Hi Guys,

I want to try my hands at rod building. I don't have anyone available to give me hands on instruction. Can anybody reccommend a good book, video or a rod building kit for beginners with instructions.

Hi Anthony,
I'd recommend the following book if you're going to build a graphite fly rod: HANDCRAFTING A GRAPHITE FLY ROD. L. A. Garcia. Full color step-by-step how to do it by a true professional. This is the one I used when I started out. As for rod building kits, Hook & Hackle Flyshop has some nice kits at a reasonable price. Good-luck!

Anthony, building your own rod is alot of fun and not that hard. There are several books available, check at your local fly shop they should be able to find something for you. Pacific Bay ( company that makes rod componets ) has three different kits available. They come with everything you need to complete the rod. Also they fish well! They are all under $100. LA Garica's book is a great one. LA was my teacher here in Denver and now I teach. Good luck and have fun.

Pat Higgins
Bear Creek Fly Fishing Company

Do you need any extra equipment, with the rod kits, like rod wrappers or dryers. Or can you do it without. JUst curious how much money I have to spend to get into this.

Yes and NO !!!

To work properly and perfectly, yes you sort of need them. But to learn, you don´t, if you have enough patience. A good wrapper-wrapping system is to put the spool of thread under and/or behind a thick heavy book (phone guide book?)and make the thread go throw the last pages. This gives enough tension to properly wrap and get the idea how this is done by holding the rod/blank in your hands, and rotating it tightly but being gentle ... A good dryer could be a cardboard box where you cut the opposite edges in "V" shape in the middle line, and rotate the blank/rod according to how the epoxy finish is applied for an evenly finish. You can always rotate by hand but that´s even more work.
Remeber you´ll need to ruin more than one rod or piece of it before you can consider your self ready to build a rod suitable to fish in the fields!

I guess we all did, and all learn this way...error, mistake, correction, perfection!

Try it. It is like food for your soul.

I would say no. I have built three rods using a wood stand I made with notches in it and using a book as a tensioner. Rods were dryed by turning the pieces by hand, which is not as bad as it sounds. unless you are going to build rods in volume, I don't think you need any special equipment.

The key is to take your time and check everything you do about three times before you do it and once or twice afterward. It's hard to make a mistake wraping the rod. You can always cut of any wraps that aren't perfect. I probably cut off one out of three and start over. Where you really need to be careful is with the epoxy. Its a lot harder to correct mistakes.

My only regret is not practicing applying epoxy to the wraps. It was my third rod before I got the technique down to where I was really happy with the results.

Hey guys,

Can you strip down the blank of an old fly rod and add all new components. I think it would be awesome to strip down a couple of old glass rods I have and add some top notch grips, seats and guides to them. Just curious, thanks.

YES, indeed !!! One of my favourite work projects. I repair and customize many of my friends´ old fishing equimpent, including rods.
Example: Old Fenwick with excellent blank action, the eagle series.
Cork ruined.
Guides worn out.
I get top of the line components, suggest, or simple let them get what they like and do exactly what you´re wondering.

Adolfito,

That's pretty cool. Do you have to strip all of the old flec coat off of the original blank? What do you use to do this. That sounds like big time fun. I'm kind of old fashioned and like some of the old fiberglass rod blanks from the 60's and 70's. I guess I'm kind of nostalgic that way. I would love to redo some of my old Femwick Ferralites. I think I will get a cheap rod kit from Cabelas or something similar to practice on first.

Once again let me say ... YES, big time fun!
Especially if you feel kind of nostalgic ... Wow, Ferralite is one of the rods you do NOT want to ruin by practicing on it or being just your first project.
Lot of emotional value envolved, right?

Yes, it is suggested to completely remove all the glue/epoxy/or other kind of coating, if possible. It is better to leave some than ruin a good rod. I use a sharp small knife.

To get a cheap kit is a good idea, plus it will save some extra $ if you´d bought all the components and else, one by one. Two or three days ago I found some big amount of broken rods for sale (e-bay, if I may mention where), where you could get a great amount of components, guides, cork, reel-seats for a great price. You´d need to get only thread and epoxy coating.

So, welcome & let us help you, here in this forum!

Please excuse the hijack!
Dunfly, have you ever seen the flexcoat guys do a demo of epoxy application with a high speed turner? Absolutely amazing. They seem to think it performs much better and gives a better look and application done with a 30-40 rpm turner.
I didn't believe it until I saw it done.
Dewey

I hand turn my rods when I apply the epoxy to the wraps, so I'm going about 10 rpm. I would start getting nervous at 30 to 40 rpm. Anything faster than that and I would probably have epoxy flying everywhere.

I watched a video on Bob Widgren's site that helped:

http://www.flyfisherman.com/skills/finish56.mov

but I've decided that I'll never be as good as some $1.00 an hour Korean kid finishing rods all day long. But what the heck, I'm just in it for the fun anyway, and my last rod turned out nice. It was a Hook and Hackle Forecast kit, I ended up giving it away to a kid that wanted to start fly fishing. I really don't see how anyone can build rods for a living.

one good way to remove old thread epoxy coating is to take a hair dryer and being very careful not to heat it too much (not too close, or at high heat for very long) heat a wrap and then carefully, with a sharp knife like an X-acto, cut the clear coating above one of the guide's feet. this will help prevent the blade from nicking the blank itself. be very careful here. once you cut enough, grab ahold of it with your fingers, it should peel off in chunks. reheat carefully as necessary.

there will be some residual coating left. some use a plastic scraper of some sort to remove more. your fingernail might do the trick.

do not use acetone. not only is it dangerous for your health and the environment, it can damage the finish of a blank very very easily. if you must use some solvent, if it's drving you crazy and you're convinced something extra is necessary, denatured alcohol might be the best bet. assume there will be some residual finish left. if you are reattaching a new guide at the same spot, simply extend your new thread wraps/finish to cover the old marks.

eric
fresno, ca

Hey Guys,

All this talk has got me excited to try and build a rod. I ordered a Hook and Hackle Forecast kit today in a 7'6" 5 Wt. I figure I will try to build this rod for my little boy. I'm going to try and start him fly fishing this season. He is only 5, so he won't care if the rod looks like !@#$. I also ordered a rod building kit from Cabelas. It has a wrapper, drying motor and stand, and a few other tools. I should have consulted you guys before I bought this, but I got excited. I'll let you guys know how I did. I'm sure that I will be asking you for advice.

If I get good enough at this I would like to build a rod on one of those Sage TXL blanks. Oh well, guess I should take my time. Baby Steps!!! Thanks for all of your advice.

Tony

for christmas i built a forecast 7'-6" 4 piece 4wt fly rod for my little girl who just turned 6 in december. i used pacific bay illusion snake guides and a simple $9 cap and ring reel seat and a slim cigar grip. she loves fly fishing, brook trout her favorite. i take her to a little stream where they practically jump on the fly before it hits the water. she had her introduction on a lake fishing for panfish. hopefully your little boy loves it equally. good luck. you'll be surprised how nice that first rod turns out.

eric
fresno, ca.

I too used that book Hand crafting a graphite rod for my first rod. It was a great tool. I also found this rod building station that my friend built. It's made of steel so it's really durable, has spring loaded thread tensioners and felt padded rod stands. It really helped me having a quality rod stand to work with. I want other people to see how easy it is to build a rod with this set, so if you have any interest in working with a great rod building stand you can message me or email me at packfancjh@ahoo.com. I am working on getting a pic of it to show people cause it really is nice and helped me out alot!

I've used the Garcia book and built three rods. I will say that a rod turner is a wonderful investment for only about $40, if I remember correctly.

I also like a couple coats of Flex Coat light rather than the regular flex coat. Even then, I'd like to know what commercial rod builders use as I don't think I get the same results with Flex Coat. I think Flex Coat dulls more quickly than whatever commercial builders use.

I little hint on the use of flex coat - Mix up at least a teaspoon full of the resin and hardener so you insure you get an equal mix. If it's a little off it really makes a difference. You'll have more left over than you use it's worth wasting some. I've gotten a little light on the hardener before and had to clean the whole mess off and start over.

For the last 6 years I have built between 10 and 15 rods a year, all on homemade equipment. The book Rod-Building Guide, by Tom Kirkman is available online, and is worth its weight in gold. Super easy to follow. If you get it, read it, cover to cover, before you start.

Drying motors can be found all over the internet, for as little as $2. I use 40RPM for all finish application, and have a bank of eight 6RPM motors mounted on Pegboard hung on the wall for drying. Attach ian in-line dimmer switch, and you can run it at any speed. Do a search for 'AC gear motors'.

I think I spent $75 and a few hours in the garage making my wrapping stand and drying platform.

Kits from Batson Enterprises are a great way to go. They're inexpensive, and they build great rods.

Building rods is addicting. Enjoy your new hobby!

RB