A Journey into Rod Building
I am starting a new book, more like a journal than a book really, to record what I did in order to build my first fishing rod from the blank up. A large portion of my intent is to overcome this struggle that I have with discipline. I want to go through the process of building a good fishing rod in an organized, informed, and well planned manner. There are some basic things that I think I need to start with:- Terminology
- Technology
- Tools
- Time and Money
- Lessons Learned
That's a pretty good start on a list. Let's see how well I can fill these out before I actually buy my first item. Already too late, as of the time that I wrote this I have bought my first item!!! See what I mean about discipline. As needed, I will create the chapters for each of the list items above. For the web page links that I use that are external to MDfishing I have created a Links category titled Rod Building and Repair in the Links section of the site.Lessons Learned
The idea for this section is to record all of the questions that I have asked and answered including those that I must ask myself. As a matter of fact I anticipate that the questions that I ask myself will ultimately produce the most interesting information.
Why don't you just buy a pre-built rod you fool?
A couple of reasons. First off, fishing is one of my top five passions in life. If something is related to fishing I can find time in my schedule to dedicate to the activity. The more compelling reason is that in almost all cases I have settled for a commercial rod that is good enough for the job at the time that I needed it. As a part of becoming more disciplined I am going to force myself to think through what I am really trying to accomplish with a certain setup and not settle for good enough.
What kind of rod are you going to build?
Good basic question. I have a Shimano Sedona 1000FA spinning reel that I bought on clearance. It is a little lighter weight than I would normally buy as essential gear. Since it doesn't fall into my essential gear toolkit it helps with the waiting component of my discipline problem. Therefore, I am going to build a spinning rod based on that reel that fits into my fishing world (I should write that down!).
Looks like the reel is going to be spooled with 4# test. What choices in mainstream blanks that fit the bill do I have? Note: I get the feeling that it is very bad form to advertise specific pricing from the various vendors. I WILL NOT put any vendor specific pricing here. These prices are essentially MSRP.
| Manufacturer |
Model |
Length |
Pieces |
Line Wt. |
Lure Wt. |
Power |
Action |
Butt OD |
Tip Size |
Blank Wt. |
Price |
| St. Croix |
4S60LF |
6'0" |
1 |
4-8 |
1/16-1/4 |
L |
Fast |
.35 |
4 |
1.2 |
$90 |
| St. Croix |
3S60LF |
6'0" |
1 |
4-8 |
1/16-5/16 |
L |
Fast |
.345 |
4.5 |
1.05 |
$60 |
| St. Croix |
2S60LF |
6'0" |
1 |
4-8 |
1/16-5/16 |
L |
Fast |
.385 |
4.5 |
1.5 |
$40 |
| St. Croix |
2S56LF |
5'6" |
1 |
4-8 |
1/16-5/16 |
L |
Fast |
.37 |
4.5 |
1.3 |
$40 |
| Shikari |
ISJ 590 |
5'9" |
1 |
4-8 |
1/32-1/4 |
Not Supplied |
Ex. Fast |
.410 |
4.5 |
Not Supplied |
$76 |
| Shikari |
ISJ 600 |
6'0" |
1 |
4-8 |
1/32-1/4 |
Not Supplied |
Ex. Fast |
.415 |
4.5 |
Not Supplied |
$76 |
| Shikari |
PSJ 600 |
6'0" |
1 |
4-8 |
1/32-1/4 |
Not Supplied |
Ex. Fast |
.405 |
4.5 |
Not Supplied |
$100 |
| Rainshadow |
ISB720 |
6'0" |
1 |
4-8 |
1/16-3/8 |
Not Supplied |
Not Supplied |
.430 |
4.0 |
Not Supplied |
$40 |
| Forecast |
*SB720*CG |
6'0" |
1 |
4-8 |
Not Supplied |
U/L |
Mod. Fast |
.449 |
4.0 |
Not Supplied |
$20 |
How long do I make the handle of the rod?
The genesis of this question was where do I place the reel on the rod such that the rod is balanced? Turns out that the prevailing wisdom is don't worry about balancing the rod unless you just can't live with they way that it is fishing for you. Overall weight, especially in the tip, is much more important. I should measure some of the rods that I currently have and probably extrapolate the handle length based on some sort of average size. My gut is telling me that I will like a shorter handle but I really should verify that before I commit anything to epoxy.
What size should the butt guide be?
I measured the spool on the Sedona and it comes up at 37mm for the top and 40mm for the bottom. Using the rule of thumb that the butt ring should be at least 1/2 the size of the outside diameter of the spool then the bare minimum will be a 20. Should I use a 25? I don't know. Maybe I should order both and see which one fits better.
What should the handle length be?
I got a tape measure, placed it between the fingers that I hold spinning reels with and measured down my forearm to the location that "looked right". 9 inches. Then I measured up past the forward fingers and took a 3. 12 inches total. How convenient was that? OK, out to the garage to put the tape to the 6 footer I have out there now and what do you know, 9 inches exactly. The foregrip on the actual rod is a little longer than 3 inches but I think it is a little overdone on that rod. More validation of my gut instincts is really builing my confidence now.
Part of the handle length will be the seat. How much of the handle length will be consumed by the seat?
I am pretty much sold on the Fuji DNPSM18 Standard NPS Style Spinning Reel Seats Stainless FINISH ID:18.0(mm) OD:21/20(mm) Length:151(mm) reel seat. 151mm is about 6 inches. Depending on where the reel ends up sitting in the seat there may not be much left for a foregrip. I am also considering slicing the seat down leaving only enough thread to allow for the reel to be removed. After measuring the part of the reel that fits into the seat (2.5") I think that a minumum of 4" will be used for the reel seat within the handle equation.
Technology
The methodology I am using for "Technology" will be any bits of information that I come across that may be of value or taken into consideration during the project. This will typically includes the parts and techniques that have to be evaluated throughout the course of the project.
A close facsimile of the reel being used for the build: Shimano Sedona 1500FB product web page. Apparently I purchased a reel that is either made exclusively for the retailer or, more likely, it is out of production and no longer supported. That figures.
It seems that normal nylon thread when epoxied without color preserver applied will turn clear. A prevailing opinion is that the use of color preserver (CP) does not allow the epoxy to adequately penetrate the threads. The use of non color preserver (NCP) or metallic thread is a workaround for this situation.
I went out to the garage and got a few details on the reel. Weight: 9.1oz, Gear Ratio: 5.2:1, Lines: 0.18mm(185yds), 0.20mm(153yds), 0.25mm(98yds). Since my preferred line is Yo-Zuri Hybridthis will give me about 100 yards of 4# (0.235mm) test. This certainly effects the set of blanks that I will have to choose from. Interesting....
Terminology
This section is meant to contain the vocabulary of the rod builder. There is a very good Rod Builders Glossary already available on the web. No sense in re-inventing the wheel here. What might very well end up here are terms and acronyms that I cannot locate in the Rod Builders Glossary.
Time and Money
My methodology will be to accumulate all of the real dollars that I spend on this project and only the amounts of time that I spend building what I need to finish the project. The final result with reflect the amount of money out-of-pocket and the amount of time needed to do the work. What won't be reflected is the cost for materials that I already have on hand and amount of time doing research, shopping, and recording my journey. For example, writing this entry down or the wood I have on hand will not count but building a spline finding tool and any off hand additional hardware would. Cash amounts will be rounded up to the nearest dollar and time amounts will be rounded up to the nearest hour because nothing really takes less than an hour anyway.
Cost to date:
- $16 for Shimano Sedona 1000FA Spinning Reel. Actual Value:TBD
- $7 for Rodmaker Magazine - Volume 7 #1 Jan/Feb '04 - river smallmouth rods; new guide concept primer; rod material technology and terms (part 2); complete guide to building surf rods; new products; rod building news; color photo gallery; more! Actual Value: Good. For $7 I was pretty much able to verify my blank selection and got a good idea on the reel seat selection. The river smallmouth rod Tom describes in this issue has more than a couple of things in common with what I am trying to do.
- $33 for 1 copy of The Complete Book of Tackle Making by C. Boyd Pfeiffer Actual Value: Very good, and 1 copy of Rod Building Guide: Fly, Spinning, Casting, Trolling by Tom Kirkman Actual Value: Excellent, and 1 copy of Graphite Rod Repair by L.A. Garcia Actual Value: Waste of money
Tools
The methodology here is to record the purchase, creation, use of, and value of the tools I think that I need for this project.
Reamers - Reamers are used to enlarge and shape the tunnel within the rod handle through which the rod blank travels and ultimately rests. They are typically made from discarded rod blanks that are covered with abrasive material. It has been suggested that when you make your own reamers that they should be about 20" long. Larry Thomas has written up a very nice approach to making your own in his article A New Twist on a New Tool.
Epoxy - Epoxy is an adhesive that is used to secure the various components to the rod blank itself. It appears (to me) that there are at least two different kinds that should be used during the creation of a rod. One for the guides and one for the reel seat and handle. The preferred name brand for the reel seat and handle is called Rod Bond. Some have said that any "slow cure" epoxy can be used as an acceptable substitute for the Rod Bond name brand version.
Denatured Alchohol - Denatured Alchohol is used as a solvent to clean up all of the messes you are going to make with epoxy. It can also be used to fuel alchohol lamps. It can be purchased at most hardware stores. Don't drink it, you'll go blind!! :)