Custom build nets and rods.

It has been a while since I have posted anything. With our river season still closed (3 more days to go), work keeping me busy and trying to get my online shop up and running I haven't spend much time on the blog, fishing or tying any flies.

Today I thought I would give a shout out to a very talented rod and net maker. Mario Geldenhuys of Custom Fly Rods has help me quite allot in the last few weeks to get my website up and running. Apart from being a guru on the computer Mario is also a master at making custom rods and fishing nets.

Mario make his Japanese style curved nets from scratch. He even goes out and collect and cut his own pieces of wood and is always looking for that next piece of wild wood with the perfect grain.

http://www.customflyrods.co.za/

Each net starts of by laying out the handle shape on a piece of wood to best incorporate the grain of the wood in the final handle.

 

 

 

http://www.customflyrods.co.za/

http://www.customflyrods.co.za/

One of Mario's net in action

It is well worth giving Mario a shout if you need that one of a kind net or custom build rod. His craftsmanship and attention to detail is superb.

Give www.customflyrods.co.za a visit and check out the gallery section of the site for some more samples of Mario's work, including hand crafted reel seats, grips, custom build rods, and more.

And of course if you need help building a website or a place to host it, then Mario is also the man to speak to.

Rod Building 101- Part 5

This is the final instalment of the rod building tutorial by Michael Newby and Shaun Futter

You can find the other instalments by clicking on the links below

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4 

 

STEP 18: FINISHING YOUR ROD

Here you will need a 2-part rod finish (Like Flex Coat’s High Build or Lite formula), Colour-coded syringes, a mixing container (preferably glass…a tot glass works excellently), a paper clip, brushes, a saucer and some foil to cover the saucer with.

Mix the two parts of finish together. Mix a full 3cc’s of each part, do not try and mix less…the mixture may not be consistent then. The key here is to mix SLOWLY. Count ten turns clockwise, and then ten turns counter-clockwise. Do this repeatedly until the mixture is completely clear. (It may take up to 7 or 8 minutes.) It’s essential to work slowly to minimise bubbles forming.

Nowpour the mixture over the tin foil in the recess created by the underside of the saucer. This will spread the finish nicely, help dissapate any bubbles that formed in the finish, and increase the “pot life” (using time) of the finish.

Assuming you are doing a 4 piece rod, do two sections at a time…not more. If you are doing a two piece rod, do one section at a time. I would not advise trying to do the entire rod at once in the beginning. The finish starts to become tacky and very difficult to work with.

Start with the butt section and second section. Apply finish over the hook keeper, decorative wrap and rod writing first. Over this big area, use long brush strokes from side to side. Continue until the finish is all over the area required, and fairly level. Move to the stripping guides, and apply finish to the wraps. Once you have finish applied to all the wraps, go back and neatly finish the ends of the wraps. You want to have the finish overlap onto the blank for about 1mm right around the blank.

NB: Do not “brush” the finish on, this will introduce bubbles in the finish. Hold the brush loaded with finish against the wrap, and turn the blank. It may help to rest your brush hand on top of the rod stand. Keep turning the blank, to ensure the finish does not sag to one side and possibly drip off.

Put the completed section in the rod-dryer, and turn it on. As the rod turns in the dryer, inspect the wraps and finish for bubbles. You can “pop” bubbles in two ways: Take a straw and lightly blow on the finish. This will raise the bubbles to the surface and pop them. Or, use a lighter, and hold the flame to the side of the finish as it turns. This will momentarily thin the finish, bring the bubbles to the surface and pop them.

 
 
Rod turning in rod-dryer.
 

 
 
Note the overlap of finish onto rod blank.
 
Then mix a fresh batch of finish and complete your top two sections. Put it in your rod dryer (now the entire rod is turning) and pop any bubbles you may find.
Turn the rod for at least 12 hours, to ensure the finish has cured enough to not sag anymore. You’re done! Now let the rod stand for at least 7 days for the finish to harden properly before you fish or cast a line with it. After this, take some furniture polish or Brasso and clean the rod up for a final shine.
Remember to put a little candle wax on your male ferrules before fishing it, to ensure good contact, prevent them from loosening while casting and to make disassembly at the end of the day easier.


Now pack your new rod it a suitable rod sock (bag) and a rod tube, and go fish!

There is little more satisfaction than when you catch a fish on a fly you tied yourself…except when that fish is caught with a rod you built yourself. Enjoy.

Other resources for finding Information/Assistance
www.ganador.co.za/custom.html
www.jsflyfishing.com
www.flexcoat.com
www.aaoutfitters.com

www.flyfisherman.com/rodbuilding

Rod Building 101 – Part 4

This is part 4 of the Rod building Tutorial by Michael Newby and Shaun Futter.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

 

THE WRAP:

To ensure even wrap widths on both sides of the guides, take a piece of cardboard and mark the length of the wrap. Put some masking tape at the end of the wrap, to help you with the width of the wrap. Do this on both sides of the guide.

Bring your thread over the front of the blank, and overlap it as shown. Then start wrapping your main thread over the standing part, as illustrated on the right, by turning the blank towards you. The tension should be slight, not too much.

Nowcut the standing part of the thread, and continue wrapping by turning the blank.Make sure the wraps are tightly packed together. The standing part of the thread will now be hidden under the wraps. (NB: This “start” should be on the opposite side of your guides, so that when you look at the guides, this part is under the blank.)

When you get to the guide foot, work slowly…and here’s where your preparation of the guide feet will pay off. If you did it correctly, the thread should climb onto the foot with ease. Continue wrapping until you are about 10 wraps from finishing.

 

Now (also on the opposite side of the blank from the guide), insert a piece of thread as shown, in a loop. We will use this to tie off our wrap. Continue wrapping and trapping the loop under the thread.

When you get to the end of where you need the thread to be, hold the main thread tight, and cut it off from your spool, keeping tension on it with your one hand. Now put it through your loop, and pull the loop tight, pulling the thread against the wraps. (We are going to use a method called the “disappearing thread trick”.)

Now cut the main thread flush where the loop is, and start pulling the loop. Pull it at an angle as shown. The loop will pull the main thread under the wraps and the thread is now secure. Done!

This is the completed wraps on the stripping guide. You can now remove the strip of tape on the blank in the middle of the guide, that showed us the spacing. If your guide is not completely in line with your “spine” marking, use a little pressure with your thumb to push it into place. This should not be difficult at all.

NB: If you are at all unhappy with your wrap, or if there are frays or “fuzzies” on the thread…cut it off and start again. The finished product will look a lot better.

 

“FUZZIES”…they will look nasty when finish is applied.
Rather remove the wraps and start again.

 

 

 

Lastly, “roll” and “pack” your thread wraps as shown. For rolling, use a crochet needle. This flattens the thread and fills up any gaps between the threads. Then pack the thread, to ensure it is nice and straight, and tight together.

 

Wrapping the hook keeper.

 

 

 

Here is a completed “decorative” wrap (usually in front of the writing on the blank) that encases the writing and specs of the blank, from here to the hook keeper. The main colour is dark green, and the “trim wraps” on both sides are metallic green thread.

 

STEP 17:

TRIMWRAPS

You may wish to add a decorative touch to your rod, by adding “trim wraps”. These are usually metallic in colour, either gold or silver…but there are many colours to chose from. You could also use a different non-metallic colour of course.

 

Sage Z-Axis rod, with Gold main thread, and trim wraps in Rust, Black and Metallic Gold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To do trim wraps, go about as follows:

 

First start your trim wrap colour thread, and make about four turns around the rod. Then bring over your main thread colour over the top, as shown.

 

Put your left thumb on the wraps, holding it secure so it won’t unravel, and cut the trim wrap thread. Bring it under the main colour thread, as shown above, and make sure it’s secure.

 

Continue your wrap, until you have about 6 wraps over the other loose threads. Take the loose threads in your right hand, and pull them tight. Cut them off flush, and continue wrapping.

 

When you are about 20 wraps away from your end point, put in one tie-off loop. Make about ten wraps around the loop, and put in a second tie-off loop.Make another 10 or so wraps.

 

Now put in a third tie off loop, and make another few wraps. Now you can cut the main thread, hold tension on it, and put it through the first tie-off loop you inserted.

 

Using the same method as with the stripping guides, pull the thread under the wraps. You now have two loops left, for your final trim wrap.

 

Now bring your trim wrap thread over again, and put it though the second loop you put in. Pull it tight, cut the thread, and pull it through. The thread will now be secure under the wrap. NB: Use caution so as not to pull the trim thread out from under the wraps.

 

We will use a different tie-off method here, just to show you.Make four wraps around the blank again, Cut the thread and pull it though the last tie-off loop. Then hold tension, and pull the entire thread length though the wrap.

Nowpull the loose tag of thread back and forth, making a “slot” in the wraps. Pull the thread tight, and put a sharp razor to it. Don’t cut it, just roll the blade against the thread. It should part neatly. Then roll and pack the thread wraps as you did with the stripping guide, to close any gaps and flatten the thread.

This tie off method is a little tricky, I would suggest using the “disappearing thread trick” instead.

 

The completed wrap with trims.

 

 

 

Here is our rod’s completed hook keeper, and decorative wraps that encase the writing. (It this case, a label we are going to stick on that came from the blank manufacturer.)

THE OTHER GUIDES:

 

Securing and wrapping snake guides (double foot guides) is the same as the stripping guide. For single foot guides, secure one side, and wrap as normal as well. The pic above shows the strip of masking tape that secures the guide, and the one which we placed on the blank to show the spacing.

 

The completed single foot guide.

 

 

 

 

You also have to wrap at least one inch of “security” wrapping on the female ferrules of the blank sections, as shown above. This ensures that the ends of the blank are secure and will not crack or split easily. If a guide is to be placed near the female ferrule, incorporate it in the securing wrap, as shown on the right.

Lastly, wrap a securing wrap of at least 1cm next to the tip-top. This will increase the strength of the blank in this section and also add a finishing touch to your rod.

 

END PART 4

Next time we will look at how to finish your rod.

Rod building 101 –Part 3

This is part 3 of the Rod building Tutorial by Michael Newby and Shaun Futter.

PART 1

PART 2

STEP NINE:

Mix up another batch of epoxy. Apply a layer of thick glue to the blank and between the bushes. Now slowly insert the blank into the reel seat, all the way to the back, as shown. Turn the blank as you are inserting it, to ensure the glue spreads evenly on the inside of the reel seat and the outside of the blank.


Then put more epoxy on the end of the reel seat (inside) and on the inside of the reel seat’s cap, and put the cap onto the reel seat end as shown. Clean up all excess epoxy with alcohol. You should end up with a butt section as shown on in the middle. Now MAKE SURE the blank’s info and model name (if it was silkscreened onto the blank) is in the correct position before leaving the epoxy to dry. If you hold the rod normally with the reel down, the name should be upright and readable. Normally it’s on the left of the blank. Turn the blank into the correct position, clean up any epoxy still left on the components, and secure the components in place with masking tape as shown. Leave it to dry overnight.

STEP TEN:



The hole through the cork grip will most certainly be smaller than the blank butt section, so it will need some reaming out to fit the blank. This step can be done with rat-tail files, beginning with the smallest one and working your way up to bigger files to enlarge the hole. This must be done very carefully and slowly, to ensure the hole stays centred and does not get made too big. An easier option is to use reamers (available from most rod-building supply shops). Essentially they are just blank sections with grit glued onto them. They are available in many sizes. These reamers make easy work of enlarging the hole diameter.



Start reaming with the smallest reamer, and work slowly. Keep turning the grip to ensure even reaming, and ensure the hole stays centered. Keep test-fitting the blank into the cork grip, as you do not want to remove too much cork. (NB: Blow out the grip every time before test-fitting, as any grit coming off the reamer and that is in the grip will scratch your blank).



Keep test-fitting the blank until the cork slides easily over the reel seat hood, but is not too loose. The grip should also not rock about on the blank, or squeak.

STEP ELEVEN:



Test fit the winding check (which is aluminium or PVC black rubber), and ream the winding check if need be, to fit snugly on the top of the grip.

STEP 12:



Mix up another batch of epoxy (don’t worry, this is the last time!). Spread a layer onto the blank (not the grip inside!). Spread the glue to about 1 inch past the point where your grip top will end up. Now slide the grip onto the blank, and keep turning it as you slide it down, to ensure the glue spreads evenly. Keep sliding it down and turning it until it slides over the reel seat hood, which must also have a very thin layer of epoxy on. Next, slide the winding check on and put a small layer of glue on the winding check, where it meets the cork. Clean up all excess glue with alcohol, and ensure the blank is completely free of glue as well. Make sure all parts are fitted correctly, and set the rod aside to dry overnight.

THE ASSEMBLED ROD BUTT SECTIONS

STEP 13:



PREPARE THE GUIDES FOR WRAPPING.

Most guides come prepared already, but almost all need a little finishing off. You need to shape them correctly and ensure there’s no sharp points on them. This will enable the thread to “climb” onto the guide easily and no fraid thread will result. Prepare the guides as shown with a small file.We have shown the guide feet, and the feet on the stripping guide.

STEP 14:


You will need a rod-wrapping stand, like the Flex Coat wrapper shown above. You can also make your own one, it’s really quite simple. Or, in a pinch, cut two V’s out of a cardboard box to rest your rod blank on while wrapping.

STEP 15:

Assemble the entire rod, and mark out the guide spacing. Al manufacturer's of blanks will give you the spacings required. Rod building supply companies will also be able to give you “general” spacing for your rod’s length, weight and sections if you cannot find them. Just ensure your spacing are marked out correctly, and double-check it. This is very important. You can mark your spacing with a china marker, but I find a thin piece of masking tape works best, and is easily removed…no need to clean the blank.

STEP 16:



Now for the hardest part of the build…the wraps. On the pic above you can see the “spacing” marking in the centre, and then we secure the guide with two thin strips of masking tape as well. NB: make sure the guides are aligned with the “spine” you have marked. The hook keeper gets wrapped in the very same way, just right against the winding check of course.

END PART 3

Next time we will start the actual wrapping of the guides.