Building your own fly rod questions

On Aug 13, 8:28 pm, mdk77 wrote:
On Aug 13, 12:17 pm, Mike wrote:



On Aug 13, 4:41 pm, mdk77 wrote:

I ran across this on the internet and wondered what the advantages and
disadvantages are to building your own fly rod. Is this something the
average fisherman should stay away from (too difficult)? Anyone here
fish rods they built themselves? What are some recommended resources
for this (books, web sites etc.).

I'm a guy who is a hopeless DIY person. It's a sickness :-( and an
ongoing source of ribbing from my teenage children when I try to build
everything from our radio's to our furniture. They do think it's cool
that I tie my own flies though. Their friends tell them they're not
sure if I'm a madman or a genius (definitely a madman IMHO).

Thanks in advance for the info.

If you are not very good at DIY, then it is best to leave it. One can
now buy very moderately priced rods of excellent quality. Saving money
as such is not likely on the cheaper blanks. You will "save" some
money if you buy an expensive blank and build the rod yourself, but
only if you completely ignore the time and effort involved as a cost
factor. Also, if you use the very best fittings etc, then the rod may
be even more expensive than a factory finished blank.

It is not really very difficult to do, but there is a learning curve
involved, and although you can do it without any equipment, things
like turning motors etc are of advantage. For most people, it is not
worth it.

If you want to see what is involved, have a look here;

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/graphite/

http://globalflyfisher.com/rodbuildi...rod/part-1.php

--
Regards and tight lines!

Mike Connor

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-online.de/

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/Flycorner?hl=en

Mike those are both wonderful links. Thank you VERY much for your
help, and thanks to everyone else who responded on this. This is a
really nice newsgroup for newbies like me.

Just wait ten years or so! ( Insider joke)

I think I understand the
downside and risks to building a fly rod. If I would try something
like this it would mostly be for the satisfaction of it and not to
save money. One of the previous posters mentioned that you don't get
a warranty this way, and that IS a good argument for NOT building your
own rod. But I've always been a DIY guy and usually do ok with my
projects. The satisfaction I get doing it myself usually makes it
worthwhile.

Also Mike, thanks for helping me in the other thread regarding a 2nd
fly rod. I'm still thinking all of that through (I was pleasantly
surprised by the number of people who took the time to help).

- Dave

It can involve some difficult decisions. The main one is to decide
whether you want to go the cheapie route for your first rod, in order
to learn a few things, or go for a really good one right away. Quite a
few people ask me that, but I´m afraid I can´t really give any useful
advice on it. It is just a decision you have to make. Even cheap
blanks nowadays are usually very good, but it can be a problem finding
one that suits you, and even more of a problem testing it.

One major advantage of a good quality named blank, is that you can
usually manage to test cast the factory model, before you buy the
blank. ( By the way, Sage, and maybe some other manufacturers, do
give warranties on their blanks).

The main requirements are care and attention to detail. I have built
quite a number of rods over the years, and it is quite satisfying to
use something you built yourself, very similar to using your own
flies. Nice to see somebody else using something you built as well.
However, it is more or less certain that you will NOT save any money
by doing it. If you get exactly what you want as a result of your
efforts, then that is not a problem, but one thing I have noticed
especially with first time rod builders, is that they are often not
satisfied with their efforts.

Whatever you do, take your time deciding, look at all the options,
make sure you handle plenty of rods at the tackle shop, shows etc.

For beginners, who may have only actually used a single rod, or a
couple at most, it is extremely difficult to gauge the feel and
performance of rods. Descriptions are also largely useless, as they
rely on prior knowledge of rod actions etc.

You might also like to have a really good look around this site;

http://www.rodbuilding.org/list.php?2

and also have a study of this;

http://www.common-cents.info/

The more information you have, the easier it is to make decisions.

--
Regards and tight lines!

Mike Connor

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-online.de/

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/Flycorner?hl=en

On Aug 13, 8:28 pm, mdk77 wrote:
On Aug 13, 12:17 pm, Mike wrote:



On Aug 13, 4:41 pm, mdk77 wrote:

I ran across this on the internet and wondered what the advantages and
disadvantages are to building your own fly rod. Is this something the
average fisherman should stay away from (too difficult)? Anyone here
fish rods they built themselves? What are some recommended resources
for this (books, web sites etc.).

I'm a guy who is a hopeless DIY person. It's a sickness :-( and an
ongoing source of ribbing from my teenage children when I try to build
everything from our radio's to our furniture. They do think it's cool
that I tie my own flies though. Their friends tell them they're not
sure if I'm a madman or a genius (definitely a madman IMHO).

Thanks in advance for the info.

If you are not very good at DIY, then it is best to leave it. One can
now buy very moderately priced rods of excellent quality. Saving money
as such is not likely on the cheaper blanks. You will "save" some
money if you buy an expensive blank and build the rod yourself, but
only if you completely ignore the time and effort involved as a cost
factor. Also, if you use the very best fittings etc, then the rod may
be even more expensive than a factory finished blank.

It is not really very difficult to do, but there is a learning curve
involved, and although you can do it without any equipment, things
like turning motors etc are of advantage. For most people, it is not
worth it.

If you want to see what is involved, have a look here;

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/graphite/

http://globalflyfisher.com/rodbuildi...rod/part-1.php

--
Regards and tight lines!

Mike Connor

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-online.de/

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/Flycorner?hl=en

Mike those are both wonderful links. Thank you VERY much for your
help, and thanks to everyone else who responded on this. This is a
really nice newsgroup for newbies like me. I think I understand the
downside and risks to building a fly rod. If I would try something
like this it would mostly be for the satisfaction of it and not to
save money. One of the previous posters mentioned that you don't get
a warranty this way, and that IS a good argument for NOT building your
own rod. But I've always been a DIY guy and usually do ok with my
projects. The satisfaction I get doing it myself usually makes it
worthwhile.

Also Mike, thanks for helping me in the other thread regarding a 2nd
fly rod. I'm still thinking all of that through (I was pleasantly
surprised by the number of people who took the time to help).

- Dave

By the way, I misread your post to mean that you were hopeless at
DIY! If you are an enthusiastic DIY person, then you will have no
problems, as long as you take your time, and don´t try to rush things.

--
Regards and tight lines!

Mike Connor

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-online.de/

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/Flycorner?hl=en

Don´t forget to look around for things like this;

http://www.steelheader.net/Rodbuildi...wn_rod_jig.htm

I use something similar, and all my gear is self-built. There are a
lot of useful links for making stuff like this, and you can save a lot
of money by doing it.

--
Regards and tight lines!

Mike Connor

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-online.de/

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/Flycorner?hl=en

Sorry, forgot to add this;

http://www.hookhack.com/rodbuildingkits.html

I have not actually built this or any other kit, but I know a couple
of people who have, and they all said it was a pretty good thing
especially for a first timer.

IM6 is merely the standard description for Hercules Graphite.

As it may be germane to your interest here, you might also like to
read this;

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-on...c_modulus.html

--
Regards and tight lines!

Mike Connor

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-online.de/

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/Flycorner?hl=en

On Aug 13, 11:28 am, mdk77 wrote:
On Aug 13, 12:17 pm, Mike wrote:





On Aug 13, 4:41 pm, mdk77 wrote:

I ran across this on the internet and wondered what the advantages and
disadvantages are to building your own fly rod. Is this something the
average fisherman should stay away from (too difficult)? Anyone here
fish rods they built themselves? What are some recommended resources
for this (books, web sites etc.).

I'm a guy who is a hopeless DIY person. It's a sickness :-( and an
ongoing source of ribbing from my teenage children when I try to build
everything from our radio's to our furniture. They do think it's cool
that I tie my own flies though. Their friends tell them they're not
sure if I'm a madman or a genius (definitely a madman IMHO).

Thanks in advance for the info.

If you are not very good at DIY, then it is best to leave it. One can
now buy very moderately priced rods of excellent quality. Saving money
as such is not likely on the cheaper blanks. You will "save" some
money if you buy an expensive blank and build the rod yourself, but
only if you completely ignore the time and effort involved as a cost
factor. Also, if you use the very best fittings etc, then the rod may
be even more expensive than a factory finished blank.

It is not really very difficult to do, but there is a learning curve
involved, and although you can do it without any equipment, things
like turning motors etc are of advantage. For most people, it is not
worth it.

If you want to see what is involved, have a look here;

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/graphite/

http://globalflyfisher.com/rodbuildi...rod/part-1.php

--
Regards and tight lines!

Mike Connor

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-online.de/

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/Flycorner?hl=en

Mike those are both wonderful links. Thank you VERY much for your
help, and thanks to everyone else who responded on this. This is a
really nice newsgroup for newbies like me. I think I understand the
downside and risks to building a fly rod. If I would try something
like this it would mostly be for the satisfaction of it and not to
save money. One of the previous posters mentioned that you don't get
a warranty this way, and that IS a good argument for NOT building your
own rod. But I've always been a DIY guy and usually do ok with my
projects. The satisfaction I get doing it myself usually makes it
worthwhile.

Also Mike, thanks for helping me in the other thread regarding a 2nd
fly rod. I'm still thinking all of that through (I was pleasantly
surprised by the number of people who took the time to help).

- Dave- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

This is a good place to get a first rod kit.
http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/

The motor for turning the rod while the varnish is drying looks this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/M-60-Washer-Drye...QQcmdZViewItem
You can wrap the guides while watching TV. Sanding the grip and
varnishing the guides is something to do in the garage or basement if
domestic tranquility is important.

On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:00:59 -0000, BJ Conner
wrote:



The motor for turning the rod while the varnish is drying looks this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/M-60-Washer-Drye...QQcmdZViewItem
You can wrap the guides while watching TV.

IMO, a barbeque rotisserie motor would be my choicer, and is likely
cheaper, for a homebrew turner. It already has a readily-usable mount
and a square drive end, and often are found both 2 D-cell battery and
12VDC with a "wall wart" from whatever VAC...but hey, YMMV.

Sanding the grip and
varnishing the guides is something to do in the garage or basement if
domestic tranquility is important.

And save the cork dust for making patch repair putty.

TC,
R

"mdk77" wrote in message
ups.com...

Mike those are both wonderful links. Thank you VERY much for your
help, and thanks to everyone else who responded on this. This is a
really nice newsgroup for newbies like me. I think I understand the
downside and risks to building a fly rod. If I would try something
like this it would mostly be for the satisfaction of it and not to
save money. One of the previous posters mentioned that you don't get
a warranty this way, and that IS a good argument for NOT building your
own rod.

I don't actually agree with that. I think you pay a lot for that
replacement warranty, and building your own is a significant saving, IMO,
assuming you don't buy exotic components.

On Aug 13, 9:41 am, mdk77 wrote:
I ran across this on the internet and wondered what the advantages and
disadvantages are to building your own fly rod. Is this something the
average fisherman should stay away from (too difficult)? Anyone here
fish rods they built themselves? What are some recommended resources
for this (books, web sites etc.).

I'm a guy who is a hopeless DIY person. It's a sickness :-( and an
ongoing source of ribbing from my teenage children when I try to build
everything from our radio's to our furniture. They do think it's cool
that I tie my own flies though. Their friends tell them they're not
sure if I'm a madman or a genius (definitely a madman IMHO).

Thanks in advance for the info.

Lots of good advice from some experienced people. I have built
perhaps a dozen, from a nine ft. glass monstrosity in the 60's that
would break King Kong's wrist, to 3 wt graphite fairy wands. They are
all ugly, but they have EXACTLY the guides I want, in EXACTLY the
place I want them, which is the only advantage I have ever found.
Yeah, there is a satisfaction in catching fish on something you have
built yourself, and it felt good for me. Now I'm an old fart and buy
them at the store.
IMO, the best reason for building your own is that you can get a
really superb ultra light spinning rod by making one out of a blank
for a 3 wt fly rod. For some reason, UL spinning rod builders never
go above 5 ft. DUH
Good luck.

cheers

oz, who echoes the guy that said: "go slow"

mdk77 wrote:
I ran across this on the internet and wondered what the advantages and
disadvantages are to building your own fly rod. Is this something the
average fisherman should stay away from (too difficult)? Anyone here
fish rods they built themselves? What are some recommended resources
for this (books, web sites etc.).

I'm a guy who is a hopeless DIY person. It's a sickness :-( and an
ongoing source of ribbing from my teenage children when I try to build
everything from our radio's to our furniture. They do think it's cool
that I tie my own flies though. Their friends tell them they're not
sure if I'm a madman or a genius (definitely a madman IMHO).

Thanks in advance for the info.

I built a 2 wt and it's really a hoot to catch Bluegill on it! I used a
variable speed drill for a rod lathe and to turn while drying. Flexcoat
has a lot of tips on their website. I bought their DVD and found it
very helpful. It showed Their President building a rod using the
simplest of tools, then showed how they do it with sophisticated tools.

I am thinking of building a 9wt next since I already have 4, 5 and 6 wt
store bought rods

Flexcoat's site is www.flexcoat.com

Ed

I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable building my first fly rod out of a
super expensive blank. What about the IM7 and IM6 blanks, are they
worth trying for a first time effort? Right now my only fly rod is a
Cabella's Three Forks rod.