Guide Locator Tool-
It may not be
pretty but it works
(If you have an problems geting it to run online,
email me and I'll
send you the
Excel Sheet)

First Wrap


Second Wrap

OK so this will be our newest adventure / challenge, call it what you will. We figured since we can't, or should I say won't fish when its freezing freaking cold out we needed something to occupy our fishing "fix". So rod building it is, or will be. Bud has got it going on, he's built a few and is all set up, little late in the year (3/15/04) if you ask me, but no reason to stop now. So between Cabelas, Janns Netcraft (my new favorite, and don't get me started on Mudhole) and various acquaintances, I'm setting things up. Figure start small a.k.a. cheap, and see how it goes.

Bud works with a bunch of gentlemen that build their own rods and working with them and following their guidance he has diligently been building us rod building stands (I think that's what they're called) and they look great and are about ready to go.We got motors and rod holder which will rotate the rods while things dry, but seem to be missing a few of the links to actually make it work. But we're working on it. Another perk of doing this will be the cash perks. First off we'll save money by building our own, well sort of, we can get a higher quality rod for less money. Secondly, if it works out and goes well we can always sell them. Rod Wrapping looks like something that might be fun(?) to do, and the examples I've seen look fantastic.Of course, as with all our endeavors I'm sure we'll learn as we go, usually by the mistakes we make as we go along. "Experience isn't the Best teacher, its the ONLY teacher".

Well here it is April 8, 2004 and we still haven't gone fishing, between snow and rain and cold, however the "building" is coming along. Bud is on his 5th I believe, me on the other hand, well i'm still tinkering with number one. I got plenty of supplies, more rod finish then I'll probably ever need, and tons of threads, which will be fun, cuz mixing and matching colors that look good together isn't my strong suit. Finally got my dryer after much miscommunications with Mudhole, who couldn't quite get things together enough to deliver the goods, so my "connection" had to physically get one for me. And also after research and comparisons I found Janns Netcraft which has proven to be cheaper and very reliable got me some cork reamers, tons of blades, a dremel, files, clamps, brushes and cups cups cups.

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First rod I got was a 6 foot one piece ML action graphite "kit" and spent a good amount of time filing out the center to mount it, which is why I now have reamers. Got it on, then the handle and the next section, all on correct and holding fast. Now the tricky part, the guides. Seems they are put in place via charts and formulas and THEN they are tested, pulled on and actually cast to see which works best then they are moved and tweaked from there. Once in position we begin the wrapping. Instead of wrapping guides directly to the rod, I took Bud's advice as well as others and put on underwraps, which is basically a line of threads which will be between the guide and the rod, not only attractive but it protects the rod from the guides themselves. Got all my wraps done in one sitting, not to shabby I have to admit, not wicked easy as I had hoped, but i'm sure I'll get better at it. As of last night I have wrapped on 2 of the guides and I see things I'm going to have to change already, method wise. Like measuring a little bit more to keep ends even. My goal is to have it wrapped and finished by the weekend, and get Nicks rod started before I get into the Butt Wrap, which is why I got into this in the beginning.

Well it ain't as easy as I'd a thought, but I think a lot of it is just getting the "feel" for it. But I'm coming along. Got the first one completed, least functionally. Got the guides tied on and finished, 2 coats, and I'm about 80 percent done with my first wrap. again, not as easy as I thought, the handling off the thread going up and down the blank can be a bit tricky. Lets put it this way, there are people that are left handed, some are right handed, and some are ambidextrous, ME? I should be one handed, the left hand is useless. Couple that with the fact that I'm winding the wrap the wrong way, or should I say the "not the most comfortable" way for me, but its a start. I'm also not sure if I have the guide spacing right, per the Instructions they are pretty close, I tweaked them a little bit and still the first guided coming up from the butt looks awful close to reel. Per "the rodmaker bible" it should be 24-30 inches away from the reel center, I'm pretty sure I'm barely 15 inches. But eventually I'll put a reel on and test it. And if it don't work? Well its the first try and this is how I'll learn.

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All in all I really like it, actually getting time to work on it is a bit tricky, but I'm in no rush. Bud on the other hand, is obsessed with it, go go go on it.

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Moving along here, I'm about done with my second, for Nick, he wanted a nice 5 footer and that's what he's getting. Little tough with the small diameter, least tying on the guides, but perseverance wins through. Even got a nice black, yellow and gold wrap on it for him, which match the guides. Now Bud has done about 4 or 5 rods and has even gotten to the point where he is stripping guides from older rods and retying them on, thus making better rods. Gotta tweak Nicks a little more, end wraps for the butt wrap and then finish it off. My third arrives in pieces today, first one that I've not ordered as a kit, mix and match pieces, also be my first 2-part rod.

Love this rodbuilding stuff, so nice to see a finished piece, just about done with my fourth, the 2 piecer went well, nice and shiny pretty. And casts like a rifle. One little glitch on my latest, once I was ready to put final finish on the wrap I realized that the guides were on the wrong side (damn beginners) so I contacted "our" friends at rodbuilder.org, which is a fantastic place by the way, and looks like i'm going to just move a few of the guides and go with the SPIRAL GUIDE PLACEMENT, which means the line starts on the top of the rod and slowly moves via the guides to the underside of the rod and then out to the water. Be curious to see how it works and it saves me from having to move all the guides this way I just have to move and rewrap 3

Up and running at the new digs, took awhile to get started but we're cruising, got us a sully's rod wrapper and it is the best, constant tension, you can back up while wrapping, IF you make a mistake, pause for as long as you need to, very very cool piece. I did also get the Sully's double rod wrapper which I'm less then pleased with. First off its noisy as hell, I heard it described as 'grinding walnuts' plus the chuck/holder for the rods is kinda weird, it uses wooden spindles that you have to slide up into the rod (if I had a dime for everytime i've said that...) so you can't put the butt cap on till its all dried and done.

We are styling with the building. My sullys unit works like a charm, love love love it, currently finishing up a surfcasting rod for a buddy of mine, and then at Mr. Flights request i'm going to start an incredibly girly rod, pink blank with nothing but sparkly thread throughout. Should be fun, loud and garish, but fun. Bud has reworked a couple of rods for Mr Flight and they've been delivered. He has also taken a sewing machine apart and rigged a power wrapper with the motor, I'm positive there will good stories about that. After a year long hiatus from the building i'm finally back in the groove and having a great time.

More to follow...