well I've decided I want to build a fishing pole a spinning or casting rod.. What is a good type of wood or other matirial to use.. I don't want to use a blank rod I want to carv or form my own.. Just to do it... So please help me and give me some ideas for types of matirials..
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For your first build, I would suggest you buy a blank. Casting rods, spinning, fly and the rest are either graphite, graphite composite, fiberglass, or bamboo. Bamboo is the hardest to build if you start from scratch. Stick with the graphite- that's my suggestion on the blank if you've never built one before. Go to Mudhole.com, Batson Enterprises, etc. to see what you're getting into.
Blanks run from $10 up to a couple hundred depending on what you want and what quality you're willing to pay for.
Cork or wood grips, reel seats, guides, thread, thread epoxy and how to do it all can all be found on these websites. Google up fishing rod building.
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I don't know anyone that has built "A" blank. The cost would be outrageous.
Got to think about the taper.
I suggest a kit for a starter. Graphite. You could get creative and build your own grip and reel seat out of wood if you wanted.
Rainshadow has some kits also, I know allot of people that like them:
http://www.shofftackle.com/rainshadow-index.html
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I have looked it all up and it looks easy to me just time consuming... I was thinking the split bamboo with a carbon wrap or a fiberglas wrap.. For extra strength.. I thing if I oild up the bamboo well then wraped with carbon or fiberglass.. It would last for a long time and be very sturdy and I would like to build my own eye's that would be molded onto the rod it's self out of which ever I choose to wrap the bamboo with.. Then buy a chunk of cork and carv out a handle from it... Like I said though it doesn't seem like a hard thing to to just very time consuming... How does that sound... I havnt figured out a seat yet I'll get there..
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How you going to split the bamboo? Then glue, heat, plain?
To wrap it with graphite will make it heavy and defeat the purpose to me.
Plus how will you get a good strong taper? It would be allot of trial and error to me and that could get expensive, but anything is possible.
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[quote jeremypeace]I have looked it all up and it looks easy to me just time consuming... I was thinking the split bamboo with a carbon wrap or a fiberglas wrap.. For extra strength.. I thing if I oild up the bamboo well then wraped with carbon or fiberglass.. It would last for a long time and be very sturdy and I would like to build my own eye's that would be molded onto the rod it's self out of which ever I choose to wrap the bamboo with.. Then buy a chunk of cork and carv out a handle from it... Like I said though it doesn't seem like a hard thing to to just very time consuming... How does that sound... I havnt figured out a seat yet I'll get there..[/quote]
Good luck.
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I think you are getting in over your head trying to build what you have in mind. I build rods as a hobby and I can tell you it is not cheap. Just the amount of different materials and products you need to do one rod is unreal. The cost is not so bad after building a few dozen rods and the price drops for every rod you build since you are spreading the initial cost of materials and products over more than one rod.
Also trying to build a "blank" is something I would not even come close to trying. There is alot more that goes into a blank than just carving on a piece of wood with a knife.
In general, building yourself a rod for the first time will cost you 5x what it would cost you to go to the store and buy the same one. Here is a short list of things you will need.
[ol][li]Blank[/li][li]Reel seat[/li][li]grips[/li][li]guides[/li][li]thread[/li][li]2 piece bamboo rod? -> ferrul kit[/li][li]butt cap[/li][li]epoxy glue[/li][li]thread sealer[/li][li]guide epoxy[/li][li]rod wrapper[/li][li]alcohol burner[/li][li]tip glue[/li][li]rod dryer[/li][/ol]
I'm sure I missed some items and and other items depend on your taste like colors or detail. If you want to build a rod, I would suggest taking a class locally so you can see what kind of work goes into building a rod along with gaining some basic understanding of the process and this would cut the initial cost by quite a bit and you will have the proper tools to do it. Jimmy's in IF is one place that comes to mind.
Good luck.
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Add to that, if you want to build your own reel seat and cork, a lathe is going to be another choice over carving. Plus the jig so to speak to glue the cork pieces together as I have only seen cork sold in small discs, not a big chunk. (Cork is on the rise as far as good and price) Plus some kind of jig to get a nice uniformity to the guides (eyes)
You can BUILD rods as cheap or as expensive as you want but like PRVRT explained, there is a set up fee. I got a wrapper/dryer off e-bay for a good price.
Kits generally have everything you need. And you can build something than you are totally proud of.
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so 1 for my b-day and 1 for my christmas I was wondering when you were going to get them done
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Soon as we get the money for the hardware LOL Gonna put fightin' bums on these bad boys!
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I once rented a house with junk in the basement. Some former renter had made rods, I guess. There were numerous pieces of bamboo, split and tapered and cracked or warped or unusable. There was also a tapering jig. He made it out of 3 pieces of cold rolled steel bar stock. One was the base, the other two were welded on the sides to make a U shaped channel. But, they were welded on at an angle, so the base got closer to the top as you approached one end, giving the pieces a taper when planed.
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That's one heck of a project idea you've come up with. I to would recomend buying a blank at least, but I don't do well with the level of detail and patience it would take to make a blank. Not to mention I have no clue how to do it! As for the rest of it it shouldn't be hard. The wrapping stand and thread tensioner can be built easily enough. I imagine the spinner to dry the epoxy wouldn't be hard to build either if you have a small motor. I built my first rod last year and completely enjoyed it, but have no delusions that I could pull of the goal you've set. If you go for it I would love to hear periodic updates on how things are going and how you achieve them.
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I've been researching the whole building a rod and with what they call split bamboo it comes in 6' 8' and 10' lengths. You first peel the bamboo which is very simple bamboo splits very nice... This is for making a single piece rod a two piece you start by cutting the bamboo to the length desiered for the 2piece.. Any way.. After you have the pieces all split to aproxamitly 1/8th of and inch you take them and break out the plainer and start tapering the pieces one by one... Once you have them all taperd accordingly... You tie them all together taking a small amount of epoxy to the ends... To help hold it's form... Then you proceed to sweat the bamboo open it up then oil the bamboo. Let it sit for 48 hours... And because it will be wraped in carbon fiber or fibergless there is no need to smooth the bamboo... After the 48 hour set make sure the bamboo hasbecame dry to the touch... Then start preping to start laying the carbon resin or fiberglass.. Put only one layer from but to tip... Let cure... After it has finished to cure begin smothing the carbon or fiberglass to a smooth surface.. Almost glass like.. No need to pain yet!! Make a 1/8th of an inch thick piece of carbon or fiberglass aprox 1 foot in length and 6 inches wide so there is room for a re punch.. With that piece start punching out the eyelets... Bullet cases work great to punch them out... Then cut around sll of your punches making a squar shape with them.... And then atatch to the pole where you would want them... Then glass over them straping them to the rod... Brake out the sand paper again and start sanding to a glassy surface then proceed to paint.. And that is what I found for a rod
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You do know, the bamboo used is not the stuff that grows in your back yard....it is Tonkin.
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[quote jeremypeace]I've been researching the whole building a rod and with what they call split bamboo it comes in 6' 8' and 10' lengths. You first peel the bamboo which is very simple bamboo splits very nice... This is for making a single piece rod a two piece you start by cutting the bamboo to the length desiered for the 2piece.. Any way.. After you have the pieces all split to aproxamitly 1/8th of and inch you take them and break out the plainer and start tapering the pieces one by one... Once you have them all taperd accordingly... You tie them all together taking a small amount of epoxy to the ends... To help hold it's form... Then you proceed to sweat the bamboo open it up then oil the bamboo. Let it sit for 48 hours... And because it will be wraped in carbon fiber or fibergless there is no need to smooth the bamboo... After the 48 hour set make sure the bamboo hasbecame dry to the touch... Then start preping to start laying the carbon resin or fiberglass.. Put only one layer from but to tip... Let cure... After it has finished to cure begin smothing the carbon or fiberglass to a smooth surface.. Almost glass like.. No need to pain yet!! Make a 1/8th of an inch thick piece of carbon or fiberglass aprox 1 foot in length and 6 inches wide so there is room for a re punch.. With that piece start punching out the eyelets... Bullet cases work great to punch them out... Then cut around sll of your punches making a squar shape with them.... And then atatch to the pole where you would want them... Then glass over them straping them to the rod... Brake out the sand paper again and start sanding to a glassy surface then proceed to paint.. And that is what I found for a rod[/quote]
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At first, the saying "a few fries short of a happy meal" came to mind, but now? I really don't know what to think or say except [font "Arial"][#000000][size 7]WOW![/size][/#000000][/font]
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Obviously fishing rods have been made for years. A completely home made rod sounds like quite a project to take on but I say if you have the patience, time, and money then get after it. Let us all know how it turns out and good luck.
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I know about the bamboo!! That web site you gave me themudhole one.. Sells what they have labeld as split bamboo.. That is what I will be using...it will be a bamboo composit...
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gotcha, When you mentioned being easy to split, I misunderstood.
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I am going to be building a rod all hand made except for the bamboo obviously I can't make that!!! It is a plan and a project it may be a little bit befor I start on it as I have many projects already... And I need to finish one befor I start another... When I start it I will post pictures of it though... And after my extencive pricing it shouldn't cost more than 60 bucks to build...
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