I am in the process of starting to build my first rod, a 36" laker ice rod on a batson blank. I never had put any consideration into doing a Tennessee handle until Roger mentioned it in one of my previous threads which got me interested. Wondering what peoples thoughts are on this, or other handle suggestions. Thanks!

Also, in some of my reading I been doing it seemed like people will also "stack" cork rings where they want a handle and use only as much as is needed (atleast thats how I interpreted it?) Would this be a practicle option for a heaftier rod like this?

Riley,
Typical laker rod on the wrapper to begin wrapping.
The handle is the 8 inch Tennessee handle with a rubberized trim ring at the end. The outside diameter of the grip is .95 inches. Some of the folks want .8 on up to 1.1 inches in diameter.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Some folks use grips as short as 4 inches on ice rods, but by leaving the grip at 8 inches, there is enough grip to use with a typical ice fishing rod holder if desired. Also, the extra grip lets a person move the rod around a bit for a change of pace over a long day on the water or ice.

When I glue up Tennessee handles like this from cork rings, I will prebore the center holes in the rings to be close to the final desired dimension. Then, I use Titebond III to glue the rings together. The advantage of using titebond is

Cost, and easy of machining. Also, after clamping the rings together, one can take a wet rag and wipe off any excess glue since the glue is water based and easy to remove when wet. I let the rings dry overnight which gets the outside of the grip dry. Then, I remove the clamp and let the grip dry from the inside of the bore hole. Since the glue is water based, the moisture has to evaporate and to have access to air for the full cure. Then, I run a drill bit down the center of the grip to remove any excess glue that might be partially plugging the bore of the grip. Finally, I move the grip to a mandrel, building up the mandrel if needed to match the inner bore of the grip and turn the grip on the lathe. I use a constant diameter from front to back and this simple design works perfectly well for this style rod.

However, if doing production builds when building 50 rods in a batch, it makes more sense to purchase the grips premade and simply glue them on the blank. Cost and speed is essential in a production environment, so by taking the prebuilt grips for the rod build, both money and time are saved on the build.

Be safe

You can make the length and width ANY size you want. Whatever best fits your hand and the rod AND reel set up that you are going to use. Cork works great for ice rods. Burl cork works better (IMO) as it is more dense and will tolerate more abuse than natural cork.

Also consider maybe Texalium tubing for a TN handle.

[www.mudhole.com]

With the constant jjiging motion that most use ice fishing for Lakers keep in mind some balance issues when figuring out the length of rod, guides, to use, reel that is being used, and then grip material and length, or even adding weight to end of the blank. Good luck and post pics of your ice rod when done!!
Buzz

Ice fishing lakers! One of my favorite things to do on this great planet! Add to that the Tennessee handle and what a match! I fish nothing but Tennessee on all my ice spinning gear. Long handle and a long rod. Longer rod more sweep for better hook sets IMHO. Go Tennessee!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2016 11:36PM by Pete Riola- Getrodblanks.com.

Thanks for the responses! I think I will go tennesse, im easily persuaded maybe, but yall make it sound pretty good! Ha im waiting for my rod building book to come in the mail here still so hopefully thatll help answer questions I have on the actaual building of my rod, but if not you can count on seeing more questions to come!!

Thanks again for your guys input!

Tight lines,
Riley

Riley,
Cant email you, Send me an email.
Buzz

Okay I think I sent you one Buzz.