First Time Rod Builder

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question. I would really like to build my PERFECT fly rod. I’ve never built one before but I’ve been reading all about it and I know I can do it. However, my Scottish heritage makes me wonder just how wise iit is for an inexperienced rod builder to invest in expensive components his first time around? Would it be better to build a less expensive one for the experience before taking on my dream build–maybe even sign up for a class?

Dennis -

I think it is best to start with an inexpensive kit for your first rod, just to get the “hands on” feel for what is involved, i.e. a better understanding of what equipment, tools, components, materials, and supplies are used and how they go together.

There are a couple very talented rod builders locally who give rod building classes down at Jimmy’s. Also, Jimmy has a rod building stand ( the one I built to build my bamboo rod, which I just donated to his store for other customers ) and rod turning / drying equipment, which you can use at the store, or take out on loan.

If you want to build a rod from scratch rather than use a kit, I’d be glad to work with you. Everything you need is available at Jimmy’s, although if you want to go “high end” the first time out, you might want to get all or some of the components from other sources.

Last time I noticed, Jimmy’s had a two piece 9’ for 5 wt Z-axis blank and a good selection of St. Croix blanks. Also, a nice selection of Struble reel seats and grips, and the entire color spectrum of tying threads, flex-coat products, guides, stripping guides, tip-tops, etc. He can probably order in any blank you have in mind if it is from a rod manufacturer he represents.

John

P.S. Speaking of Scottish heritage …

Hello Dal, great question, you’ll love rod building. First. don’t dispare as this is probably going to be a long post with a little information overload. My first rod has been one of my favorites to cast. Now, here’s my opinion on what I did right and wrong. Of course I went with cheaper components on the first rod, and now I wish I had gone with some of the REC RSF Recoil guides instead of the snake guides I used. I thought that by saving a couple bucks here and there would be acceptable to me, and in my opinion now I thought wrong. The rod turned out fine, not a showpiece, but a working 6 foot rod that casts a 7 wt line out 60 feet reliably, and performs as it forgives me when I am not in perfect rythem to the rod and line, which is what I was after.

Now here’s another question. How many rods are you going to build? I started out by saying I’ll build 1, maybe 2. I’ve got rod #4 in the drying rotisserie, and rods #5 and 6 on the drawing board. The key reason for this is the components are just a part of the process, the glues, threads, tapes and tools are another expense but you can use them on more than 1 or 2 rods. For example I bought the Guidbrod 2 part Glue and Rod finishes, I used the glue once, still have 5/6 of both parts left, and after 4 rods I have used 1/2 of the bottles of Rod Finish for the wraps. The tape and glue will probably last me for another 25 to 50 rods easily, and the major purchase I had was an electric bar-b-que rotisserie with the 3/8 square shaft and some hardware to make a makeshift drying rack. When I started out I spent about $150.00 for everything (supplies, tools, components) including my first rod’s components. I’m on my 4th and spent about $62.50 on the 3rd rod, and the 4th one will probably be around $40.00, including the RECoil guides.

Now with that being said, I would strongly recommend talking to other rod builders in your area, some will give you lots of advise if you have the time to sit with them. My first rod that I built, I went to a professional rod builder about 35 miles away to first buy the components I needed, then for advise on my build. I always brought the rod with me in it’s building process, and got words of advise and recommendations on how to proceed. One of my first questions was on fitting the cork to the blank and glueing the reel seat in place without it falling off the blank. He showed me tricks like using rubber bands to hold components on, holding the reel seat on while the glue dried, and taping the blank and reel seat before gluing the grips on so you don’t get glue up the blank or on the reel seat. Other things were different wrapping techniques, and of course how to dry the finish on the rod, thus the rotisserie. If there are classes available, I would suggest going to them, you can always pick up a trick or two to make your rod building easier, plus no one starts out as a master rod builder overnight. Also some rod builders will have classes where you can build the rod there in the classroom and the components are included in the cost of the class or available as a kit.

Last thing to keep in mind is not to rush the building process. This is how lots of mistakes get made and the perfect rod becomes a mediocre rod. I had a tough time with rod #3 because of a deadline, and I managed to pull it off, but I would have to say that I could have saved myself about 3 times the work, especially the wrapping of the guides, if I slowed down and didn’t rush to get the rod done.

Good luck and hope this helps answer your question.

I had same problem last year. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money in case I was not able to do the job right. On the other hand I did not want a cheap rod that I would not use much if it came out. So I went the middle road. I have purchased a kit for about 100.00 USD - St. Croix “Avid” spinning rod. Build it in February using a telephone book for thread tension and a cardboard box for wrapping stand. Rod came out OK but I did not like the way the finish came out. Still that rod have seen a lot of action during the year. During the last week or so I have stripped the rod rewrapped it and refinished it using different rod finish. It came out not perfect but sweet enough for me. Right now I am awaiting my Christmass present this season. 9ft 5wt upper end fly rod kit. I am quite confident that I can build it right… One pice of advice: Take some old “trash” rod cut off the guides and then use it for practice before you do the real thing. Do a few wraps and finish them. You will gain a lot of insight and this way you can “test” your abilities before you spend the money. Good luck…

P.S. Be very very carefull. This stuff is more addicitve than heroin…

Dal,

I’ll second Mickie Finn’s recommendation to go with a moderately priced blank to start with. There isn’t anything hard about the process but there’s plenty of things that could frustrate you. I’m not sure anyone has explicitly said this but experience counts, which is certainly implied in all the recommendations to find local rod builders and get advice. My point is a little different - with experience you’ll be a better rod builder.

Assuming you do well (or at least reasonably well) with your first rod and you feel that sense of pride, fish the dickens out of it and see how it wears. Also see what you could have done better. In particular I’m thinking about guide placement. To fish the dickens out of something it’ll have to be at least a mid range or better rod and a moderately priced blank should get you there. I’d get a couple of rods under your belt before you build a real top of the line blank.

I’ve never fished with a rod that cost over $500 (so my high end experience is limited) but my last build was on a St. Croix blank my wife got me. As I recall the blank was a bit under $100 and if I’d bought the rod finished is was selling for around $300. That 5 wt 8’ rod has become my rod of choice. It is sweet to cast and even more fun with a fish on.

Take your time, don’t rush it and enjoy the process.

Greybeard

dal a lot of good information has been given here for you. I personnally recommend starting with a kit. I think Hook and Hackle has about the best kits for the money. your desire to build the perfect fly rod the first time out is awesome and admiralble and I wish you all the best on the build. I think that if you can build the perfect fly rod out the first time and never build another rod again then you are a much better man then most of us here. I have learned over the years the perfect rod today is the ok rod tomarrow. I bet you have a family member or very good friend that would love to have a rod built by you.
When you build this rod take your time. Enjoy the road you are going down and take the time to enjoy the scenery. With all the resorces out there to fall back on I still take a moment or two and wrap four or five wraps of thread side by side to make sure that is the color I am going for. If you are hand wrapping take the time to pack the wraps as you wrap them. I use my thumbnail for that.
As previously mentioned tools and materials are the expensive part. I have build all my tools from scrap lumber off of pallets and such. My most expesive tool I have is the dryer which I paid 25.00 for on ebay.
take John up on his offer to help and use the tools at Jimmy’s. That will help you the most/ Good luck and if you do decide to do this Welcome to the darkside there is no way out of here.

Don’t be afraid to start rodbuilding, it’s easier than you think. There are many fine blanks under $100, some even under $50 (Cabela’s 5pc Stowaway for example.) I would avoid the higher priced ‘name brand’ blanks, not because of your rodbuilding skills but because I don’t think they are as good a value.

Rods with higher price tags tend to have an ‘unconditional’ warranty. It’s nice to know that when you spend $600 on a rod that you can get it replaced if you break it. But you don’t get the return on investment when you pay $300 for the same blank. Yes, they will replace the blank but you can’t recover the labor and time you spent making it. To maintain a resonable profit margin the manufactor has to price the rod high enough to cover the warranty expenses.

Many of the less expensive blanks have excellent action, but they don’t not have the fit and finish of a more expensive rod. You might need to spend exra time fine tuning the fit of the ferrules or acccept some minor blemishes in the glossy top coat.

A significant percentage of cost of a rod is in the components. When you make your own rod you have a lot of choices. Do you really need (or want) the nickle silver engraved butt cap or is a simple chrome plated one going to function just as well? A functional handle and reel seat kit starts at about $25 and the fancy ones can set you back over $85. Maybe you like the feel of a particular off the shelf rod but would prefer a different handle shape or a single foot guides.

One of my cheapest ‘homemade rods’ (Stowaway blank, on sale for $30) has turned out to be a favorite rod. I might even like casting it more than my $600 Winston. Sure the Winston has superior quality cork and much better looking nickle silver components, but if I close my eyes the Stowaway feels just a little better in the hand. For the price of that Winston I could have built 4 of the cheap rods!

I know the quality of my work will never match the skill of a professional rod builder, at least not until I have 100 or so rods under my belt. But I think that my rods look pretty darn nice and I can mix and match the components to what I like and what I can afford. After a few years of wear and tear those $600 rods start to look a lot like the $100 ones anyway…

Well said Kengore

My opinion…which is the only one I am an expert on, is to build your first rod on an arrow. Yes, a $2.00 arrow from Wally World. They also sell snake guides and tip tops. Of course you won’t be able to install a tip top on an arrow.

But I also suggest you purchase the cheapest total kit you can find. Use the glue from the kit to practice on the arrow. Practice mounting, tying, and gluing the cheap wally world snake guides on the arrow. Therefore you won’t have to worry as much about making a mess out of your first rod. I have heard so many complaints about the glue drying with bubbles, gray, problems with the glue process…etc.

In other words practice first.

Good Luck

Gemrod
oh…BTW…one of the best builders that turns out beautifl custom rods…and well known for that on here…still mounts his guides and wraps them using a cardboard box with a V cut out of each end and a square cut out of the front for access. So much for expensive tools.

dal…the answer to your question is simple…Yes

Unless you are exceptional, you are better off buying and inexpensive kit and start your rod building career with it. The overall process is pretty simple – it just takes some time to learn how to use the materials.

If it comes out dead on perfect, then you’ll have a pretty good rod.

If it is less than perfect – and it is my guess that this will be the case – (I thought my first rod looked beautiful but after making several others and returning to scrutinize the first rod – I decided it is a dog in terms of finish, guild alignment, etc!) --then you can give it away, throw it away, or otherwise lose it and you haven’t lost much money.

I would guarantee that your second effort will be way better than the first and each one better after that. I find that with each new project, I master previous problems and find others to deal with.

Take your time and don’t rush it.

You can build a simple wrapping station/jig out of scrap lumber.

When it comes to coating the wraps and ferrules, get (buy/rent/borrow/build) a decent drying motor. Yes, you can turn it by hand but be prepare to sit there all day long so you better have a couple cases of beer on hand.

The idea of practicing on an arrow is a good one. I still do this when I want to see how the color of the thread is effected by the epoxy.

The bottom line is that you will find it rewarding to build and fish with your own rod and even if it isn’t quite perfect, it will still provide a lot of satisfaction.

Thanks to all who have shared the benefit of their experience. The fraternity of fly-fishers is truly awesome, especially here on this BB!! Your collective advice makes good sense. And it’s reassuring to know help is close by if needed, John.

I think I know what I’m going to do. Can’t start the first project for a few weeks but I love the idea of getting some experience by using an arrow first. Just happen to have some of those. After that, I’ll let you know how the first build goes.

Dennis

Dal, here’s a couple pics of how I started out and what I am using currently. A simple box, some hardware and a BBQ rotisserie motor.

Not much but you don’t need a whole lot to get started. Good Luck.

First fish caught on the first rod I built, using a fly that I tied…priceless! You’ll do just fine. I took the kit route from H&H and built a 6’-6" 2wt. It’s got cosmetic flaws in just about every area of the rod, but I learned a lot in a short period of time, and the next 9 rods each got better than the one before.

I still have #1 just the way it I made it, and I would suggest that you always keep your first rod so you know where you have come from. I have the knowledge to correct all the defects in #1, but that would be sacrilegious IMO. I have seen some beautiful first rods, but they are the exceptions to the rule. Enjoy the experience and you’ll treasure your first rod, whatever you choose to build.

Joe, I’m curious what a “Rod Builder in Chains” is - I checked out your website and it didn’t help enlighten me but it did raise my cholesterol 10 points. Inquiring minds want to know.

Greybeard

Greybeard,
Try the Pasta E Faguili recipe on Joe’s website. You won’t care about anything after eating that!! OMG!!! Marvelous!!