Rod build

[Ken L]

As per the previous thread I’m sharing my second and third rod builds. As requested, it will be warts and all and I will include prices and sources where I can.

 

Just to re-iterate, I am in no way an expert and will be using no special tools -well one but we’ll cover that latter

 

This thread is as much about getting people to point out what I could have done better or easier as it is about showing that rod building is within anyone’s grasp.

 

One will be a lightweight rod rated to cast 3/8 of an ounce that will mainly be used for chasing trout in the spring.

 

The other is a heavier spinning rod casting upto an ounce (28g) that will be used for pike and for bass fishing.

 

I’m building the bass rod first and because I want to cast light lures a long way, I’m fitting it with slightly oversize rings.

 

The list of parts for the first build is:

MHX Spinning Blank MB844-2-MHX - £55.00.

Cork Butt [W 66/35] - 2.75

5 inch Parallel cork [W10] – x2 @ £4.60

FUJI reel seat [DPS-B17] - £6.48.

Plastic winding check 10mm bore [10BPC10] - £0.25.

Seymo Hook Keeper bright finish size 5mm [719 5mm] - £0.11

Tip ring: PacBay minima3 Black frame 8 eye 2.2 tube bore [bP3XT(8)2.2] - £1.28

PacBay Minima Black Single leg guide. Size 8 [bSV3XG08] - £0.46

PacBay Minima Black Single leg guide. Size 10 [bSV3XG10] - £0.49

PacBay Minima Black Single leg guide. Size 12 [bSV3XG12] - £0.55PacBay Minima Black Single leg guide. Size 16 [bSV3XG16] - £0.72

PacBay Minima Black Single leg guide. Size 20 [bSV3XG20 - £0.90

PacBay Minima Black Single leg guide. Size 30 [bSV3XG30 - £1.58

Nylon Thread Grade "C" 100 yrd Midnight Black [PB 001-C] - £3.96

 

All these bits are available from Guides n Blanks.

 

You will also need an epoxy for building the handle, masking tape and an epoxy coating for covering your rod whippings.

 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t track down a 10mm tip ring with the right size bore otherwise the first two guides and the tip would have both been size 10’s.

 

Here’s all the bits for both rods laid out as they arrived in the post.

 

Edited October 6, 2013 by Ken L

[Ken L]

The butt cap that I’ll be using (top) comes pre-bored to 20mm, so it’s going to need quite a bit of material between it and the blank. The other butt cap shown is only bored to 10mm so I’m going to have to widen that out to fit the blank when I do the second build.

 

Edited October 6, 2013 by Ken L

[viney]

Bear with me, I'm trying to figure out how to edit it so those photo links work.

I tried one link and got forwarded to an image of a young lady with a different sort of rod in her mouth!

[Ken L]

I tried one link and got forwarded to an image of a young lady with a different sort of rod in her mouth!

It was obviously a dodgy hosting site. Sorry about that.

I'm clearly not going to be able to post it all in one go with the pictures in appropriate places so I've broken the post up into chunks.

Hopefully, it will still be readable and be free of naughty ladies.

Edited October 6, 2013 by Ken L

[Ken L]

Here’s a rough assembly of the handle components. I already know that I’ll be making a slightly longer foregrip than the tapered cone shown but I want to be sure that everything feels right. What you can’t see from the photo is that the diameter of the end of the butt cap is slightly less than that of the match cork barrel. There are two ways that I could deal with that, I could sand the mach cork barrel to a slightly smaller diameter, or I could cut back the butt cap to where it has a slightly larger diameter that matches the cork barrel.

 

 

Edited October 6, 2013 by Ken L

[Ken L]

I chose to cut a thin ring of cork away with a hacksaw.

 

Sandpaper on a hard surface flattens out any irregularities.

Edited October 6, 2013 by Ken L

[Ken L]

Cut the middle piece of match cork to the length required and sand the cut edge where it will meet the reel seat.

 

Next find the spine of the butt section of the blank and mark the inside of the curve – the reel seat will be lined up with this later. There’s lots of guidance n this on

.

 

Edited October 6, 2013 by Ken L

[Ken L]

A piece of scrap cork (this is from a wine bottle) blocks the end of the blank so no epoxy goes up there later. Its obviously very important that all the bits line up with one another and I nicked the method of building everything up with layers of masking tape from an Ausie rod builder. It will all be encased in epoxy later so there should be no issues with water getting in and expanding it. As you should be able to see, there is no tape on the blank where the components meet because I want direct bonding at these points. There should be almost no play so everything will be perfectly central when its pushed together. You will see that this only goes as far as the cork. I cant build up the blank to mount the reel seat at this stage because it has a bigger bore than the cork and the tape would stop me sliding the corks down the rod.

Edited October 6, 2013 by Ken L

[Ken L]

This shows how the blank fits the butt cap. Note the recess that will be filled with epoxy for a solid bond.

Edited October 6, 2013 by Ken L

[Ken L]

The bits for the epoxy. This is a five minute epoxy brought from Amazon and enough to build a rod costs me just £1.39 delivered. I used Araldite on the first build and it stays liquid for far to long. Unfortunately, there was a woodworm hole in the first butt cap and I spent an age mopping up glue as it oozed out. The mixing pots cost me 99p for 40 and were sold as disposable shot glasses. My stirrers are heavy duty bamboo skewers which again cost pennies.

 

A lesson learned from the first build. Its much easier to cover everything in masking tape at this stage (including a section of the rod blank that you can safely handle even if your hands are covered in glue) than to clean up accidental glue spillages later.