I thought about posting this in the rod building forum but wasn’t sure if it fit there any better so here goes…
Need to pick your collective brains. I have made some wooden fishing rod tubes in the past. Previously, I have lined these tubes with some very thin walled PVC tubing that is made for central vacuum cleaner systems. This is not always easy to find. Not all plumbing supply stores stock it regularly.
The purpose of the PVC is so that I can first line the PVC tube with a slpiiery nylon fabric and then slide the PVC tube into the rod tube itself.
Can anyone think of another type of tube that would serve the same purpose? It needs to be about 2" in diameter and quite thin walled. The central vacuum tubing is, of course, rigid. It wouldn’t need to be because the wooden tube that it is going inside of will keep it straight. Any ideas? Thanks!
The problem with golf club tubes would be that not only are they too short, they are not a large enough diameter for, say, a 3 piece rod to fit inside them.
How about the clear tubes that are meant to slide over flourescent light bulbs? Places like Home Depot carry them for next to nothing. We use them as dip tubes for bamboo fly rod blanks (with PVC ends, etc).
Look for schedule 80 thin wall PVC pipe. This is manufactored for plumbing vent applications (including vacuum lines) it is getting harder to find since it no longer can be used as drain pipe, due to building code changes.
The white PVC pipe that most Home Depot ‘big box’ stores stock is schedule 40 d-w-v (drain, waste, vent). Since the sched. 40 meets more building codes and can be substituted for sched. 80 most stores will not stock both. Look for a specialty plumbing supply store.
There is also a sched. 40 PVC that is used for electrical condiut. It is grey and has a slightly thinner wall that the white PVC.
You also might try MSC industrial supply company. They sell lexan and acrylic tubes in various diameters. (mscdirect.com) The clear plastic tubing is used for dust collection systems in industrial wood shops.
Why not use aluminium, you can get them pre-cut or in 12’ lengths, they also come in many diameters and will be alot thinner then plastic. With that being said, why not just use them as they are? I have a beautiful Wagner bamboo rod that also has a nice hardwood case. The rod goes into the bag then into the case…no liner.