Most Enjoyable & Least Enjoyable Parts of Rod Building...???

[ITO_ZILLION]

Which parts of rod building do you find most enjoyable...? Which parts of rod building do you find least enjoyable/tedious...? 

 

Planning to start getting into rod building and was kind of curious as to which parts of the craft guys are finding most enjoyable and least enjoyable and people's personal preferences/taste for certain aspects/workings of the craft. Personally, having watched countless videos on rod building, I think I would find installing grips, reels seats and winding checks the most enjoyable. Wrapping guides would probably feel the most tedious or least enjoyable for me. 

 

 

[cdlittle]

All of it is fun for me, until it comes to putting the finish on. I hate doing the finish.

[S Hovanec]

Most enjoyable: building cool grips.

Least enjoyable: grinding guide feet.

 

 

3 hours ago, cdlittle said:

All of it is fun for me, until it comes to putting the finish on. I hate doing the finish.

 

Little tip on finish.  Less is more.  The more you play with it, the harder it is.  What has given me the best results is to slop the finish on everywhere you need it, let the rod rest for a minute or so and take the excess drips off the bottom. Rotate the rod 180° and repeat. After two or three cycles of this, all the excess finish will be removed and you can set it back to turning on the dryer.  Wavy finish is a result of too much finish applied. Typically my first coat looks really bad, and you can see threads. You just want enough to saturate the threads. The second coat will give you your depth.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Ditto on the guide feet. Especially the really thick ones like stripper guides and the little recoil guides. Their feet are too wide and split if ground too short. 

[Michigander]

I don't like ordering parts and waiting for the package to arrive to verify I ordered the correct things.

 

Grinding guide feet sucks too. ?

[ITO_ZILLION]

I should probably open a new thread/post but since the topic of grinding guide feet has already come up...

 

1. What's the main purpose for grinding guide feet...?

2. Is grinding the guide feet something your supposed to do 'all the time' for every rod you make...? 

3. Is there a time/place/situation where you would not need to do any guide feet grinding...?

4. Are you supposed to grind ALL the guides on a rod or are you only supposed to grind 'specific' ones...?

5. How do you know if you need to grind a guide feet...? 

6. What grade of wretched file/rasp are you supposed to use for grinding guide feet...?

7. Is it possible to take off too much material and therefore damage/ruin the guide feet...? 

 

Sorry for all the questions guys and bearing with me. I haven't seen too many videos and/or topics for grinding guide feet so I am a little confused/lost. I want to get it right the first time. 

[cdlittle]

6 hours ago, ITO_ZILLION said:

I should probably open a new thread/post but since the topic of grinding guide feet has already come up...

 

1. What's the main purpose for grinding guide feet...?

2. Is grinding the guide feet something your supposed to do 'all the time' for every rod you make...? 

3. Is there a time/place/situation where you would not need to do any guide feet grinding...?

4. Are you supposed to grind ALL the guides on a rod or are you only supposed to grind 'specific' ones...?

5. How do you know if you need to grind a guide feet...? 

6. What grade of wretched file/rasp are you supposed to use for grinding guide feet...?

7. Is it possible to take off too much material and therefore damage/ruin the guide feet...? 

 

Sorry for all the questions guys and bearing with me. I haven't seen too many videos and/or topics for grinding guide feet so I am a little confused/lost. I want to get it right the first time. 

 

1) To make a smoother transition from blank to guide.

 

2) Yep, every rod

 

3) Some guides come pre-ground

 

4) All guides

 

5) The tip of the guide foot will be too thick to make a perfect transition from the blank

 

6) I use sandpaper, 320 grit

 

7) Absolutely

[S Hovanec]

I've never found the preground ones to be adequate, I always had to touch them up.

 

I use a wheel on my Dremel to grind them.

[MickD]

Most enjoyable, designing and constructing grips/seats assemblies.

 

Least enjoyable, wrapping micro guides.

 

I don't grind feet nearly as much as many other builders do.  I seldom do more than use a little 150 sandpaper scrubbed lightly across the feet to gain a little "purchase" for the thread.  I'd rather not disturb the surface any more than absolutely necessary.

[.ghoti.]

I like making grips and handles. Cutting up, glueing up, and turning to s perfect fit floats my boat. I only use burl cork. Don't like the looks of natural cork, and do not work with eva.

 

I use a Worksharp tool for guide foot prep, and can do an entire rod’s worth of guides in a few minutes.

 

I like thread work when accenting or decorating the butt end of the rod.

 

I’m ok with epoxy

 

 

do not like wrapping guides.

[cdlittle]

1 hour ago, .ghoti. said:

I like making grips and handles. Cutting up, glueing up, and turning to s perfect fit floats my boat. I only use burl cork. Don't like the looks of natural cork, and do not work with eva.

 

I use a Worksharp tool for guide foot prep, and can do an entire rod’s worth of guides in a few minutes.

 

I like thread work when accenting or decorating the butt end of the rod.

 

I’m ok with epoxy

 

 

do not like wrapping guides.

 

I just got a Worksharp. This is a fantastic idea.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

6 hours ago, .ghoti. said:

I like making grips and handles. Cutting up, glueing up, and turning to s perfect fit floats my boat. I only use burl cork. Don't like the looks of natural cork, and do not work with eva.

 

I use a Worksharp tool for guide foot prep, and can do an entire rod’s worth of guides in a few minutes.

 

I like thread work when accenting or decorating the butt end of the rod.

 

I’m ok with epoxy

 

 

do not like wrapping guides.

Which Worksharp do you have? You use it for anything else?

[.ghoti.]

Mike, I have the original version. The cheapest one. Have a bunch of knives. The Worksharp is is great at what it was designed to do. Sharpen blades.

 

I put an 80 grit belt on it and tried rough shaping a newly glued up grip on the lathe. Only did that once. Really easy to go way too far, way too quick.

 

If you like a smooth as a baby’s butt cork grip, a 1200 grit belt on the Worksharp, with grip turning on the lathe, will do it up just fine.

[cdlittle]

7 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Which Worksharp do you have? You use it for anything else?

 

Ken Onion version for me. I use it to sharpen anything that need sharpening. Filet/EDC/kitchen knives mostly

[Black Hawk Basser]

Least favorite for me is reaming grips, especially EVA.  What a mess.

 

I also don't like grinding guides but it's easier with a dremel.

 

My favorite is wrapping guides.  I've done more ice rods than long rods.  After doing a handful of noodle ice rods, any open water rod is easy to wrap.

[cdlittle]

16 hours ago, Pickle_Power said:

Least favorite for me is reaming grips, especially EVA.  What a mess.

 

I also don't like grinding guides but it's easier with a dremel.

 

My favorite is wrapping guides.  I've done more ice rods than long rods.  After doing a handful of noodle ice rods, any open water rod is easy to wrap.

 

I've wrapped one ice rod. Never again, buying ice rods from now on.

[Munkin]

Wrapping guides! As good as I am with making anything fishing related I cannot wrap anything for s**t! There are like 6 rods around here that have the grips done but I just gave up on wrapping guides from frustration.

 

Allen

[Alex from GA]

Least favorite is building the rod.  Most favorite is fishing with it.

[Michigander]

I'll add a new favorite, I've caught fish on three of the four rods I've built now. Extreme feeling of satisfaction from catching a fish on a rod I built specifically for me is certainly a favorite aspect.

[cdlittle]

15 hours ago, Michigander said:

I'll add a new favorite, I've caught fish on three of the four rods I've built now. Extreme feeling of satisfaction from catching a fish on a rod I built specifically for me is certainly a favorite aspect.

 

That's the reason I keep building rods! To have an idea of a specific rod you want, then to build it and have it work exactly how you hoped. Sooo addicting!

[Michigander]

3 hours ago, cdlittle said:

 

That's the reason I keep building rods! To have an idea of a specific rod you want, then to build it and have it work exactly how you hoped. Sooo addicting!

Yes! And catching on my custom jig rod with a jig I tied is EXTRA satisfying.

[cdlittle]

49 minutes ago, Michigander said:

Yes! And catching on my custom jig rod with a jig I tied is EXTRA satisfying.

 

Funny you mention that. I just got done wrapping a custom BFS jig rod for finesse jigs!