Any rod builders out there?

I just bought a rod building kit from Mudhole and a blank and all the fixings for a jerk bait rod. Need a winter hobby. Dabbled in guide repair over the years with the thread and epoxy. Watched a few videos on YouTube. Anyone else a rod builder out there. I’m open to any tips. Thanks, Sam

I build rods for using them, not so much for the looks.

I no longer have steady enough hands to wrap the thread smoothly and make a perfectly tied guide.

So for beginners don’t necessarily feel like you have to make perfect ties over your guides. It is possible to just run the thread back and forth hastily and tie a rod extremely fast.

When I tie a guide on, I have no choice but to overlap the thread. When the ties are epoxied it’s not much of any issue.

I will even use 2-3 pieces of thread at a time to tie guides. I like to use a single strand of regular thread with another strand of the 2 color mylar thread, for a total of 3 pieces of thread. It’s much easier tying guides when you have a 3 ply piece of thread. Tying this way will result in a lot of thread twisting but it’s really a non issue.

The weight doesn’t bother me but since the ties are a bit rougher, it does take a bit more epoxy to get full coverage.

I’m sure the custom rod builders will get a laugh out of this but will also confirm it will work.

Obviously this technique isn’t ideal if you are using expensive, higher end components.

Another time saver for ice rods, repairs or when your in a hurry. Plenty of times I have used regular 5 minute epoxy instead of 24 hour rod coat to get me back on the water fast.

Good luck with your build.

What questions do you have? I am happy to help. I made all my rod building tools other than the dryer.

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This site will only let me load one picture at a time. I like doing the art work. It doesn’t take that much time if you think about the hours you will be using the rod vs the time it takes to do.

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come on

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Rodworks,
Can you build me an unbreakable rod?

One of the things I really enjoy is shaping hard water blanks for the exact action to match a presentation I am going for.

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Eelpoutguy wrote:

Rodworks,
Can you build me an unbreakable rod?

I will be happy to put guides on a steel pole or broom stick for you. It wont fish the best.
One of the many rods Matt has broken. Not all of them have been his fault. Still not a total waste.

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I would recommend a several cheaper rods for practice before you try a nice rod with a diamond wrap or fancier. I would say ice rods are much tougher for a beginner the lighter the rod the more of a challenge they were for me.

^ This is very true. It is even harder if the tip is so small that you have to wrap a guide on and can’t buy a tip that will fit.

Welcome to a very addictive hobby. Been tinkering for about 40+ years. Take your time and have an end game plan.

My blank and components show up tomorrow. Been practicing a bit on a broken rod. I’m sure there will be a fair amount of trial and error. While my wife knits, I’ll do thread work.

Here’s a Rodworks rod…I didn’t start catching fish til I got one!

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If this is your first, mock it up first. I run line through the guides and load it up so I’m not surprised or disappointed on the action.

I really like the Morton guide chart to get a blank close to what I want. Mock it up and tweet as needed

Good looking rods, boys. Time to try to figure some things out. Enjoy the weekend. I ordered my stuff from Mudhole. Trying to make a medium action casting rod for jerkbaits.

Just got the kit in the mail. Found the spine or spline. Cork will need plenty of boring out. Excited.

Take your time on the cork handle. You want to stay centered in the hole. Like they say little at a time, you can’t put it back. Have fun with it!!!

I like to use broken rods for my reamers. I feel the reamers they sell have too aggressive of a taper to them. I strip off the guides and use contact adhesive to attach 60 grit sandpaper to it. Glue on a bolt and chuck it up in my drill. Don’t go too fast and take some breaks. If the blank gets too warm it will snap off in the handle. I can get an ok number of handles done before it is junk.

This reminds me I need to make some more. If anyone has any broker rods I will be happy to take them off your hands. Please PM me.

I can find parts online. Are any places in the Twin Cities to buy components. I’m north of Brainerd. No where around here that I know of. Thanks

Thorne Bros

There used to be another outfit in the cities that sold Batson products but I think they closed.

Bass Khang is an online store but he’s in the cities so you might be able to stop by there or pick stuff up from him.

Thanks. The fore grip I bought didn’t work out—- wrong style. Pretty much brings placing guides to a halt. Frustrating. I’ll check out the place you mentioned.

Pretty much finished my first rod today. I learned epoxy on the reel seat and grips is messy. It’s like eating honey. You find it on your knee and elbow a half hour later. It’s easier to thread the guides on the thicker part of the rod. The transition from from blank to guide foot is a challenge with the thread. I see my errors and look forward to taking a stab at another. Fun to sit at the card table by the hot water heater for a few hours.

Guide prep is key to help make the transition from blank onto guide easy. I sand a ramp on all my guides. Black ones will get hit with a marker to help hide the newly polish metal. Always sand the bottom of the guide last. Any sharp points left there will scratch the blank. Isopropyl alcohol will help clean off the reel epoxy if you get it right away. You can sand it off the cork if you miss some there.

Congratulations on finishing your first of many rods.

I might redo a couple of the guides I like most of the guides and their wrap. 2 kinda bug me. Time really flies when you are focused on the project. Sanding or grinding them a bit for a smoother transition is a good idea. My daughter is pretty crafty. I think she might get a kick out of it. I showed her what I was up to. I think she was intrigued. Do you wrap the the tip top? Thanks. This is fun.

95% of the hard water rods I make I wrap on the tip top. Most of them the tip is too small for what is offered. I have been able to find the right tip for all the open water rods I have made over the years. The best thing about this hobby to me is it is like meditating. It takes just enough focus to clear your head. I have fat fingers and holding some of the guides to sand them is hard. So I took an old nut driver and glued a nut into it. Use a bolt, rubber washer, guide, rubber washer, metal washer, into that glued in nut. Now you have a nice easy grip on the guide so you can use a belt sander to prep your guides. Make sure to spin the nut driver and not the bolt when putting this together. You don’t want to nick the guide ring.

Kinda funny. We were without power for 36 hours. The rod dryer was spinning when it finally came back on. Looks like it ran long enough.

Made my 3rd one. I see the flaws in each one, but showing improvement. I realized that Pro Kote needs to be mixed very precisely. Had a batch that didn’t firm up after a few days. Had to melt it scrape it off. Very humbling. The next couple batches turned out nice. The small guides by the rod tip are challenging. Do you guys use size A or D threads. I believe I’ve been using D. Thanks for any tips. Sam

I bought my first rod kit from Mud Hole for a Christmas gift. I have a buddy that offered to teach me how to get started. So I took him up on it. We started it this week. Spent about 3 hrs so far. Got the rod laid out and started to wrap the accent thread above the handle. I think it will be a fun hobby to get into but it is also kind of over whelming when you see everything that goes into building a rod. Then factor in my poor eyesight and sausage fingers.

I’ve screwed a couple things up, but I get a kick out of it so far. Picked up some drywall tape to try a dragon scale pattern. Should be interesting. Good luck