.ghoti.

Both. I'll take a pic to show you my modified Alps carriage.

Just noticed, I should have wiped off the dust. OOPS.

stripper guide(Alconite size 5) and bumper guide(Recoil size 5)

the under wrap for a holo wrap in the hook keeper area. This is the third time I've done this. The first time a spider got into the epoxy, and made such a mess of it before he gave up the ghost, I had to cut it all off and start over. The second time, I just didn't like how it looked, so I cut it all of and started again. this is the base wrap of the third attempt.

Almost got this danged thing finished. It has been a comedy of errors since day one. The grip. A nice Winn grip, I got on sale. These grips trim very easily. They do not ream easily at all. You can see I stretched and distorted the skin while reaming.

Well, he had a buddy, who had a friend, who had a brother, who could buy those any time he wanted, and if I were any kind of reputable builder, I should be able to get him what he wanted. That's not an exact quote. I'm quite certain his command of the language did not include the term reputable.

Well, that will be a conversation that won't end well. I have a sign I had made to hang in my lab. Says TANSTAAFL. I'll be hanging it in my shop after I retire. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

I didn't intend to tell this tale, but this looks to be the right time and place to do so. Got a call, from a guy I dont know, a couple of weeks ago. I keep hoping one of my buds put somebody up to this just to yank my crank, and that he'll call and fess up, so we can have a chuckle about it. I'm still waiting for that call. Anyway, this wingnut tells me wants a Loomis NRX rod, 7'6" heavy, extra fast, with an 18" full cork handle, foodge guides, (not Fuji, foodge); it has to be under 4 ounces, and he needs me to deliver it to him personally in four days, because he has an "important" tournament, and can't wait for it to be shipped. He called on a Saturday afternoon, and wanted it Wednesday, so he could pre-fish with his new rod. He got down right abusive when I tried to tell him what was impossible about his request. Being a guy who likes to return a compliment after receiving one, the conversation went rapidly downhill. I hope I don't run into too many more of this type of fool.

Daiwa TD-X 6'10" ML-F dropshot model. Good luck finding one.

I match my rods and reels by weight and application. AnSS SV, PX-R, and an assortment of Alphas get paired with my lightest power rods, for used with the lightest baits and line. A few Zillions and an Abu Record go with my heaviest power rods for the heaviest baits and line. A pair of TD-Zs and a flock of Fuegos fit in between. Within each subdivision, I go with what reel feels good with which rod. What they look like together has nothing to do with it. I simply don't care.

Ah, sorry. Didn't mean to call your judgement into question. It's hard to convey tone in a post, and easy to read something in it that was not intended. I'm like you; I need to see it sometimes before I can buy into it. That's why I'm gonna try it.

You are really giving that new band saw a workout. What is that burl you used on the ends?

That's the beauty of building your own. I can experiment, and none of my failures ever need to see the light of day.

Just did a little experiment on a chunk of scrap blank. One thin coat of FlexCoat lite, that I let cure for three days. Put a coat of Permagloss over the epoxy. Looks like it has set up hard, with no effect on the epoxy. My next build is a jerkbait rod. I'll be leaving off the bumoer guide, and substituting the two layer finish application. Won't take long; I have the grip built, the reel seat trimmed, and static testing done. It will take some time to see how well this works over the long haul. Be next year some time before I can make that call. Gonna need to fish it for a while to see. I'll tell you what, pgersumky; I received a lot of great advice from Mr Hovanec lately. All of which has been spot on. I also have another plan to try. Bought the materials to do it, and plan to remove the bumper from my new bait finesse stick, and try it out. No details at this time. I want to see if I can make it work before I report on the method. Don't want to look stupid if it doesn't work. ( I know; too late )

Any fly shop, online or brick & mortar, should have something called ferrule wax. I've used it for years on my fly rods; both to keep it together and lined up while fishing, and to facilitate taking it apart when finished. Never had a problem when using this stuff, and I've bought and used several different brands. They all worked just fine. Mick, I'd be interested to hear why you do not recommend ferrule wax. Not bustin yer chops; just curious.

It's rated MH because they know it will sell better with that rating.

I'm just guessing, but it sounds like the threaded rod, or rods, are spinning. Take that thing apart, all the way, and put a lock washer between the nuts and the mount. You need to make sure the rod does not spin. I have two tensioning devices on my wrapper. One of them is identical to your two. It had the same problem, and the lock washer fixed it.

If I put my lathe 40' from my wrapping bench, I'd have a variety of problems. To the north would put it in my neighbor's garage. South, in an overgrown empty lot. West, in the road. East, in the lake. I don't think any of those locations are gonna work for me. LOL

I'veoften wonderd how that would work out over the long haul. Did you apply any finish to the area between, where the line comes in cantact with the blank? Might be a place for Permagloss. I'm gonna have to try that.

You untie your shoe laces with a sword, don't you? (Two bonus points to me for referencing Alexander the Great.)

MickD has hit the heart of the matter. The Common Cents System has been around for quite a while. If manufacturers were going to be measuring and publishing this data,they would have done so by now. They are not interested, for one primary reason. To do so would remove all propaganda ( I mean marketing ) from the equation. They want to throw their favorite, basically meaning less terms at us. Tournament ready, technique specific, advanced technology, precision manufacturing, balanced, crisp, ultra responsive, frighteningly sensitive ( I like that one ), precision engineering, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Who needs a bunch of dull numbers anyway?

I took mine to the chem lab on campus for a specific gravity check. Can't do any better than that to establish proportions.

Current thinking is that the spine is irrelevant. Build on the straightest axis instead. All blanks have a bit of curve. I set mine so it curves up when with a casting reel at top dead center. Then let the weight of the guides, wraps and finish help to pull it a bit straighter.

If you're going to continue building rods, get yourself a small, accurate digital scale. Since I started using one for epoxy measurements, I've never had a bad batch. And, you can mix very small batches. I spent $50 to get an accurate scale. Using Flex Coat Lite, a mix of 12 grains hardener to 14 grains of resin produces enough to do a complete guide set and a small decal. Half of that is enough for a guide set, or a long holo wrap, but not enough for both. That's well less than 5cc of each, which most recommend. I started with a new pair of Flex coat bottles, and have used almost all of it up. Both bottles have about 1/4" left, and are at the exact same level after being measured out by weight. Eyeballing it into measuring cups did not produce that result. There's no need to spend the extra for measuring cups. I use condiment cups from Walmart. A lot cheaper. Also, use a round stirring stick. A flat one makes too many bubbles in the mix. Two minutes is plenty of mix time. After mixing, while it's still in the cup, blow on it with a straw (I use a piece of clear plastic tubing), to get rid of the bubbles. Carbon dioxide helps break the surface tension of the mix, allowing bubbles to set themselves free. Then pour it out onto a flat piece of aluminum foil. This will heat sink the mix, giving you more working time.

0.45 diameter line? That's not line, that's rope.