happy_fisherman

To get the handle off you can put in boiling water. This will loosen the epoxy. Be careful not to leave in water to long. Excess heat can damage the blank. You can also take a dremel type tool and cut the handle horizontal with several cuts the take a knife and scrape the handle material off. Now you will need to remove the reel seat. Uses the dremel again or a coping saw with a fine tooth blade. be very careful not to cut into the rod blank. Once the handle and reel seat are removed apply heat to the epoxy and clean it from the blank. I use a heat gun for this. Again be very careful not to over heat or cut into the blank. When you have as much of the epoxy off the blank lightly sand the area then clean it with denatured alcohol. Now you are ready to fit your new handle and reel seat. St. Croix Rods sell handle kits that will do the job. You can get every thing you need at mudhole.com.

Rebuilt a BP Extreme rod for a friend that he drug up from the bottom of a lake. It had been in the water a long time. All the filler they used on the cheep cork handle had fallen out and when I cut they reel seat off all they used for a reel seat bushing was twine and epoxy. I was able to refinish the blank and rebuild with better materials.

There is no problem with waxing your rod. It will help protect the blank from the banging around in the boat or transporting your rod. I personally apply two coat of wax on every rod I build and tell my customer to wax rod once a year.

I use U-40 Rod Bond for all arbors, reel seats and cork. For the thread finish I use Cabela's Professional Rod Finish. The Cabela's is a little pricey but, easy to use and I apply two coats of it to the threads.I am thinking about trying Thred Master light on my next build.

I want to make some mop jigs out of round rubber, Who supplies fine round rubber. Thx

A friend of has two Rick Clunns rods and reels. He loves them. It is most definitely A better rod than a Ugly Stick.

If you want a custom rod built for you then you need to be nit picky. That is what separate a custom rod from a rod off the shelf.

When it comes to braid lines I would not use heavier pounds than the rod is rated for. Thats just me. As I am a custom rod builder and void my guarantee if a heavier braid is used than the the rod is rated for.

Want to build a rod for fishing hair jigs as light as 1/8 to 3/8 oz. I will be fishing these jigs in as much as 50 ft of water so the rod needs good back bone as well. I would like it to be a St. Croix. Any suggestion will help. Thanks to all.