Getting started rod building

[Hardtail Hunter]

Are there any good books or videos that show you how to build rods?
Or what is the best way to get started rod building?

[mr. bones]

Hardtail,
Check out rodbuilding.org probably the best information on the web. There is alot of great info and basics there.

dave

[Capt.ChrisLembo]

go to www.versitex.com or www.mudhole.com

I have been building my own rods for a few months. It is easier than you think but not really cheaper. You can buy some great spin rods for around $100-$125 bucks and I spend about $85 on the components along with lots of time.

[Hoss]

Yeah, there's a book called Hand crafting a Graphite FLy rod by LA Garcia. Custom Graphite Fly Rod by Skip Morris. Rod Building Guide by Tom Kirkman. Fly Rod Building Made Easy by Art Scheck.

For videos Flex Coat Rod Building: How We Do It By Roger Seiders . And Handcrafting a Graphite Fly Rod (just like the book) withL A Garcia. I can oly find the later in VHS form.

The best way to get starte is to build a rod. Hopefully you can find a class at a fly shop. Otherwise get a book or video and a really cheap kit. Cheap because the first rod ain't gonna be pretty. While you can't build rods super cheap, what you get is worth 2 or 3 times what you put into it. You can build a great 8 wt for $90 if you know where to look.

[makomakoman]

What kind of rods do you want to build?

If you like to tie flies, then it will be very easy to do. Give some more specifics and can help point you in better directions..

[Capt.ChrisLembo]

Check out the rod building 101 section videos on Mudhole.com. He pretty much cover all but the decorative wraps to get you going.

If you tie flies then rod-building is easy. start with a spinning rod and buy a few of the liquidation blanks off mudhole along with aluminum oxide guides and foam grips and fuji reel seat. you will be into around $25 each rod at that point and 3 rods should be enough to get you to where you can move on to something with better components and what you want. I use all SiC guides and a set for a spin rod costs me $38.50 including guides and the top. a good blank will run you $50+ minumum and the handle and seat another $10. other items like winding checks, butt cap and thread are minimal.

The hardest part is actually ordering the right components. On line ordering is tough the first go around trying to find the proper sizes and shapes of everything you want on the rod. a few things to know are that you will use more thread than you think so order the pro-spools of 600+ yards. I started with metallic thread which is a little harder due to the coating on the metallic thread but it looks better.

Don't buy guide sets. They are never what you want. Buy individual guides. On a 12-25 lb. 7' fast action graphite spin rod on an AllStar Elite blank I use SiC fuji guides in 30,25,20,16,12,10,8 and the top depends on if I cut down the blank at all.

BTW if you cut a blank at all then the warranty is void for almost all mfgrs. I have not found one that honors warranty if blank is cut down.

I will post photos of the rod I am building now.

[soundownsam]

Advanced Rod Building by Dale Clemens is pretty much the rod builders bible.

Sam

[gseries69]

I've got the Dale Clemens book it is very thorough.

[makomakoman]

I've got the Dale Clemens book it is very thorough.

It is good, but a little dated...

[Tarpon41]

Are there any good books or videos that show you how to build rods?
Or what is the best way to get started rod building?

HTH: I don't own "store bought" and all mine are home built...I started about 40 years ago because I could not afford the high end stuff...that's where you can save the most...I second the Dale Clemens book while it is dated his concepts and fundamentals are still valid and also the Mudhole 101 vid is good.

You do not gain much by using a $100 fly blank and putting on recoil nickel/Ti guides or fujii stripping sic guides...recoil or struble reel seat---full wells...shop the internet fly shops that have blanks even sage,loomis, scott, st croix blanks can be on sale when the models change..eg I found a winston 11 wt xtr but in three piece for 126.00...some of the two piece loomis blanks can be had at deep discount...sage, loomis...scott will tell you the guide spacings for their respective blanks...

As for conventional rods the savings are not as great but you can custom spec...for example the conventional rods that I take to Andros use calstar grafighter blanks 5'6" to 6' mounted in unibutts so that the rod can fit in a 6 foot or less travel case mine is 3 or 4 in PVC schedule 40 ...best calstar or seeker blanks prices that I have found... on the west coast... Charkbait... as for hardware either mudhole or recoil direct....when ordering I found it's a;ways best even if ordering online to call and check instock status...you can be hung up for weeks on a $5 guide or you go to another source for the $5 guide and 10 bucks shipping...

I have never built a simple device to rotate the blank while the wrapping resin sets...I wish I had... always just turn on the TV and hand rotate 180 degrees every five minutes until set and even or almost even

[Jim Miller]

I just started building some rods again. I had built one 10 years ago.

I built a wrapper with stuff from Lowes, reused drafting equipment (alum. channel) and stuff off E-bay.

Here's a look: