Tom S Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 So I've stripped down one of the fiberglass rods I purchased. It had damaged wraps so I decided to strip it right down to the blank and give it a new life. This is my first test wrap. What do you think? Looking at you Cliff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iHasFish Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 I'd take the thread a little lower. Until the bend of the guide lifts off the blank. Clean wraps though, nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow Man Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Tom, what blank is that? Got to love glass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted January 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 It's a Herter's blank - they used to be a mail order rod building company. 5-6 weight if I remember correctly. Showed up like this: After stripping all the old varnish off the dark burgundy woven glass made an appearance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplummer Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Good to see your using a B thread it looks like.Dont go past the guide lift or your epoxy will hill when applied. Also a tip for you..instead of using tape to hold the guide in place heat the guide and run it across hot glue and put in place .Thats a little tip for you. I presume your putting the guide on the spine of the blank? . The thread work looks good so far. If you need any advice PM me. Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplummer Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Also Tom make sure you file the guide down a bit instead of having a lift thats too high. It will help when you apply the epoxy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Good point on filing the guide foot down for a smooth transition, as is finding the spine....Cliff knows it well and builds some nice rods. Good luck with the build!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Thanks for the tip on the hot glue - that sounds much easier than taping on one foot. Definitely need to spend some time filing the guide feet, it will make that transition much nicer. Spine has been found and guides will be placed on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplummer Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Show us the finished rod Tom.. Thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted February 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Burned through some 35 year old epoxy tonight, got the old reel seat off. New one is in the mail. Time to start fitting some cork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 First coat of urethane on the stripped rod. Cork ready for a final fit. Slowly getting closer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Nice stuff! Never tried my hand at rod building/refurbishing, but it looks like a rewarding endeavor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 Looky what showed up in the mail today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted March 3, 2015 Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 Wow. That is one nice looking piece of wood. Had a rifle stock once with a similar grain (but it was walnut). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Spent some time fitting things tonight, before I start applying epoxy and making it permanent. First, trying to get a shot of the refinished blank. Having trouble getting the camera to focus on the rod itself. Made a spigot using an section out of an old rod Trying the reel seat in an uplocking configuration And in a downlocking configuration I'm leaning towards the downlocking configuration. It's going to move the reel back just a bit more to balance out the fiberglass. And the overall shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Looking good Tom. As a tip for you, use a barbecue rotisiere to turn your rod while applying the flex coat guide finish. A simple v shape piece of wood with soft support and a kids hair band work great. Heating the rod finish in an aluminum pie plate or bottom of a cut pop can will remove all the bubbles as well....looks good !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Thanks Dave. I was actually going to use spar varnish instead of epoxy, but I'll see if I can dig out a rotisserie motor from somewhere to do the turning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Interesting your using spar varnish over epoxy. I know it can be used...just always thought the epoxy was quick n easy and a great finish. Snap some pictures of your progress. Any trim bands or fancy thread work going on?? My buddy does a real nice olive branch pattern...but too much for me. Ive done one rod..and it came out pretty good, but if i ever do another one i learned a few things from that first one. Its alot of time consuming work....so i can see why a custom build can get expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 From what I understand Spar Varnish can be removed and repaired a lot easier than epoxy, and should be able to stand up to freshwater use without any problems. Plus I'm a traditional kind of guy.... Nothing to fancy planned with the wraps. Just a burgundy wrap with a black trim band. I find that custom rods can quickly become gaudy with massive areas of complicated wraps and inlays and stickers and feathers and such. To me, those ornate touches can have a place but I prefer simple touches that keep things clean. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Okay. Finally found the time to get the stripper guide wrapped. Trim bands take some effort to keep tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow Man Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Very nice, keep the updates coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Finished up the wraps last night. Pictures to come as I start to coat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Pictures of the second coat of spar varnish going on the wraps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2015 Getting there. Wraps take on a nice semi-translucent look when wet, I'm hoping that sticks around when I've got enough coats on them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted April 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 Final coats... A couple touch ups and I'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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