Saltwater Flyrodders

Our (Andre, Eric, Dave, Trevor) order has been placed and shipped.
Just waiting for mr. Postman

Hi all,
Time for another role call.
Can people please give me an update of where they are at?
Once I know that everyone has recieved their bits and bobs and are ready to start building, we'll arrange our second get together to start building.

cheers
Martin K

Here is what I know at this time......

1. Martin - Gear is here except blank.
2. Graeme: Gear is here.
3. Roger: Gear here.
4. Tony: ?Ordered?
5. Steve: ?Ordered?
6. Brian: ?Ordered?
7. Alberto: ?Ordered?
8. Andre: Ordered
9. Eric: Ordered
10. Dave: Ordered
11: Trevor: Ordered
12: Leon: Gear is here
13: Gael: Ordered

Received the guides from Mudhole this morning so have started whipping them on.
I would appreciate some advice on whipping the ferrules. All my other rods have this, but I have been unable to find any advice on it so far.

The guide spacing's I have been using have put a couple of the guides very close to the ferrules.
What I have done is to under bind the ferrules and whip the guide on top. I don't know if this is right or not!
If I can get hold of the drying rack I may even look at doing some of the epoxy work on the weekend.

I have bought 5 minute epoxy. Is this going to be a problem or should I get some slower stuff?
I would appreciate some input from those that have done this before.
Rog

Goods arriving tomorrow if all goes to plan.

Roger, what do you intend to use the 5 min epoxy glue for? Since you've glued your reel seat and grip on already, the only thing I can think you would need epoxy glue for is the tip top.

For threads wraps one normally uses a two part thread finish, guys refer to it as epoxy cause of the two parts but is quiet different to epoxy glue.

All the videos on rod building I have seen use epoxy to coat rod bindings.
I know in the past just a varnish was used, I assume that epoxy is going to make very strongly attached eyes.
Rog

Hi Rog,

Don't use the 5 minute epoxy on the bindings. It sets WAY too quickly and will also turn yellow much sooner than the other epoxy resins designed for the job. Keep it for your flies.

I think Tony uses Pro-Kote. I've just done mine with Rod Dancer. The Rod Dancer brand works well for me: my coatings take about 2.5 hours to set fully to the point where I can stop turning the rod. After another ~20 hours, it's ready to fish with.

I didn't use a rod turner on my build (It's finished now, by the way. Built it over the weekend just gone ...). All I did was set a timer to tell me when 30 minutes had elapsed, at which point I gave the rod a 180° turn. The secret is not to touch the epoxy once it is applied! The epoxy evens & smooths itself out over the time it takes to set, which is why you can't use the 5 minute stuff. That stuff sets before it has time to smooth out properly.

The epoxy is there only to hold the binding firmly: the binding is the what provides the strength to the build, not the epoxy. Just the same as the graphite or glass fibres in those composites provide the tensile strength and the resin keeps it all in place ....

You don't need to underbind on the ferrules. The rod guide binding does both jobs if the guide is close to the ferrule (holding the guide and preventing splits.) Having said that, it's not going to hurt and if it still looks good, leave the underbinding in place.

Cheers,
Graeme

Thanks for clearing that up for me guys!
Next question is where can I get this stuff locally, or do I have to go back to the USA websites?
Looking forward to seeing your finished rod Greame. I hope it has turned out as well as you wish

Hi Roger,

The rod is better than I thought it would be!

This is the stuff I used and the place I bought it. The Rod Works isn't local to Perth, but it is in South Australia, so it's "sort of" local .... They took exactly as long to get stuff to me as Mud Hole did: items ordered at the same time turned up on the same day, even though one came from the States and the other from SA ...

One more thing: before you mix it, make sure you put the syringes in hot water for a few minutes. With the mix being hot, it is less viscous and any bubbles are released easily. Mix gently in a small plastic tub, then gently pour the mixture onto a small tray made from kitchen aluminium foil before applying the mix to the rod with a fine brush.

cheers,
Graeme

Rog, you only need to bind the female section of the ferrules. If your guide finishes near the ferrule, you can incorporate guide wrap and ferrule wrap. The 2 part finishing epoxy I use is an Aftcote brand. Bluewater sells it. Just have to wait for the new store to open up.
12 weight One blank has arrived. Just waiting on some guides.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I managed to get some Erskine Epoxy 'professional' rod finish from Campbells Tackle in Leederville.
My 5wt Sage One is now completed except for applying the epoxy. I am pretty happy with the result and it looks pretty good. But I,m now a bit nervous that I may **** the whole thing up now at this last step. (which I was about to do before I got all your input)
I altered the cork grip considerably to make it more comfortable. I used sanding sealer to coat it then gave it a final light sanding, it seams to have worked well
I have been practising everything first on some old spin rods so I probably have built about 4 rods at once.