In the Archives, right here on FAOL, click on features, then scroll down to rod building, and you will find a very well written 12 part tutorial on graphite rod building that is excellent. Al Campbell put this together and it is excellent to say the least and will offer you answers to most of the questions that you may already have, and many many more that you will encounter as you enter the dark side.

there are tons of books and videos out there that will help you. But I think that all of the answers you seek are in that series of articles.

As you have probably already noted, there are many knowledgable people on here that are willing to help you as well. Good luck with it, you will certainly love it!!