John, I knew that…and yes, handle to plug the tip into makes any rod more useful…
Matt, oh ok…I din’t know that rod had that capability…I like it…but am I missing something or does that only make two rods ? There’s a way to make three with only two grips !
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Looks like JohnScott needs to read John Betts book about turning a fly rod on a lathe after that short oak one.:mrgreen:
MontanaMoose, I don’t know about the 3 rod setup, but I do know that I am planning on turning the bamboo blank into something of a masterpiece to fish for Salmon up north with.
I like the E-glass rod blanks I’ve been buying, they flex and react similar to a couple bamboo rods I have in my collection so far. Tough part is the only rods I am going to purchase from this point on are mostly bamboo, although if they are one of those “too good to be real” deals I might pick up another graphite or fiberglass rod. Then again now I have to get a bigger cabinet for all the rods I have so far, then again I probably could space them out along the walls and charge admission…Matt’s Fly Rod Museum :mrgreen:
Then I’m really looking forward to the bamboo salmon rod Matt…
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Well, another storm is tracking it’s way across the country…Last night after work (technically this morning) I figured out the guide sizes and spacing, 5 guides, sized from tip are 4,4,4,5,6 no stripping guide as it really doesn’t have any effect on the casting. The spacing from the tip are 4", 8.5", 14.125", 19.625", and 25.625". I looked at this a couple of times, thinking that the spacing was too short, but I found that the upper 30" loaded the rod and that would help transmit the power to the line.
Unfortunately I have been called in early for overtime for the last 3 days due to the weather and lack of help. hopefully I can get wrapping Saturday morning, if not then Sunday will become the “build” day.
Well I got the hook keeper and the size 6 and size 5 guides installed, went with a Black and Gold Mylar wrapped thread, and probably never use it again unless I’m redoing a rod with it originally. I have cut and thrown away over 25 feet of thread because either the Black wasn’t spaced right, or the gold mylar broke, or the gold mylar got bunched up at one point. Lots of tension just to keep things in line and way too much headache right now.
I’ll snap a pic of the wraps when I get them done prior to sealing them with the finish. Then on Tuesday the finished pics will be up.
Montana Moose, I forgot to tell you about the diameters on the grips, the ID is .25", the length is 6.125" top is 1.125" od, tapered to 1" then back out to 1.25" od on the tennesee style rod#3, the other one is 6.5" long, 1.25" OD, and .25" ID for rod#4. I haven’t decided on a grip style for rod#4 yet.
Last thing I need to do is put it in a rod sock and tube after it dries to protect it on it’s voyage to Maine, maybe tomorrow I can hit Bass Pro or Cabelas before the heavy snows hit the area.
Hopefully on the 24th I can get some time in on the lathe and smooth out the grips on my personal 4 footer, rod #4 if I get the time.
Matt -
This thread got me to thinking - which can be a dangerous thing ??!!
Getting a custom cork from BB member Smernsky. Going to use a piece of graphite rod blank to mount a reel seat and the grip, and to hold a ferrule matching the ferrule on the tip section of the bamboo rod I am building. That will give me a 4’ 10" for ??wt bamboo rod. Don’t have a clue what line it will take or how it will cast, but it could turn out to be a great little small stream rod.
Thanks for being a part of this idea.
Hope you have a joyful Christmas and New Year.
John
Used to live in your neck of the woods - Duxbury, from early '78 to mid '85. I imagine it has changed much over the past twenty plus years.
Thanks Matt, sounds like the grips are just right…
not too short, not to small diameter either.
Oh, before I forget, I have one more way to make 2 rods from
one handle…John’s post reminded me of this…same idea taking
a section of rod and putting a grip together
with a ferrule to fit the tip…but…also on the
other end a ferrule for the mid and tip from
a three piece boo. Only thing sacrificed would
be a reel seat because the grip would be like
your straight cut one with the addition of two
sliding bands.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Here’s the rod pre finish on the wraps.
Had a problem with the drying motor tonight, the chuck end came out of the motor and the rod sat, did some rebrushing and re coating, hopefully the finish will even out before morning.
Will keep everyone posted.
Matt
OK, so the wraps turned out ok, the varnish turned into large glass orbs around the wraps, larger than what I would like but smooth and not noticeable to the touch, so here’s the final pictures of Rod #3 from my bench.
On the plus side, I tried a 5wt line on it, cast out to 35 feet without any effort at all.
It looks good to me Matt, now all it needs is a fish caugth with it. Mind if I ask total investment on that one?
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Sure, I’m rounding off to make things easier, the blank was about $12, the reel seat was $17, the cork was $4.50, the guides,hook keeper and tip were $23, the Thread was $6. The finish and glues I had on hand, figure another $10 if bought new. All together total of $62.50 roughly not including shipping or labor.
Not bad, a rod like that would cost about $150+ in the shop if you bought it from one of the major manufacturers.
Heck, $62.50 is really reasonable for a custom built rod Matt. Shoot, even 30 years
ago I spent $34.xx on a fiberglass kit, not
including glue or finishes. Can’t wait to see
the start of the cane rod.
Merry Christmas !
MontanaMoose
Rod went over well, Now I’m working on rod# 4, another 4 foot 6/7 wt for next year’s fishing season.
As for the bamboo, that’s going to be awhile, after I finish all my E-glass projects, graphite projects (got 2 sweet Cabelas 805 7 pc blanks yesteday and still sitting on a Cabelas 804 7 piece blank), and finish the 5 bamboo rod restorations and repairs I have in the rack right now.
Merry Christmas to all, I’ll start posting to this one as soon as I get some progress on the new rod.
Well, I couldn’t sleep the last 2 nights so I continued on with my rod. I’ll have posts up later, unfortunately I ran out of Size 6 RECoil RSF Guides, so I need to order more. Also had a slip with the sandpaper, hit the edge of the reel seat in one corner, wearing off the Black Anodizing as it went through the masking tape I used to protect it when working on it. So I’ll hit it with the Black marker, and now I just have to wait for my guides to come in this week.
I’ll post photos tomorrow to display my progress.
Matt
Here’s a couple pics of my new rod, it’s fate after 12/31/2009 has yet to be determined, but I plan on fishing this one for the next year as part of a challenge. Now I’m waiting for more guides to finish it.
Nice work Matt, thanks for posting the pics !
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
OK, I finally got the 4 size 6 RECoil RSF guides in and decided to put them on before heading to work yesterday. So with that done, I got home this morning and put the finish on the wraps, loaded it in the drying rack, and now I’m waiting the customary 24 to 48 hours for it to dry. As soon as it’s done I’ll have some more pics and then hopefully this weekend I’ll get a chance to get out to the Swift River for some fishing, as my challenge to myself this year is to fish freshwater with this one rod all year long.
Matt
Here’s a photo of my rod on the drying setup. Got to love Painter’s Tape.
And the ever crowded rod cabinet. I’m going to have to build another one of these for the custom made rods pretty soon. 