Overwhelmed!!!

[bear7625]

Over the years I have thought about rod building or at least being able to replace guides on old rods. Now I'm retired and have the time. I have read numerous posts you guys have on here and decided to do a little browsing at Mudhole.

Wow! Talk about overwhelmed,I don't know where to start.I have an engineering background and was in woodworking for 15 years, so I have alot of tools. I want to start out slow and need to know what basic equipment is a must. I started looking at rod winders and realized I don't have a clue!

I need all the help I can get. :'(

[FishingBuds]

theres guys that build rods next to nothen on tools.

you got fancy tools and simple tools.

I started off with some tool purchases and ended up making those same tools and love them better than store bought.

this is the tools i started out with

Tom Kirkmans rod build book, hand wrapper, reamer, pop cycle sticks, tooth picks, razor blades, brushes, metal file, sand paper, masking tape, grease pencil,.

You should love it. It is a patient hobby, so if ya can relax with it then it might suite you, cause rushen thru a build shows.

there is so much more info for ya, just be sure to hangout.

Theres some great rod builders on here

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

The Kirkman book is very good. Flex Coat's "How we do it" is very, very basic but gets you started. Also, Kevin has a series or video tutorials on the Mud-Hole site that are ver good. I'd say check them out to see what's involved, then decide how deep you want to get and how fast. Enjoy & good luck.

Mike

[BobP]

I've done about 20 rods using a couple of homemade V-blocks from 3/4" shelving with felt pads to hold the blank, thread in a teacup, tensioned with a BPS catalog.  The only "significant tool" was a slow speed rod turner for spinning the blank while the guide epoxy cured.  I made that with a 6 rpm 110V gear motor and a chuck fashioned from a piece of 1 1/2" PVC pipe with 3 thumb screws tapped into it.  Total tool cost was about $20.  Cork rings glued up on a 1/4" bolt with a couple of washers and a nut (I like split cork handles.  If you like full handles, I'd just buy one pre-made).  Cork shaped on the bolt, mounted in an electric drill clamped in a bench vise.  All this works perfectly well.  Maybe not as fast as a $600 rod lathe, but, well, it didn't cost $600 either.

[rubba bubba]

What Bob said. Here's a link with some good info as well:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1170958187

It's actually not that complicated. I started from a 15 page pamphlet by Gudebrod (30 years ago) that showed how to bend a pair of coat hangars to use as your rod holder for the wrapping. The only "must", imo, is the rod dryer. They can be had on ebay for cheap:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ROD-DRYING-DRYER-MOTOR-KIT-6-RPM_W0QQitemZ360245315023QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item53e04b45cf

Get an extra tower and, viola, you have your rod holder.

Those Kevin Brotz videos on mudhole show you how easy it really is. Watch them.

[bear7625]

Thanks guys, you been a big help. I needed a start in the right direction.