Since i live in Kansas I have never build an ice fishing rod. but want to for relative in MI. What is the best way to turn cork for one since the blanks are so small?
And what do I need to know about guides and placement?

Ricky,
The best way to turn cork for Ice rods is NOT to turn corks.

Buy a grip, glue in the blank and wrap the rod. Most ice rods only need 2-4 guides due to the length.

Especially at this time of the year, it is easy to go into most norther sporting goods and pick up a nice ice rod on close out for $10 or so.

[www.jannsnetcraft.com]

But, you can easily use 1/8th inch drill rod in a lathe to turn cork grips that only have a 1/8th inch hole. Drill rod is pretty stiff. When turning grips like this, just take it easy and don't use a lot of force when shaping and sanding.

You can also use standard cork rings with 1/4 inch holes in them, and then just arbor up the rod blank to fit the 1/4 inch hole with masking tape or any similar material.

An example of ice rods from a nearby farm home building supplier:

[www.fleetfarm.com]

If I went into the store today, nearly all of the remaining ice rods would be on sale for 50-80% discount. A good time to stock up on ice rods for next year.

Or check out the close out ice rod items from the suppliers on the left:
For example:

[www.schneidersrods.com]

Ricky - most of the rods I have built are ice rods. My recommendation for cork is to buy from place up here in MN called Thorne Bros. Their handles are bored out with a very small diameter and will fit most ice rods without a need to ream. I have turned some handles but I cant find rings with a ID smaller than 1/4" which means you'll need to build an arbor, therefore reducing sensitivity in my mind. They also have a pretty cool handle called Syncork which you may want to take a look at. I know they are not a sponsor so I apologize if I am not supposed to name names. However, they for the most part, started the custom ice rod revolution.

As for guides, I do not use guides with inserts as it can cause problems with icing up. Instead, I use single foot fly guides or Recoil guides. For a 28-32" rod my guides are as follows: 10, 6, 5, 4,4 and for 32"+ rods i use 12, 6, 5, 4, 4, 4. If you are building a panfish rod you may want to go with a size 3 for the last 2-3 running guides but for walleye rods I like a size 4 or bigger. I never use a tip top and instead always tie on the last guide, it is lighter and looks better in my mind.Be prepared for some frustration wrapping on the tip top guide!

For spacing, depending on where you buy the blank they will have measurements and you can adjust as needed with static testing.

Feel free to shoot me a direct message and I am happy to provide more inforamtion on places to get the ice blanks that I can vouch for (I've never used a blank from Janns or Schneiders so I can't speak to them). Keep in mind that for an ice rod you want to make it as light as possible so thin coats of epoxy and limited decorative wraps really helps, as does using a handle that is properly bored to the blank.

Lastly, make sure you get a solid carbon blank, if you use a tubular blank below about 20 degrees it can blow up if any water gets inside the blank. The good news is that most of hte ice rod blanks I have bought come in lengths from 28"-36" so you can typically find one to suit your needs.

Nate has given you some excellent advice.

I will also add, that I only build ice rods on solid blanks.

But, I use both carbon as well as fiberglass blanks.

For certain applications and needs, the use of a fiberglass blank suits the application much better than a carbon blank.

For example, if you like to see a lot of tip movement on a rod for live bait, a fiberglass rod blank is a better choice.

On the other hand, if you are holding the rod and want "feel", then the use of the carbon blank works well.

With respect to guides and guide sizes. Be sure to know if the person using the rod is going to be fishing in a shelter, or in the open. If a user is going to be fishing in the open, then generally one wants to have larger guides on the rod to deal with icing issues.

I have some clients who commonly fish out of doors when the temperature is -20 F. These folks want NO guide or tip that is smaller than a size 10. Also, they want a bullet proof guide. The way that they fish, is that when the guide gets filled with ice, they want to be able to beat the rod on the ice and knock out the ice without damaging the blank, guides or tip. So, build the rod that your client wants, and what your client needs.


Take care

Good catch Roger, I should have mentioned solid fiberglass as well. Some of my favorite Ross are "Noodles" built on a solid fiberglass blank. They can, however, be VERY tricky to wrap the top 2 guides though with the incredible sensitivity they have. Patience is key with these, it will usually take me a couple tries to get it right.

Turning cork is no different for an ice rod than it is for any
other. If the blank OD is too small in your opinion for the ID of the cork there are numerous options. Personally, I opt for increasing the OD of the blank slightly. The difference usually is such that one or two layers of size D thread will take care of it.

As far as guides go I normally start with a size 10 high frame PAC Bay minima then drop to a size 3 single foot fly guide and run them out. A standard size ice rod tip rounds it out.

If you are building a panfish rod the 31" microlite from Jann's wins hands down in my book. Leave it full length if they are sitting on a bucket or in a bigger shanty. If they are fishing in a smaller shanty cut the butt 3" and build it at 28" over all. I build a lot of ice rods every year here in Mi and this one is by far the most requested. It has the right combination of tip movement and sensitivity to put fish on the ice.

Here is a picture of one of my rods from this year. Janns 31" microlite, modified Batson Tex Touch seat, and a free floating blank touching nothing except the guide feet till it hits your hand.
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Nate,
Here is one solution that I use when wrapping very thin and flexible blanks.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Basically a took a section of solid fiberglass rod blank. I cut it to a length that would match the height of the rest of my wrapper rests. I then, took each blank section, and using a dremel tool with an abrasive cut off tool, notched the tip of each solid blank the thickness of the blank that I wished it to support.

The base is made from a piece of plastic cutting board. I drilled multiple spaced holes in the base, keeping them in a straight line. Now, when wrapping near the tip, or the tip of a very flexible rod, I place the flexible rod blank into the slot or pair of slots if needed to support the blank in between the two vertical rods. By keeping a support on each side of a guide wrap only an inch or so away from the guide, it is reasonably easy to support and wrap.

Take care

thanks for all the help
this will be a good start