DaveC Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 I usually hook mine into the guide frame. But your right...no hook keeper on my spey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 Mine has a hook keeper, but I never use it. Run the line once around the back of the reel and hook the stripping guide. That way there's enough line out to set up a quick cast should it be needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted February 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2016 Sorting out wraps for another build tonight. Stripped down an old rod, underneath the old varnish and wraps I found a nice brown fiberglass blank. Tried out a simple brown wrap with light grey trim bands (white thread was out of stock). Not bad, but I need to do a bit more guide prep. I think I'm also going to look at making the trim wraps thinner or doing an inlay of single wrap of white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted February 19, 2016 Report Share Posted February 19, 2016 Looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted February 19, 2016 Report Share Posted February 19, 2016 Looks nice and classy. I've been doing single pewter trim bands on each end of the guide on a build I've been working on. Definitely makes the guide look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Trying out some different wraps tonight. Nice narrow thread inlays. I like the way these turned out. Glossy finish is from colour preserver I applied to keep the wraps together. Tried an olive branch inlay. Not overly happy with this one - olive branches are a bit uneven, and I need to work on counting the threads so I center the feature between thread inlays. Keep on practicing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 I think the olive branch wraps look great Tom. Im sure its time consuming. I have a friend who does it and im positive hes working for peanuts the time he puts into rod building. Nice progression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplummer Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Yes the olive looks great and is very time consuming. hard to make $ on a rod spending the time but if it's for your own rod. Well worth the time. Good job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted February 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 You guys are only saying that because you can't see the other side of the wrap.... I may have photographed the more acceptable side. I'm thinking I'm going to clear coat the brown fiberglass blank, use stainless guides, black wraps with a single white inlay off the guide foot, and get a bit more decorative with the wrap ahead of the grip. Grip will be full wells, reel seat will be polished aluminum. No hook keeper or fighting butt. Got to order a few more components (stripping guide and ferrules(I can never spell that correctly on the first try)) and then find the time to sit down and put it all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 How about a feather inlay ahead of the grip? I had a few jungle ck put in and gives a nice touch? My buddy layed them in place with thread preserver then epoxy over the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted February 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2016 Feather inlay could be nice, I was thinking more of an olive leaf pattern surrounded by a series of inlays. Might take a few tries, but my time is cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplummer Posted February 29, 2016 Report Share Posted February 29, 2016 I would never use or tie a hook keeper on a fly rod unless requested it gets in the way at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Got a coat of spar on the stripped blank tonight. Need to order a couple components yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 Coat dried up nice and smooth. Worked on fitting the grip tonight. Got a bit more work to do - I ended up grabbing and inletted grip because it's all that the store had. Doesn't work with the reel seat. So I've got a couple cork rings on the way - I'm going to cut off the inletting, glue on a new ring, and blend the grip into the hood of the reel seat. Love that clear coated fiberglass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler0420 Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 Looks great Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNorton Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 Once again looks very nice. Good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2016 Grip is blended into the reelseat and both are epoxied on. Did this nice guide wrap to start Then I realized I had placed my stripper guide off by 10". Had 20" from the reelseat in my head, shoudl be 30". Dang. Removed the guide, wrapped it again in the correct position. Checked alignment, off by a bit. Tried to adjust, bumped the guide with my clumsy fingers and wrecked the wrap. That's enough punishment for tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplummer Posted March 22, 2016 Report Share Posted March 22, 2016 Nail it in place. Ok kidding. There are tricks for these problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 That's a bit more like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted March 24, 2016 Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 Nice book you have on the table in the background. I have the same one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2016 It's a great book - perfect weight and binding for tensioning the thread. Making progress. 4 of 9 guides wrapped. Picked up a Shakespeare Super Condex 4 1/4" the other night, so I guess my next rod will need to be a switch or spey to give that reel somewhere to live. It has a thick foot on it, so I'll need to make sure I get a reel seat that will work with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron4blues Posted March 25, 2016 Report Share Posted March 25, 2016 That's a lot of reel. How is the drag on it. I know you obviously haven't tried it on the water yet, but does it seem to be a good one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiel Posted March 25, 2016 Report Share Posted March 25, 2016 You sure you don't have 30 plus years of rod building experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted March 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 That's a lot of reel. How is the drag on it. I know you obviously haven't tried it on the water yet, but does it seem to be a good one? Click drag, so just one step up from a centerpin. Fooling around with my son I think it will be more than capable. You sure you don't have 30 plus years of rod building experience? Lol. I don't have 30 years of life experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted April 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2016 Almost finished with the varnish on the wraps. Got one I need to fix yet, will post pictures up soon. Still need to do a butt wrap and some trim features, working a bit out of order but I wanted to get the guide wraps varnished so they wouldn't get dusty or damaged while waiting for me to finish the rest up. Picked up an Orvis Golden Eagle 7wt blank at the Hamilton Bassmasters swap meet this morning. Pretty excited about that, going to be a nice rod for bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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