Well after dealing with my moisture issue and relocating the rod to finish curing it looks good…I’m going to give it another week…but managed to do a little work on it and take a few pics…
I did some work on the cork to get rid of the sharp edge going toward the winding check…I rounded the edge…I might do more but I like the look of the rounding better.
Here is my stripping guide…I had to rewrap one of the sides as a result of hitting a thread during sanding ( I know I know…you told me not to) anyways I like how the new wrap came out
What’s left? After another week to cure, light sanding 2000 grit, polish and wax rod…let dry and I’ll be ready to go come springtime. I’ll post finished pics when rod is ready to go.
Very nice! I’m just getting into building graphite rods, and not ready to go over completely to the dark side. I guess this just positions me to the “slightly tanned” side! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
One observation: it appears your finish on the guide wraps is a bit heavy, and it looks like drips at the high points of the blank. Is this just an illusion? Did you use a motorized dryer or rotate the rod by hand? It almost looks like the rod was vertical while it was drying.
I like the rounding over of the cork on the top if the handle. It gives a “softer” look and it makes that part of the cork more durable. Sharp edges tend to break off on any type of material, and more so with soft materials like cork.
Thanks for sharing your progress with us. Now, if I could just get the blanks and components I ordered on Feb 4th, I might be able to start my next build. I’m quickly losing my patience, especially since they do not communicate after receiving the order.
It is an illusion…the rod dried horizontal and was turned by hand. I’ll finished it off by light sand 2000 grit on each flat to rid it of dust spec and then polish the wraps and wax the entire rod.
Joe, here is a better pic…
btw Joe…this is my first…if your going to go to the dark side you might as well jump in whole body first :lol:
Attaboy Casey!!! You are going to send it to me for christening aren’t you??? keep in ind that I am retired now and fish a heck of a lot…I can brake it in for you reall well and really fast!!! :roll:
It is an illusion…the rod dried horizontal and was turned by hand. I’ll finished it off by light sand 2000 grit on each flat to rid it of dust spec and then polish the wraps and wax the entire rod.
Joe, here is a better pic…
btw Joe…this is my first…if your going to go to the dark side you might as well jump in whole body first :lol:[/quote]
You’re absolutely correct. This vantage point is much better. Very good job for a first effort. I’m still not ready to jump that far into the dark side, so I’ll just sit here “tanning” slowly! :lol:
Great looking rod - I’m thinking of jumping in myself, but have a stupid question. Do you epoxy the wraps on cane like graphite, or just varnish. Yours looks like epoxy. If so, do you just use the same stuff as on graphite?
(typically and historically one uses varnish instead of epoxy on wraps on bamboo rods…tradition?..don’t know!! but having said that, I think that if Hiram Leonard had access to Epoxies during his rod making career, he would have used them!!)
After much debate I went with Man o War Spar Varnish…for two reasons, 1. tradition; 2. being the first rod varnish is easier to take off than epoxy…that being said I had to re wrap a wrap because I hit it with the sand paper.
herefishy if you’ve got quesions see my thread on rod finishing 5 or 6 pages of great information also the rod swap has good info on it as well.
OK, thanks. Varnish seems like it would be easier to use than epoxy, just for the ease of spreading on the wraps, but I guess, Joe, that yours looks a little like epoxy because you used several coats?
I just read your rod finishing thread, and it sure is a big help. Will try some of those things. One thing I am curious about, though, is the tag ends. When I wrap a graphite rod, I pull my loop with the end in it snug up against the other threads and cut the tag end real short before I pull it through, and that buries it nicely. I’ve never seen a recommendation to do that anywhere, but it was the way I was shown. Is there something about cane that would make that a bad idea?
I put 6 coats of varnish on the wraps…5 probably would have been fine…anyways
Here’s another taste, I put on a struble nickel silver uplocking reel seat with zebrawood insert
