Christmas (blanks) gifts

[flechero]

My wife thinks I have been good this year... there are 2 rod tubes leaning on the wall beside the Christmas tree!!!!

Have any of you asked for blanks this year?  I have no idea as to which blanks they are, I listed about 10 of them on my "wish" list.  ....lol  Although one of the tubes was a drop ship from St. Croix so that narrows it a little.  I love rod tubes... you can't disguise them!!

I can't wait, I'll be up at 4am on Monday!!  ...lol  Which means I'll be here, since the wife won't get up until later!   ;D

May all your trees, have a 7' PVC tube (or 2) near by!!!!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

You're a real kid at heart.   8-)

[N.Jack]

LOL! I am hopin gto have a 6ft 6in M St Croix there, parents have a good hiding spot for it, cuz I cant find it

[flechero]

You're a real kid at heart. 8-)

Yup, 35 years old and still have a hard time going to sleep on Christmas eve. ...lol The difference now is that I get more out of the giving.  But I won't lie, I am pretty fired up about the tubes!    ;D

[Guest zardon]

Cool deal Flechero. What blanks did they wind up being?

[flechero]

What blanks did they wind up being?

I got a St.Croix 4C70HF (slop/frog) and a Loomis MB844 IMX.  Can't wait to get started!

[Siebert Outdoors]

Sweet,  so will they be finished up by tomorrow

Really though,  How long does it take to make a rod?  also you have to share pics with us when they are done.

[flechero]

I wish I didn't have to work so I could get to it right away.  Bad news though... I fished yesterday and had a little mishap with my t-rig rod.  A misplaced step while trying to get out of the coveralls (it was cold!) was more than a fuji ECSM could take, especially since I weigh 240.   >  Still not sure exactly how it happened but I heard a snap and the hood jumped a set of threads... the rest of the day on each hookset, it jumped the threads again and again, so, I have to call "no joy" and build another t-rig rod.  There is no "expeditor" when you build your own....   :'(  I've repaired threads on a seat before but never inside the hood.

I'll get some pics when I get the new stuff built.  Unfortunately, I'm so busy with my day job that I am lucky to get an hour a day in the garage.  I'm hoping for some free time this weekend to glue up and turn some grips.

As for time to build, it's hard to say... there are so many variables in the process that you can litterally spend as much time as you could stand.  I seem to average in the 15-20 man hour range.  One thing you can't change is drying and cure times for epoxies and finish... I can't beat 5 days for a rod since several steps require a 24 hour cure time before proceeding.  There are some people that have hundreds of hours in the threadwork alone, doing weaves and other artwork.  I usually build stealth rods (for myself) so it's pretty much a function over fashion thing... I'm not real flashy either so it fits my personality.  Or like yesterday- if I had a hundred hours in that rod I stepped on, I would have been devestated.  

[Guest zardon]

Wow Flechero thats some bad news on the seat.

Did the hood crack or something that its slipping over the threads?

Not sure what your considering for options, but you might be able to inject some 5min epoxy in there, crank it down on the reel, then not build another one till you have to take the reel off, which will probably require cutting the seat off since it will be epoxied fast. But it might be a quicker fix than building a whole new rod and a heck of alot cheaper unless your planning on stripping that blank and using it again.

Tommy

[Siebert Outdoors]

Thanks I knew it depended on complexity but just to wrap guides and put the handle on.  I dont want to hijack the thread but I was kicking around asking one of you guys to make me a rod.  Nothing pretty.  just a blank about 7-7'4" med hvy, tennesse handle, TI guides.  I am wanting a tube rod

[flechero]

GMAN,

If you aren't in a hurry I'd be happy to help you out.  But it would be a few months before I can.  

[Guest DavidGreen]

Happy New Year!

flechero,

Sitting here looking at the ECS I have in my hand. You could have cracked the hood, or broken the alignment tab off of it. There is one way you might be able to repair the seat, but you would have to remove the stripper and transition guides. Depending on the size of the transition guide/s (if spiraled) and the stripper, you could remove those and then take a new hood and feed it over the tip, and running guides. Then place the new hood on the seat and re-wrap the transition and stripper guides. This could be time consuming but cheaper than a new build. Just a thought.

Tight Wraps!  

GMAN,

Nothing pretty. just a blank about 7-7'4" med hvy, tennesse handle, TI guides.  I am wanting a tube rod

Looks like a fun spinning build. The Ti guides are going to be really expensive, a stripper guide in the #30 size can run 43.00 for just that guide.

Tight Wraps All!  

[flechero]

Reelmech,

I was pretty bummed when it happened because my t-rig rod is my #1 most used rod. The problem in this case is that this rod was built with Bastson guides which sit high like the TSG's... so it would require a careful bending down of every guide or a complete strip to change hoods.

I never intended this to be my t-rig rod because it was an experiment with different guides, cork and it's a +T handle. It just ended up exceeding all of my expectations so I decided to use it until I bought a lighter and nicer blank. I think I'll just retire it but I need to take the tip top off of it for the new rod. ...lol (the tip top is SiC) This was out of the original lot of $12 blanks from last winter. So if you figure time, it's probably cheaper this time to start over.

I just glued up a seat and grip on one of the extra MB844 blanks I have so I'll be taping up guides and static testing tomorrow.

I'll save it for sure since I like the blank... some day I will probably strip it and re use it or keep it as a freebie for someone to learn how to build on. (it already has good mojo in it!)

Happy New Year to you as well!

[Guest DavidGreen]

Keith,

Yup those high frame guides would definitely throw a wrench into the mix. Well like you said save the rod for a future re-do project and move forward..

Tight Wraps!!