Hey Jim, Another source for information of the Olive Branch design is Doc Ski. Shoot him a note and I am sure he would be very happy to give you a few tips or point you in the right direction. Tight lines, John Hernandez SoCal
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Gabe, It will give you the same performance as rayon thread regarding fading and durability. Apply about 3 coats of CP to it and you should be fine. If you have the waether and a few day try some in the sun for a few days. I used it on a barber pole wrap I did for a friend and it still looks fine. Tight lines, John Hernandez SoCal
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I'm with Chad. I use it for the simple reason of eliinating bubbles when finishing. I will go 3-4 coats on size C or heavier thread and 2 coats on B and A. Tight lines, john Hernandez SoCal
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Lorenzo, As far as getting blanks painted check out your local auto body shop. They usually have paint left over when they do custom jobs and even standard jobs. They will usually charge about 20-30 dollars per blank. Just an FYI. Tight lines, John Hernandez SoCal
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Hey Mike, My best advice to you is to give a couple of the vendors to the left a call and ask them. The folks at Batson, Mudhole Bingham are IMO some of the best in both knowledge and customer service. They make a living at keeping Rod builders informed and have great knowledge of the various waters we all fish. Let them know what you are looking for and the spec's you want and they will ta
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Bill, What will sometimes happen is that when you are going up the guide foot the thread will slip off and get a bit frayed and cause the fuzzy issue. What I do is run my torch over the wraps as I spin it to help singe any fuzz prior to finishing. Tight lines, John Hernandez SoCal
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I have built them from epoxy, cork, eva and corktape. The epoxy or rod bond is IMO the best result and like Herman I have never had a problem with either. Tight lines, John Hernandez SoCal
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Lorenzo, I use both Flex Coat and U-40 and the results are all good. Sounds like a re-wrap to me??? Tight lines, John Hernandez SoCal
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Rob, red is right. All you need is some mild soap and a soft brush and or a sponge and you are go to go. Tight lines, John Hernandez SoCal
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Joel, Just ream it out as most everyone has stated to a ID that is just a bit smaller than the OD of the blank. Make sure you have epoxy up high enough on the blank where you can make sure you have coated the grip evenly so to assist in sliding into position and also to make sure it stays in place. Tight lines, John Hernandez SoCal
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Do it right Lorenzo, one thread at a time. Tight lines, John
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Dennis, As you can see we all love helping new builders with questions and suggestions. Tom pointed out that you need to pick up a few books and do more research before making any significant purchases. I know many young builders that got in way over their heads and frustration set in and the craft was shelved or never attempted. There is so much to rod building that you can become over
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That Colt site seems to be picking up where Cape Fear left off. Cape Fear Rods came on about 8-10 years ago and never really took off. Maybe Colt has made improvements???
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Have at it Robert. Its no different than using non-metalic. Tight lines, John
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Roger, I side with Phil on this one. I've been building rods for almost 40 years and I have never scuffed the areas prior to installing handles. It may or may not add any significant benefit. IMO I think as long as you have a clean surface prior to gluing you are good to go. With regards to the second coat I have applied it as soon as the first coat was dry to several days later with the s
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Matt, Regarding the build for someone in a wheelchair. I have built several and the best thing to do is go to the source. If the rod is not a surprise, go to the person in the wheelchair and ask them what is comfortable for them. You ma want to take the blank and reel seat and get their input. Just my experience. Comfort and leverage to that person when fishing is everything. Tight lin
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Carlos, I have modified hole saws that I use to cut cork circles. I have thinned the outter walls as thin as possible and they work just fine. Comprimising the temper on the saws was not a big deal being that I was going to be cutting soft materials. I picked up the saws at Harbor Freight and put them on a friends lathe and filed the outter wall to about a 32nd of an inche. They work just
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Thanks Russell, I actually know Leon. I ran into hm at the Fred Hall show in Long Beach and ask him about making Chocolate blanks. Not in the cards business is slow right ow and they need to pick up the pace. His brother Jim and I went way back to when I was in my teens. I may have to look into getting them painted at an auto body shop here locally. Thanks much, John
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OK gang, I just rebuilt an old Sabre ST671 7' for a friend of mine and they like it so much they want me to build a double set of rods for their boat. My dilema is who makes a chocolate brown blank that closely resembles the Sabre inseveral weight classes, from inshore to unlimited? Tight lines, John Hernandez
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Larry, Duane is right and the person that told you 14 + the tip is right. The best way to find out for those particular blanks is to do a static test and place the micros on a temp basis. When I first started building I use to follow what everyone else did but the fact is all blanks are different and the only true way to find out how many guides you need is to static test for your self. T
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Hey gang, It has been about 20 years since I did a Tartan wrap and just need some help on sequence. Any help is appreciated. Tight lines, John Hernandez So Cal
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Rick, Can you post a pic of the guide? John
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Fred, If they are older fuji guides I wuld say a big no to the use of braided line. The technology today is so much better and the hardness of the old Fuji's will not hold up IMO. John
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Rob, In my opinion it is the rod center leveling that will over time make the biggest difference. Make your coats thinner and level your rod and you will start seeing better results. The Wizard Billy V also hit on something, it takes time to find what best works for you. Tight lines, John Hernandez
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Dave, the one thing great about BBQ motors is the torque. I built a 6 rod dryer with one rotesserie by daisy chaining them with pullies. It worked great for many years. I finally sold it about 6-7 years ago and from what I understand it is still going strong. The reason I sold it was lack of space. I have a 4 rod PB dryer now and it turns at 11rpm's. The BBQ motor I had turned about 6-7 rpm
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All the tip actions are fast but in comparisson to the Batson blanks as timothy stated a bit floppier. FYI they are SLB. The Fast action live bait series is SLB. Tight lines, John
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Cosimo, The Calstar blanks that are in line with the Batson blanks are the GF700L, ML, M. As far as Seekers goes the are the SLB704, 706, 708. For the dollar though Batson blanks are great. There was a time that Calstar and Seeker blanks were the clear leader. Bill, Mike and the staff at Batson have put alot of hard work and RD into very comparable blanks with the RCLB line. Tight lines
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Corky, can you post a picture of it? That will help all of us help you. Tight lines, John
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The one thing I have done for years Bruce is run a low torch flame over the wraps as it spins. This has worked well for me over the years. Just an FYI for you if you want to give it a try. Tight lines, John Hernandez
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I completely agree with Roger. Start over. John
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