In rod building the devil is in the details. I have a question as I try to hit the next level. I file the top of the guide leg, the bottom and the sides with my hand grinder. Of course the purpose is to have the thread progress smoothly up the guide. I think that I am making my guide points to sharp as it seems to cut the thread. Could some of you more experienced builders share with me how you file the guides?

If it's cutting the thread you have a burr or "up" edge on it. Use a piece of crocus cloth or similar to dress down any burrs before wrapping.

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I use knife sharpners flat diamon type of different grades an real fine crocus cloth for the finish ,
works great foe me

William Sidney
AK

It sounds like you don't have guide feet that sit perfectly flat on the blank. You can very slightly bend the foot down if it looks like there is a slight gap between the tip of the foot and the blank. Just don't bend it so much that the sharp tip will dig into the blank.

Jim

A quick test to see if the guide foot is smooth is to run a Q-tip over the foot. A smooth guide will not pick up any cotton fuzz off the Q-tip.

What works for me is, I use a Dremel tool with a stone wheel to grind the foot down then I hand dress the guide feet with aluminum oxide 320 grit paper and check for burrs.

John

Thanks for all the tips. I have been using the Dermal but sounds like I have not been doing the proper finishing work with the crocus clothe or alum oxide fine grit. I will try that.

I use a belt sander for sanding and a holder made from a machine screw and a piece of blank to hold the guide.
A couple of passes on each side cleans up the guides very nicely.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Jim,

I, too, use a Dremel Tool for my guide feet; but I use the Polishing Wheel #425 on the Dremel tool, rather than a grinding wheel. The polishing wheel works outstanding for shaping the guide feet and will not leave any burrs. It is not only a polishing wheel; but it can cut into the guide foot, so all it takes is a quick, smooth pass over the toe of each guide foot. It even works on titanium guides.

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2015 08:20AM by Donald R Campbell.

I use chainsaw chain sharpening files for the bottom of the guide foot. Then I use small needle files to shape the tops of the feet and fine tune and de-burr with a "flex - i - file" from Micro Mark hobby supplier.

Rog

The majority of guide frames on the market are pre-ground, additional grinding will only make your wrapping job easier, making the guide foot too sharp is one of the reason we stress not over grinding in our classes. Realistically you should only have to take material off of the top of the foot to "smooth" the transition from the blank to guide foot, if you are making them that sharp you may be taking more material off than necessary. That being said, when I grind guides I rub the bottom of the guide foot over one of my fingernails, if there is a burr on the bottom of the foot you can feel it or it will scratch your nail...The Q-Tip check mentioned by John earlier is a great idea as well.

Kind Regards,

Brook Oliva
Mud Hole Custom Tackle, Inc.
brook@mudhole.com
(866)-790-RODS

the hot setup for me seems to be a small hand held power grinder from a beauty shop.used in pedicures It is a variable speed and you can smooth the top and sides to eliminate the problem you are having. For years I have used a polishing wheel on my stationary shop grinder which does a good job but it gets a little hairy when trying to grind down the feet on really small guides, but with the portable nail grinder you have no problems. I made the same mistake on my first builds that you are making. You just need a slight transition on the guide foot to wrap smoothly.