Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Rod building

Any rod builders here? I'm wanting to start.

Like bullet casting one can spend as little or as much and either will yeild a decent product.

Might want to peruse youtube to see if there are some videos to get you a feel for what is involved.

The method you use to hold the rod bank and tension the thread can make ie easier or harder.

A good place to start is with Mudhole.com

Lots of products and ideas. Plus links to folks that can help guide you.

Build mostly fly rods here. Seven to 16 footers. If one can locate a nearby fly shop or fly fishing club, he may find some expertise there. One can typically build for about 30% of retail and purchase really fine blanks. Cabelas used to sell some ready to build kits with all of the needed components. Not been high on them lately, so don't know if that's still the case.

One needs a rig to hold sections while guides are installed and the thread wound on. Something that is length adjustable (I used some tongue and grooved lumber with a little felt in the V's where the blank rests) Some assembly to hold thread and apply tension as it is wound. On the cheap one can pass the thread through a stack of books. Something spring loaded with an adjustment nut is better. Maybe an old rotisserie motor (used to be dirt cheap in thrift stores) to turn blanks as epoxy is applied and cures. One needs a very slow rotation like 5 or 6 rpms. A rat tail rasp and sand paper to ream out/turn down cork handles. Probably some masking tape, and some slower curing epoxy (1 to 5 hrs allows air bubbles to escape - blow on them as they surface and they will burst). Do multiple thin applications as opposed to a single thick glob. Some acetone to clean up stray epoxy. Bick lighter to singe fuzz from wound on thread. A ruler or yard stick for measurements, and a small fine grind stone to file down sharp edges of guide feet. Rubber bands to hold guides in place as thread is applied. Heat stick glue to secure the topmost guide. Lastly, patience and do it over if one sees flaws before applying epoxy.

Some coaching on the initial builds will help one do a more professional job on first efforts, as there are quite a few tricks of the trade that apply mostly to cosmetics.

Likely YouTube will be your friend, but I started before that existed.

Tight lines,

Built lots of sticks over the years freshwater to saltwater if you can find any of the Old Rod crafter journals out there or if the organization still exists the members have a lot of good information lots of ideas up there you can get into very detailed but wraps wheeze and various things you can take it as far as you want and drive yourself mad good luck

I’ve built tons of salmon and steelhead rods. Lots of walleye and bass stuff too. It’s a huge addiction just like firearms. My collection of rods is asinine. Thank goodness they take up less room than guns. Mudhole is a good reference as they put out some helpful tips and videos. I used to shop there some but anymore I mostly build Rainshadow blanks and Carol and crew at Utmost Enterprises are my go to. The issue with Utmost is their website is quite unfriendly. Not a place for a novice to browse.

Good luck and have a blast!!!

Hey, thanks for the tips! I've been all over youtube and there's so much to see. Mudhole is a user friendly website and where I'm most undecided is the wrapper/dryers. Think I'll start with a better wrapper/dryer and get with the program.

There are several suppliers out there , I use TFO blanks, have 9 waiting now, 5 fly and 4 inshore salt water. Mudhole is great for conventional, but there are several better suppliers for fly. I wrap by hand always have, it is more pleasing to me, drying is by motor. I built a cork lathe, but it's not necessary if you order predone cork.

I picked up 4 blanks, all material needed to finish 2 spinning rods for the grandsons and 2 baitcasters for my son and I, a kit for wrapping that included a dryer and a sack full of stuff. Yea, I paid retail but I had a great rod wrapper helping me get started. I'm pumped.

I'm thinking a TFO for the fly rod, very nice.

I built a 4pc 9wt on a TFO blank and its awesome. I prefer a stiffer blank with a faster action and it was perfect.

Do post up some wares with serious close ups as things progress. One cosmetic hint: When wrapping guides with thread one uses another loop of thread to pull the tag end under the last wraps. Cut that tag end short so it pulls under but does not surface when that loop is extracted. It's near impossible to get epoxy to cover and lay flat if that tag is exposed.

I found rodbuilding.org to be a useful site.
Mudhole, Batson, etc

I managed to glue grip, grip cap, reel seat and the piece in front (all cork) and wrap 8 guides for one 6'6" spinning rod. What a PITA wrapping guides are to a newbie!! Especially those teeny bastids. Plan on epoxying today and it looks very nice so far. I have photos but it's been a while since I posted here. Bear with me.

Epoxied yesterday afternoon and it's dried, in the rod rack waiting for the reel. Came out great. Now, I haven't posted photos here in some time, so it may be a while before I find time to mess with all that.

Northern Dave!!