Ice Rod Building Must haves?

I am thinking about starting to build ice rods. What are the must haves to start? Any suggestions for someone just starting out? I have read through a few posts on here and learned some good information. Thanks in advance for the help!

The Mud Hole video set on You tube, and one of their rod building kits.

Don’t forget winding checks!

When I build a rod I usually get my blanks from sportsmendirect. All other components I get from mud hole except for winding checks. I get the little rubber (5mm) winding checks from theflyshack.com. Very cheap when compared to mud hole or other rod building sites. I believe they are only .20¢. The price of shipping really outweighs paying $1+ for a minuscule chunk of rubber.

If you can’t make a wrapping station or find a ready made station is too expensive, you can put the thread through the pages of a really thick book so it adds tension to your wraps and wrap by hand. Any wrapping station (even cardboard) is a 100% improvement from hand wrapping. When I made my first wrapping station, I just copied a picture of the cardboard one mud hole sells out of an amazon box. Worked just fine.

I then made my updated wrapping station out of scrap wood and some bolts and nylon washers for a thread holder. I did, however, by a CRB rod drying motor (18rpm). This will allow you to apply the epoxy on the wraps a hell of lot easier than all by hand and when you’re done applying epoxy, just the let the motor keep rotating for 24 hours. I wouldn’t build rods without a drying motor (which cost me about 18 bucks). I made a rod chuck out of a 2 inch pvc end cap, 4 bolts and some of my wives hair ties. It works great and all together only cost about 30 bucks.

Items needed:
Rod blank
Guides
Hook keeper (optional)
Winding check (at least 3 if you plan on splitting the handle)
Handle
Thread (I like ProWrap)
Thread epoxy (I like ProKote)
Handle epoxy (I like ProPaste quick set)
A wrapping station and a few extra stands
A drying motor
Small sharp scissors (or a razor blade)
A burnishing (flattens your thread wraps, any small round smooth item will work)
Alcohol burner (optional- for removing bubbles in epoxy, a warm breath will usually do the trick though or a very quick pass with a lighter but the lighter may burn your epoxy)
and lots of patience. It can be a hell of a time wrapping a size 3 fly guide on a 1mm tip.

After a couple rods you’ll get the hang of it.

Thanks all. I just ordered a kit from MudHole.com. I was planning on buying a few new rods this year, but instead I guess i will make them. If nothing else it will give me something to do for a while. Here is to hoping that the rods turn out.

On a similar, yet slightly different note, what kind of quality should I expect from these rods? Rod quality from a $30 combo? $60 Combo? I have only ever purchased rods as part of a combo so really have no idea what to expect. Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks.

Patience, and don’t be afraid to ask for help, or just walk away for a while if you get frustrated. I’ve been building rods for around 8 years and jumped into ice rods last winter. Ordered most everything from Sportsmen Direct, ended up building 22 of various weights, lengths and actions. Kept a few for myself and most were made for friends and family.

My advise to what others have added.
Use fly style line guides, they are much lighter and gather less water to freeze. Believe it or not, you will notice the weight difference.

Use epoxy for tip tops rather than the hot glue. Better yet use a fly eye and wrap it on.

Find some fine glitter form a dollar store and mix it in with your epoxy for thread wraps. It can help hide some of your mistakes in wraps as well as ad some effect.