure, go ahead and strip down the rod. If you still have a blank left after stripping it, go ahead and put some inexpensive guides on it for the practice.

It is very easy to strip the rod. It shouldn't take much more than 15 minutes or so.

Just use a heat gun to first soften the finish around the guides. Use a razor blade on the guide side of the rod, to cut the windings free from the blank. Then, continue to use heat and a razor blade held at right angles to scrape the rest of the wraps as well as the rest off the finish off of the rod.

When you get the blank cleared of all finish, just use various grades of sand paper to clean up the surface, starting with 100 grit paper. When near the end, go down to 600 wet and dry paper used wet. A good way to do this is to just fill a bucket with water and then do the sanding outside so that making a mess is not a big deal.

By scraping off all of the finish, and thinning the blank a bit as you do it, you will likely improve the overall use of the blank.

Don't put any finish back on the blank. Just let the finely sanded finish be the finished blank.

If you destroy the blank during the process, no big deal, just grab another inexpensive rod and continue the practice.

Be safe