A couple of members asked so here we are a new rod building forum.

And to start it off I've just finished build up a couple of new 3 kg bait rods

Not a big lover of hyperlons I much prefer the feel of cork grips as you will see in pics below I've only waxed one of the rods the other 2 have yet to have the cork waxed they are the lighter coloured ones.

BEES WAX Is used & different methods are used I generally just put wax container near the heater till wax goes into liquid form then with a rag I rub it into the cork some peeps use a hair dryer what ever takes your fancy BUT I wouldn't recomend using a heat gun.

They give off too much heat which in turn can weaken any araldite used around the winch etc

Speaking of heat & araldite here's a tip if ever you need to replace a broken rod tip I lightlt run the tip over the gas stove taking great care not to allow flame to come in contact with rod blank in other words keep flame/heat on metal part of the tip to be replced, you dont need a great deal of heat & Never Try To Force Tip Off Blank do it lightly so as not to damage/twist the rod blank apply more heat if need be.

OK back to the rods blanks used are called a RAP blank have used them B4 & love their action classed as a Smart Wovan Space Graphite Blank the ones in pic are rated @ 1 - 3 kg & are 7 ft 6 " long, I'm not a big lover of short rods exept for lure casting & the 3rd rod in pic is shorter @ 6 ft & has the pistol grip which will be housing my little chronach in case I ever decide to go Bass Fushing again.

I much prefer overhead baitcasters for lure casting find them pretty easy to use & the shorter blank allows better accuracy when castingfor me it does dont know about anyone else.

As far as Rod Building goes well you dont save any money building your own these days you can buy off the rack cheaper & I did just that when I got back into fishing 12 months ago BUT what I found factory built rods are all over the place wrong back bones, grips not to my liking etc etc so I opted to start building my own again after many moons of not doing so.

Anyways ask any Q's or better still start your own thread if interested in rod building, my earsight ain't what it used to & I keep binding designs nice & simple these days

Looking good jumpy, but dont you have enough now!? hahaha!

It was bloody raining today so thought I'd finish off a couple I'd built earlier 2 kg & a 6 kg spin

They look sexy Jumpus! One question? How does one know the rating of each one? Is it by the blanks you get? Like how do you come to the conclusion that this particular rod is 3kg for example? Ive always wondered?
Kamil

Manufactures generally rate their blanks with a certain amount of tolerance by that I mean rare you see a blank rated say a straight out 3 kg they'll have a rating say 1 - 3 kg or something like a 2 - 4 kg label, same as if you walked into a shop & purchased a factory made rod

It's then up to the individual to decide what they want a rod to do some like a stiff rod others prefer a sloppy jalopy

That's where you have to decide what sort of taper you want in the rod whether a fast taper which has a sloppy tip & all it's grunt down low , medium taper the top 30 to 40% flex's say a slow taper which I call banana rods not a big fan of slow tapers as they aren't much choc for my type of fishing.

Again above are only a basic guide line to let you know about tapers, rod blanks in general can be cut down by cutting from the tip you'll beef up the stick & care should be taken so as you dont turn the rod into a broom handle by cutting to much off I very rare cut tips unless I'm building a game rod & want more grunt.

Cutting from the but wont alter the rod action anywhere near as such as cutting the tip, some people will echo what they've been told by others & really dont have a clue when they say you've altered the action of a rod by cutting it.

Well that's the whole purpose of rod building !

To end up with a rod that you're comfortable with not what everyone else tells you is correct, here's a good example that broom handle you've got with that shimano baitrunner on it ?

Well I've got rods 1/2 the Dia 1/2 the weight which will pull what your rod can.




Easy I pick out the blank load it up & see how it feels

Is there anuthing you can't do Jumpus? Fair dinkum, jack of all trades....

Na not much I cant do Majed

I'm just one of those peeps who if shows an interest in something then I master it.

One of the reasons I retired so young was I lost interest in what I was doing didn't want to be @ work & used to take off to play golf

I've always said to others if your heart is not into what you are doing then give it away else you'll do a crappy job

Thanks for that Jumpus, sorry i took off yesterday but i have been dying in bed with the flu! I cant stand it!

Are You Dead Yet ??

Well if you are I've done this reply for Nut Ting

Getting back to what I said earlier about that rod of yours cant recall what it was ??

Anyways here's a good example of what I was refering to as far as tapers go I'd built the stick below a couple of months back to accomidate a overhead reel you cant see it in the pic but the winch is a pistol grip.

Rod itself is 6 ft 9 " long I built it as a 2 handed cast rod & Yep the blank is graphite & rated as a 8 kg - 10 kg rod

I had a brain explosion 2day going out for fin again 2morro have to get one sooner or later

Anyways if they do rock up in the burlet trail I know how to keep them there & yes my brain explosion ???

Ummmmm !

I want to see if I can get one on a soft plastic

Just spooled up with 6 kg braid which will prob break @ around 8 - 9 kg my only worry is there's only 300 meters on the spool

Oh yeah nearly 4got & reason for reply the rod is a fast taper & measures around 13 mm @ the base these are the sort of blanks that I like nice & light in your hands with the power to lift.

Sweet looking rod. I've made a rod myself if you remember, Samooreye blanks they were on, 2-4kg. Tis a stiff rod, but good for pelagic species like salmonela.

Didn't turn out as good as yours; my thread work wasn't exactly spot on with the fancy stuff, the end of the foregrip was a tad to thin, could've been a bit more generous with the epoxy and the guides are just a smigin out of line but overall the rod works fine.

Took it on a 5 day fushin trip to the Hacking if ewes remember correctly. Didn't use it that much, favoured my 1-3kg rod that cost me a lot of $$$ and is my pride and joy.

P.S. Good luck on the YFT tommory...take pics for me! I wanna see one with raw YFT in your mouth. Go on, I DARE you to eat YFT sashimi !!!

Remember the soy sauce and wasabi!

Sashimi

I remember you saying you were going to build a rod & if I recall you were looking @ the Shintorro 001

Not a bad blank have a few of them but they're collecting dust now much prefer these RAP blanks

Nothing fancy about the designs on these rods in pics @ all they're either a simply diamond or chevron both these weaves are the basis for the more intricate designs next time I'm @ my oldies place I'll take a pic of a couple of my old game rods they all had the same matching design which were Eagles.

Very time consuming esp having to use A Grade cotton have woven amarlin & tuna as the design but these days haven't got it in me & stickers are much easier to use

That's what all the fish are on the rods stickers with epoxy over them, another little trick I use these days very effective & time saving on the weaves but only recomend the use of the dark colours such as dark blue, black etc else if you use lighter colours they'll become semi transparent after epoxy is applied.

I'm refering to ribbon ! the type dressmakers use you can get it in 3 , 6 , 12 mm etc & saves a sh*tload of work

Getting back to



No different to spray painting etc you'll always get a crappy job with one coat I apply 2 - 3 thin coats



1st thing to check B4 epoxy is the guides very easy to do & re - align if they are out flip the rod so as guides are facing downwards then lift the rod to eyesight level pretend you're shooting SUMO's :duckwj0: which is flying overhead

This will close guides up & give you a better alignment view then gently move them into position

ps] You didn't mention how you found the backbone of the blank if you bothered @ all ????

I use a simple method grab blanks tip between 2 fingers then let the blarest on a round object [pen does the trick use of finger not as good] abot 20 cm's from tip then just let the blank roll & rest on the backbone



Leave it alone if you keep playing with it It Wont Grow

Was going to go for a fush 2day but the wind came up had the camera with me so took a few pics of some of my old bind work dome back in the days when I had the patience to fart arse about with the fine cotton.

These designs are a full wrap around of cotton & very time consuming up to 8 hrs work

Trust him catch,sounds like he's speak'n from experiance



SMELLY

Nah didn't matter. Our MIC of fishing has one he's been using for ages and has caught 10kg jewgong on it running 8lb on it. Said that the backbone didn't matter. Didn't question him just took his word for it. Hasn't affected the rod at all.

Did you go for YFT Jumpy? Or is it 5-0 now.



P.S. At least I don't need Tiagra.

Well your MIC is a DIC & you can tell him I said so

If I ever run into you I'll show you why a backbone is important

Na didn't go 1/2 loaded the boat when some strong wind gusts came through & decided I didn't want to punch out in it

Wind dosen't worry me if I'm already out there but dont like going out in it it's a long hike which makes for a slow trip

So I went & did a bit of work after which the wind died down but couldn't be bothered going out

Trust me if you ever meet him you'll eat your words.

His home is the Port Hacking...and thus he has been given the title Mr. Port Hacking for a reason. He's been fishing that waterway for decades and knows the place back to front. All he has is a little 3.5 metre tinny. No electronics just a hull, 30hp motor, oars and some tackle. As for the rods...that rod he has been using has been used so much the cork is wearing away. He builds almost all of his own rods now. He fishes other spots around Sydney on mates' boats.

He fishes the Hacking at least 3 times a week too, providing the weathers right. Remember my trip to the hacking, he organizes that and has so many wierd fishing stories it's not funny. There are tournament anglers that have studied under his wing while they were with him in the fishing club.

Funny story at the hacking;...actions dead quiet, I suggest moving to another spot in the Hacking but he goes "nar, just give me a sec and we'll be eating squid for dinner" so he takes a good hard look at the water for a minute or so and goes "there's a weed bed there just let me lob this out (casts a squid jig)" and he mumbles to himself 30 seconds to go. 30 seconds later there's a squid in the boat. He did that about 5 times in a row. Then he goes "right then, no more squid here lets move off" the other boys who stayed there and watched him squid got nothing else.

I don't question him, he has more experience than I may ever have and I know when to jabber on and when to listen, and with him I listen. ;) I know I may come off a bit of a smart donkey, but I know that some people know more than me and that's when I learn. I don't question your game fushing experience because your practically a master at it (except for this years YFT).

THAT is my MIC. B)

P.S. Keep us updated with the YFT Jumpy.

Catch, Smart he may be and he may know the hacking really well...

But you will eat your words with the backbone call, and if he is as smart as yoiu say then he will tell you also, the backbone is extremly important, without it set properly the rod will twist in your hands and the action will never be correct!

Somthing I learnt along time ago with my sailing when i sailed 5 days a week and represented the state and the country
was;

Take in what everyone says BUT make your own opinion using bits and peices of what everyone says, because no one knows it all..

People like your MIC and jumpy will give you excelent advice but put it all together and form your own opinion...

Where is the DOG! would be funny to see his opinion on this backbone issue!!!

You hit the nail on the head there Rumpy !

Nothing worse than seeing your blank twist whilst fighting a fish more so when using overheads & catch this thread is about rod building not about catching fish & my comment about your MIC was a joe king but also true.

Earlier I stated that if I get interested in something I'll generally always master it & rod building is no exeption my theory is if you're gonna do something do it right or dont do it @ all.

Now the actual bindings on a rod dont have to be flash but if you're gonna go to the trouble of building up a rod then makesure you do the rest correct that includes finding the backbone guide spacings so as there's no line touch etc etc etc