Rod building

[krause]

Hi all, I feel like the man with a thousand questions, so here's another. I am rebuilding a rod, that I found.... It was bobbing around in the ocean so I cast over it and claimed it as my own. The blanks are fine but everything else was shot, more from improper care rather than its time in the water. I have stripped it bare and bought all the gear to remake it.

All is going well, I've got the eyelets on and the cork sanded to the desired shape. But I have a problem with the reel seat. The blank is 12mm in diameter, but the internal diameter of the seat is 20+mm.

How can I full the void between the two. At the moment I am thinking of using rolled paper. Because it is dense, would give an even/concentric pattern, and will expand if treated, locking it all in place. I would treat the finished product so it would be wate and mild proof. Thoughts?

[krause]

Water and mould proof**

[boattart]

8mm is a fair bit to make up but the best way is to use masking tape. If you use tape 10 to 20 mm wide and build up 3 or 4 bands of tape along the blank and build it up till the reel seat slides on neatly and little to no wobble. Then use 24hr araldite making sure to coat the bands of tape and as you slide the seat on and more araldite in the gaps between the tape. The bands of tape will stay in place far better than rolled paper and a generous dose of glue when hardened up will take over filling the void.

[krause]

Cheers, yer I know that the gap is a little extreme. Im going to hunt for one that is a little more snug. Tape does make sense though, ill go with that

[stevefish]

are you putting the seat and grips on from the butt end?

it might be too late to say, but you will get a better fit if everything slides down from the tip.

and +1 to the tape and araldite above.

[krause]

I know for a raw blank, sliding them down from the top is the way to go. But this is a three pay graphite rod, and the bottom peice is cylindrical so I am going from the bottom.

[LeoB]

G'day

I also shape cork for arbors when mounting the reel seat. But there would be too much wiggle room if you're going to slide them on over the butt of the blank. This may be helpful if you catch the bug and decide to build more rods.

Cheers Leo

[krause]

Cheers for the help, one more question though. I have finish everything and I am just finishing the binding on the eyelets. To do so I have bought two products. A thread filler/sealer and a high gloss finish.

I have applied many coats of binder, as per instruction, and have applied one coat of the finisher. When I proceeded to apply the second coat, it 'Wrinkled' the first layer, creating air bubbles and ruining the look of the rod. I stopped after the first eyelet, thinking that I had rushed it and that the reintroduction of the solvent had been to soon. I let it dry for two days and tried again, only to get the same result. Thoughts on this and a cause for it?

I think the product is a dud, and hence ask what fisher do others use. Even a heavy duty varnish from bunnings? Any thoughts appreciated.

Cheers

[matt84]

What do you mean by high gloss finish? should using a 2 part epoxy finish, i use flexcoat, which if you don't measure properly won't set correctly causing problems on the second coat... If this happens you will pretty much have to cut it off n start again

[LeoB]

G'day

Did you leave the epoxy finish for 24hours before adding the second coat?

Cheers Leo

[krause]

The product I bought from the tackle store was a one part, solvent based solution. Not a 2 part apoxy. That might be the problem. Can I buy flexicoat from a hardware store? And yes I let it dry for two and a half days, same result

[matt84]

You have the wrong stuff, won't find it at a hardware shop, most tackle shops only have the crappy brand of epoxy, may have to order online. Few different brands that are good though.

[svsolaris]

Whitworths sells high quality epoxy. It's a much tougher and durable material than varnish. but it's very poor at UV protection, which is why timber boat tragics like me still use stupid varnish for brightwork. Should not be an issue for a rod though.

[LeoB]

Varnishes and epoxy for timber, and the like aren't ideal for rod building. They aren't designed to flex like a fishing rod does and won't last before cracking.

Do yourself a huge favour and get some rod building epoxy, flex coat is also what I use. Do a google search and you'll find a few places that sell it. If you've gone to the trouble of hand wrapping the rod you may as well use the right stuff.

Cheers Leo

[Flickn Mad]

I don't know if we are allowed to talk brands or not but I have allways used two part epoxy bought on line or from the local tackle shop.

If you speak to the local tackle guys and they do rod repairs or customs they should be able to steer you right.

I have at times had epoxy that stayed tacky for a week or two before setting hard, even after mixing it accurately. key is to be patient.

Bunnings is not the place to be shopping for rod building gear, bar maybe your masking tape.

[Linc]

Definitely avoid the one part finish, I did my first rod using it and it dried very hard and has started to crack a little, although it's about 5 years on.

As mentioned above, be very precise with measuring the 2 part epoxy, use the colour coded syringes to ensure you don't mix them up next time you use it as well. Also another trick - depending on how warm it is when you're mixing the epoxy- place the 2 containers into a bowl of warm water to make the liquid runnier and mix better, it also applies more evenly, then you can blow through a straw to blow out any tiny bubbles you may see.

Also assuming you are using a rod drier to rotate the rod right?