Rod building supplies

[muskie_magnet]

I'm thinking of giving rod building a try over the winter months. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to purchase blanks, or what type of equipment I'll need to buy to get started?

Or maybe I'm off base thinking I can build a fishing rod cheaper than I can purchase one !!

[Todd B.]

Rod building is something poeple do either because it is something that they enjoy doing or out of necessity in order to acquire a rod with a particular length, action, etc.

With respect to manufacturers that offer lifetime warrantees on their rods, (GLoomis, etc.) you will see a bit of a savings between purchasing a rod off the rack and building your own, however the money you save comes at the expense of the lifetime warrenty.

The one advantage of building your own rod is that you can always put premium hardware (guides, etc) on less expensive blanks; something not available off the rack.

Overall, by the time you factor in your time, the price difference between purchasing or building your own is pretty much the same.

[gwright]

We teach rod building here at the shop. Of course we specialize in Single hand Fly rods as well as switch and spey, I can get blanks and parts for baitcasters or spinning rods.
The cost depends on the components you select. If you stay with basic chrome/black components and reel seat you could build a rod for around 3/4 the cost of the built rod.

As far as equipment you'll need a rod wrapping jig, and an epoxy drying jig. If your not sure if your going to be building more than 1 rod, you can use a couple of phone books to substitute for the wrapping jig. For the drying jig you could manually spin the blank for a couple of hours (3 times an hour) or we do rent a drying jig.

[mitch]

A couple of good supply sites to consider

http://acidrod.com/[url]
http://www.rodbuildersupplies.com/index.php[url]
[/url]http://rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,32071 ... 320750[url]

[Colin_M]

I took the Rod Building sessions offered by Float, Paddle and Fly last year and would highly recommend them if you are just starting out.

It was great to have an experienced rod builder walk us through all of the steps from chosing the correct blanks for the type of fishing; to mounting guides, cork handles and reel seats; to finishing off the guides. Plenty of excellent tips to make the job easier.

Best part was getting together with a bunch of guys to discuss fishing during the winter.

I also found this website to have good information:

http://www.flyrodcrafters.com/servlet/P ... uilding101


Cheers,
Colin

P.S. PM me if you would like to borrow my Rod Wrapping Rack (used when hand-wrapping the guides)

[muskie_magnet]

Thanks for the information guys. I'm going to get in touch with

[muskie_magnet]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm looking at taking the course through Float Paddle and Fly to get started. Looking around at what's out there on the net it's a bit overwhelming so it will be good to get some experienced help to get started.

Thanks for the offer Colin. I may be in touch once I get into it. I think you're right. Half the fun will be talking about fishing over the winter.

[Manny]

Ive bought stuff from mudhole, they have a big selection.

http://www.mudhole.com/