# A couple of new rods from my cave



## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

Here's some close ups of two rods I've been working on.

If you build, feel free to show off some of your work here too - paging Wyogoob!



















Next -




























I'll post some more as get farther on them.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Atta boy Dodger, lookin' good.

Nice close-up pics too.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

I bow to the Masters. :_O=: 
Fantastic work.
I would be afraid to use them for fear of damaging them.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

Thanks for the kind words guys. I guess I forgot to mention that the gold/blue/red is a 7ft. spinning rod for an upcoming trip to Florida and the other is a 7'6" red-blank downrigger kokanee rod for a buddy of mine. I just glued up another handle for another rod for my wife and I've got at least 3 more kokanee rods to build after that. So, I'll be busy for the next little while.

The international custom rod building expo is coming up in 3 weeks in North Carolina. I'm headed down there again this year to see the sights and pick up some things. They have a really great "Trash-bin-blank" sale where they sell last year's blanks for $5 a blank. You can't be those prices. 

Grandpa D, remind me next year for the perch party and I'll contribute a custom ice rod for the raffle. I would have done it this year but I didn't have enough time to get one done before I realized you needed things to raffle.

Wyogoob, are you still actively building? I thought you might have said that you were on hiatus. 

I'll post some more pictures when I get the finish on it and zoom out a little so you can see the rest of it.


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## coachmitchell (Nov 19, 2010)

How long does it take to make a rod? Sounds like a fun hobby.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

coachmitchell said:


> How long does it take to make a rod? Sounds like a fun hobby.


If you want a bare bones rod, it would probably take 3 or 4 hours spread over around 2 days.

You have to glue the handle portion together (butt cap, lower foam handle or cork, reel seat, and upper foam handle or cork) and let it dry. Then you have to put all the guides on and epoxy over the thread, which also has to dry. I allow at least 24 hours for each set of glue to dry, so it takes a couple of days. For bare bones, you are probably into it around 4 hours of work and 48 hours of drying time.

If you want to dress the rod up, it takes a little longer to do all the thread work. Each rod above took me probably 4 or 5 hours and each is about 6 inches long in total. Gluing the handles together probably took about an hour to get everything lined up. The kokanee rods use 10 guides so that will probably take 3 or 4 hours (for double footed guides). The spinning rod will probably only take an hour or two. So, for a dressier rod, you are probably into it 10 or 12 hours with 48 hours of drying time.

Professional guys would laugh at my timing but this is a hobby for me so I'm not on the clock. I enjoy doing it a lot though. It is really fun to catch a fish with something you built. Even better though is that you can build the rod to do exactly what you want it to do. I made some kokanee rods last year for my trip to the Gorge and they really worked well. Since they were built right, I could see everything that was happening with the lure. My factory rods made hits hard to see on occasion. The ones I built last year make it easy to see when you get grass on your lure - a big difference.

I'll never go back to factory rods. Custom rods are much more fun to make and use and they work much much better than anything out of the factory.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

I just saw this on the board too. I have no idea how Tom Kirkman found us here but, that's pretty awesome. If I run into him again this year, I'll have to re-introduce myself.

I can't believe I missed his post. I guess I can blame finals.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=27587&start=10


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

coachmitchell said:


> How long does it take to make a rod? Sounds like a fun hobby.


Yes, a hobby.

I can do a flyrod with trim rings that matches say an Orvis or a Sage in 4 or 5 hours. Without trim rings, 4 hours. The problem is rodbuilding can tie up several calendar days waiting for a coat of threadlock to dry or putting on numerous coats of finish to dry.

A bamboo refurbish is 20 to 40 hours.

I made two matching rods that took 65 hours each. I could do a post on them if anyone is interested.

I did a boat rod for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation national convention about 12 years ago. It had bull and cow elk in a field of snow with mountains and a sunset in the background all woven in thread. I think that took about 60 hours. It went up for auction. A dentist from Medford OR won it and hung it on his mounted elk and has never used it far as I know.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Dodger said:


> Thanks for the kind words guys. I guess I forgot to mention that the gold/blue/red is a 7ft. spinning rod for an upcoming trip to Florida and the other is a 7'6" red-blank downrigger kokanee rod for a buddy of mine. I just glued up another handle for another rod for my wife and I've got at least 3 more kokanee rods to build after that. So, I'll be busy for the next little while.
> 
> The international custom rod building expo is coming up in 3 weeks in North Carolina. I'm headed down there again this year to see the sights and pick up some things. They have a really great "Trash-bin-blank" sale where they sell last year's blanks for $5 a blank. You can't be those prices.
> 
> ...


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## STEVO (Sep 13, 2007)

Guys those are awesome rods. I would LOVE to be able to build some rods like that. What type of machinary or equipment do you need to build the nicer rods? Are there classes you can take to learn that stuff?


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

wyogoob said:


> I made two matching rods that took 65 hours each. I could do a post on them if anyone is interested.


Me! Me! I'm interested!


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

STEVO said:


> Guys those are awesome rods. I would LOVE to be able to build some rods like that. What type of machinary or equipment do you need to build the nicer rods? Are there classes you can take to learn that stuff?


Thanks Stevo.

I bought a rod lathe that is operated with a foot pedal, like a sewing machine. But, you don't need one to be able to spin a really nice rod. Some people do it with nothing more than a book.* Yes, I'm serious. I have an American Tackle lathe. Wyogoobs looks like the Cadillac of rod lathes - the Renzetti lathe.

There are classes but they are mostly taught on the east coast. Everything you are interested in learning, you can learn on the internet, or on Youtube. Search "Mudhole" on google and you'll find the biggest wholesaler of rod-making stuff. They have links to their Youtube videos on the site too.**

I'm moving back home to probably the Layton area in late March and I'd be happy to show you the ropes.

*Tension is one of the most important things to keep track of when you are wrapping the lathe. Some people will run the string through a closed book to apply tension to thread as they wrap it around the rod. You roll the rod in your hands as you lay thread along the rod. It's time consuming but people have spun some pretty sweet rods that way.

**Mudhole's prices are generally higher than most other places. There are better places to get most things.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Dodger said:


> STEVO said:
> 
> 
> > Guys those are awesome rods. I would LOVE to be able to build some rods like that. What type of machinary or equipment do you need to build the nicer rods? Are there classes you can take to learn that stuff?
> ...


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Mudhole has everything. People there are nice too. It's in Florida somewhere:










Sevier Manufacturing has some of the best prices on components.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

This web page has a good representation of rod wrapping equipment:

http://www.acidrod.com/equipment.html


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

wyogoob said:


> Dodger said:
> 
> 
> > STEVO said:
> ...


Oops. My mistake. 

I do agree that there is no way to make money making rods. It's a fun hobby but it's too time intensive to be able to make anything doing it. You are hard pressed to find folks that want to pay for that kind of rod.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Here's the home-made rod wrapping stuff I use the most. It's in pieces, very portable:









Here's my thread carriage, wrap central. Everything I need is on this home-made stand. I can wrap 8 (non-metallic) threads at a time with it. That's all I can handle at one time and I usually limit the number of threads I carry to four. Wrap central holds my weave patterns too:









I was wrapping a company logo in the pic above, Spidle Sales:


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

Wow! I don't even know what to say! That's a beautiful, beautiful setup and a very nice looking wrap. Your thread carrier is a pretty cool little setup. I get really sick of taking thread on and off my carriage. So that is a very cool feature.

I'm also really jealous of your masking tape holder, to the point where I have just decided that I'm getting one! 

I'm thinking about making a drying lathe to let finish dry. I don't really make rods fast enough to necessitate it but when I'm into it, I like to be in to it.

What kind of blanks do you generally like to use, brand wise? Or do you have a different brand preference based on the type of rod you are making? I've been making kokanee rods on Batson Rainshadow kokanee downrigger blanks. I like them a lot even though they are a little lower modulus blanks.


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## poiboy (Nov 18, 2010)

Dodger, that's a hell of a talent you got. Very nice work.
Building my own rods is something I've been wanting to do for some years now, it's one of those things that will need to wait until I get a house.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Dodger, you should have a drying motor setup. They don't cost too much. Or one can easily be made from a BBQ spit motor. Just cut the shaft off and put a rod handle chuck on it and then mount the thing on a stand. I used a BBQ spit for years to finish rods. The speed is just right for applying finish.

My finishing set up is made from an old Timex watch revolving display case. I found it in basement of an old store and robbed the gear motor off of it. It's very smooth, quiet and durable. It runs a little slower than store-bought finishing motors, a real plus for bigger rods. The PVC chucks are inexpensive and readily available. The gear motor is mounted on a homemade stand:









The wooden thing with the bent wire on it is a holder for bent rod handles, pistol grip handles:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I do a lot of weaving so it's important to have different sizes of masking tape close to the wrapping thread. By having the tape mounted on the thread carriage I can tear off a piece of tape with one hand. A spool of yellow monofilament for tie-off loops is on the stand too: 









Four rolls can be mounted on the gizmo. Here's a pic with three; 3/4", 1/4" and 1/8". 









The narrow 1/8" tape is very handy, especially for taping down small fly and spin rod guides.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Dodger said:


> ..........................................................................
> 
> What kind of blanks do you generally like to use, brand wise? Or do you have a different brand preference based on the type of rod you are making? I've been making kokanee rods on Batson Rainshadow kokanee downrigger blanks. I like them a lot even though they are a little lower modulus blanks.


I use Seeker or Ugly Stik for saltwater rods. Freshwater rods - just whatever the customer wants. We usually sit down and look over blanks in catalogs. Loomis is the only blank I won't use.

I like 8' to 9' long progressive-action downrigger blanks for Kokes. They are soupy enough that I can use light line and run without a snubber, rarely losing a fish. A moderate-action 9' 9wt or 10 wt fly rod blank with 3" cut off both the top and bottom of the blank makes a nice downrigger rod. The longer rods also allow me to use a little longer downrigger boom and still keep my fishing lines from tangling on the boom or downrigger cable on turns, in rough water, or when playing larger fish.

My blue-collar go-to homemade fly rods are Powell and Winston graphites. I have a two-section, two-tip, Powell fly rod that has both 5wt and a 7wt top sections!! I like my bamboo too. Lately I have been using off-the-shelf Orvis Helios. I just don't build rods for myself these days.

Here's my old Powell two-tip flyrod and a fat Evanston rainbow:


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

poiboy said:


> Dodger, that's a hell of a talent you got. Very nice work.
> Building my own rods is something I've been wanting to do for some years now, it's one of those things that will need to wait until I get a house.


Thanks Poiboy. You are more generous with your praise than I deserve.  But, I appreciate it.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

wyogoob said:


> Dodger, you should have a drying motor setup. They don't cost too much. Or one can easily be made from a BBQ spit motor. Just cut the shaft off and put a rod handle chuck on it and then mount the thing on a stand. I used a BBQ spit for years to finish rods. The speed is just right for applying finish.
> 
> My finishing set up is made from an old Timex watch revolving display case. I found it in basement of an old store and robbed the gear motor off of it. It's very smooth, quiet and durable. It runs a little slower than store-bought finishing motors, a real plus for bigger rods. The PVC chucks are inexpensive and readily available. The gear motor is mounted on a homemade stand:
> 
> ...


That's a pretty cool little drying motor set up. I do have a drying motor on my lathe that I use to dry the finish on the rods but it uses the same chuck and pulley system as my lathe. Basically when I want to switch between wrapping and drying, I just flip the switch and put the belt around the dry motor pulley instead of the wrapper pulley.

I was thinking about making a separate dryer so I could wrap and dry at the same time. I just don't build rods fast enough to justify that yet. On the other hand, it would still be nice to have...

Here's the wrapper I have:










And I really like your tape holder. That thing is great. What pound mono do you use for your tie-offs? I've tried mono and it was too thick to work well. I also tried braid and that stained my thread. I finally settled on some quick-pulls from Mudhole that were pretty convenient to use but they have a pretty limited lifetime.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

wyogoob said:


> Dodger said:
> 
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> > ..........................................................................
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That's really interesting on the downrigger rods. I hadn't thought of using a fly rod blank. I was really thrilled to come across the special purpose downrigger blanks from Batson/Rainshadow/Forecast and I'm generally pleased with them. I got the 7'6" model but I have fairly short fixed booms on my riggers. They are pretty soft rods and have done really well for me so far. I'd like to see some of your downrigger rods sometime. They sound pretty neat.

I haven't done a lot of work with fly rods but I'd like to do a little more. Powell and Winston make some pretty decent blanks though. And the Helios, well, fugetabout it!

The rod show is in about 3 weeks. I can't wait.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> Mudhole has everything. People there are nice too. It's in Florida somewhere:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Goob.....does your wife know you've been to Florida, hugging up to sexy women?? :shock:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Oh Kerry, that's a goodin'. I don't think I'd take a girlfriend to Mudhole Tackle. :mrgreen: 

Hey 'how bout that rental car, a "Hot Rod Lincoln".


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Dodger

That's a fine looking rod wrapper! I'm jealous.

I use 4# test mono tie-off loops. I was using yellow line but switched to red, easier to find on the floor.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

I've got the epoxy on the red rod and it's down spinning right now! This is the best part of rod building, walking down in the morning and seeing the rod all done.

Maybe it is only second best behind catching something with it.


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