Rod setups & building your own rods.

Marty,

The biggest Guide I've ever put on a fixed spool rod is a size 40, most of the time I would use size 30 stripper. as long as its far enough away from the face of the fixed spool reel to let the line flow and choke.

I like enough guides on a fixed spool rod..6 + Tip is about right for most lengths between 11ft and above IMO. Multiplier rods I like to see 7 sometimes 9 even, as long as it looks and feels right. Terry Carroll once told me "99/100 times if the guides look right, they are right" but rod design changes like everything else, your right about the new concept that Fuji are promoting....I like the shape of the Low Riders, I've even got used to the stripper being so high and around back to front, I've just never had or wanted a blank that I could use them on..that may change soon :wink: :)

I think the Fuji BMNAG are the best guides ever made, value for money and the look and perform great!

The next 2 rods I plan to make (one for me and one for my son) are a couple of Up-Tide rods. They will be around the 10'6" (7'6" tip with 3' butt) these are two rods that I will convert from a couple of sample 15ft multiplier rods I had made in Korea.

If more people built their own rods I'm sure components would improve even more than they have done.

Tom.

I would agree with everything you've said Tom esp. re the sizes and amount of rings on fixed spool rods.

Guide wise I was a huge fan of the old Diawa Dynaflo rings esp the titanium ones, it was a sad day in my book when they stopped doing them :( :( Still got a few sets kicking around here though :):) I also love Seymo GHI/E double leg rings. Fuji wise im more than happy with the BMNAG`s, BNOG and love the BSVOG for lighter applications, not a big fan of the ever pop BNHG and sic`s are too expensive I think for most applications. One thing I'm very sure of is that I do not like single leg guides, that's just a personal pref thing. Line can tangle round them too easy and they tend to bend easily but I`ll admit they certainly have there uses for some applications.

Anyone who thinks this is all a bit weird and is interested in seeing the various guides discussed here should go have a look at the Hopkins and Holloway site, it`s the best resource there is for rod building in this part of the world, great customer service too in my experience.

http://www.hopkinsholloway.co.uk/

Marty

perhaps the moderators would think it a good idea to have a rod building Q&A forum on this site.

Dunno if Kieran thinks the overall demand is around for a seperate forum on rod building, but in the meantime I've edited the subject title on this thread so's more people can realise what it's about. I think that makes it clearer and might bring in a few more contributors.

Excellent thread guys, I'm learning a lot here cos I've never built a rod in my life.

I remember the Dynaflo guides on the Daiwa Whisker rods, nice to cast with but the least knock and they'd break.

I have used the single leg guides on a few spinning rods but only on the guides nearer the tip end, like the size 12's or 10's, would never use them for a stripper guide for the same reason you stated. I also learned a new way to wrap them and make them less likely to twist, you take your threads up to the normal point on the foot and then wind the thread in a figure 8 around the side frame of the guide and onto the blank for about 6 to 8 turns and then whip a small way up the blank, say 1/4". it gives the high build something to hold onto and looks better too.

Hopkins & Holloway are the European distributors for all Fuji fitting, they have everything you need for rodbuilting and fly tying. Gregg Holloway spent 2 days with me last week. The story of how his grandfather started the business 60 odd years ago is very interesting...the old guy was an angler, he wanted to build himself a split cane fly rod, tried everywhere to buy guides and couldn't find a supplier...so he started making his own from a back room in his house..the rest is history so the saying goes :)

In the near future H&H will be selling a lot more items than they do now, like blanks and some more advanced items. save their website to favorites and keep checking back.

Tanglerat,

You posted while I wrote this one...I don't claim to be an expert at rod building, but I will tell anyone when and why I built my first rod. I moved to Dublin 6 years ago, I wanted a couple of new rods for myself and my son, so I ordered them off Terry Carroll and asked the question "do you know a good rod builder in Dublin" the answer was NO! "in Ireland then" same answer...he then said "build your own, its not hard" after a few minutes he talked me into it, saying if you need any help phone me. I would tell anyone else the same, try it! the worst that can happen is you screw the threads up and have to clean off and start again. My first rod took me about 10 days to build...I can build one now in about 2 days if need be....even changing the colour of the blank is easy..again all told to me by TC himself. if anyone wants to ask me anything...work away!
If I don't know the answer...I know someone who does :lol: :lol: :lol:

Tom.

Funny I`ve heard alot of people saying that about Dyna`s over the years but I can honestly say they never gave me that prob, alot of my older rods (heavily used and still used whiskers) still have them on, alot of mates who built also used them and never had probs. One of those things I suppose.

Like the fig of 8 idea for the single legs, like you I always whip a small way up the blank above them too.

Marty

"Looking at the volume of posts and interest in rod building in this thread, (the idea of building my own rod and modding reels is starting to look more interesting all the time) it might be an idea to have it's own forum. We do appear to have a few people who know their onions and I'd like to see them share that knowledge.

I'd suggest we might have a ""Rod Building/Repair & Reel Tuning/Modding"" forum?

If anyone has web links or can recommend books, videos/dvds, etc, I'd be interested in seeing them listed here."

Sandman,

A buddy of mine in Florida has his own forum, he is busy at the minute taking step by step pictures and text for his new rod building forum.

He also has a reel tuning forum, most of which was prepared by Neil Mackellow.

I will ask them if they mind sharing....your system doesn't allow pictures with the post though, is that right? the pictures would have to go in the albums part of the forum.

Tom.

As far as I know pics can be put in posts.

[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/jcncseaview/blue1.jpg[/img]



yep :D


heres a "how to " on posting pictures, I wrote for another site

http://www.boat-angling-ireland.com/php ... c.php?t=35


hope this helps

Andy