Hey, everyone, I know it's been a while since my last post, but I'm back. And this time, I want to write about rod-building. It's something I just recently got into and I'd like to share it with you.
A fly fisherman's journey goes in stages. First he(or "she", I'm not trying to be sexist!) learns to cast. Next, he learns to tie his own flies. For many fly fishers, that's as far as it goes. But for some, it's not enough simply to deceive a fish with a homemade fly. They need more nostalgia. A little more of that hell yeah sort of feeling. A little lagniappe(Cajun for "a little something extra"), if you will. These crafty few will eventually learn to build their own fly rods.
My grandpa built a 3pc fly rod out of split-cane bamboo. It's now in my possession, hanging on my wall along with its Ocean City No. 76 reel that still remains spooled with grandpa's silk fly line. It's a nostalgic piece for me, for sure. It was this same grandpa who taught me to fly fish and he inspired me to tie flies, as well. And even though he's gone now, this old relic of his inspired me to have a go at building my own fly rod, too. It's an endeavor I've considered for a long time and after about two years of thinking about it, I just decided to go for it.
Well, me tell you, there is definitely a learning curve! I taught myself how to build rods from reading a book on the subject and from haunting the various rod-building Internet forums. That helped a lot, definitely. However, like any other craft, no amount of reading can substitute for "hands on" experience. There were some hiccups, hurdles, and aggravating mistakes made along the way during my first build, but by the time I was finished with it, not only did I come away with a nice fly rod, but I also came away with a lot more insight on how to do it easier the next time around. Perhaps I can save a few people from making some of the blunders that I did on my first go-round. And if nothing else, I can show off my work. Hehe. So, I'll post the steps of my build in their subsequent order and try my best to outline the process simply. Hope y'all enjoy!
Step 1, ream out the handle to fit the taper of your blank's butt section. Taper it well! Leave about 1/32" of play so the glue has enough room to do its job but no more than that.
Step 2, lightly sand the area where the handle and reel seat will be mounted. The idea here is to give its surface some "tooth" so that the epoxy will adhere to it well.
Step 3, find the spine of the blank and mark it with masking tape. The spine is the side of the blank that's most resistant to bending. Your guides need to be placed along this spine.
Step 4, mark the center of the reel seat just above where the reel foot will go so that you can line it up with the spine. This ensures that everything will be straight. You don't want your reel being out of line from the guides. No Bueno.
Step 5, create a bushing at the butt section of the blank with masking tape. This keeps the rod blank centered inside the reel seat. Make sure it's snug but not tight. Also, if you're using a metal reel seat, roll up some sand paper and lightly rough up the inside to give it that "tooth" I mentioned earlier.
Step 6, mix your two part epoxy on tin foil. *Attention*: Make sure your mixture is exact!!! This is very important. If you don't get it right, it'll never harden. We guys don't like it when things don't fully harden... Girls don't like it, either! Ok, that may have been cheesy but I like cheesy jokes. So, there! Anyhow, mix it well and use metal measuring spoons to get the amounts of each liquid as precise as possible. Mix it until it's clear and then apply it generously with a Popsicle stick. Be sure to keep a paper towel soaked in alcohol handy to wipe off any excess after you slide the reel seat into position. If there is no excess, you probably didn't apply enough epoxy.
Step 7, wait. Stand it in a corner like I've done here or use masking tape to hold the butt-cap and/or fighting butt in position as it dries for at least 4 hours. I learned the hard way that if you do not, the reel seat, or at least the butt cap, will back itself off due to pressure from the expanding glue! Don't make that mistake. It sucks to fix and it's easily avoided.
Step 8, mix your epoxy again and apply it to the handle area. Tape all over the threads of your reel seat first so that no glue will get in the threads and prevent you from being able to lock down your reel! Slide the handle into position over the epoxy and, again, wipe off any excess. Once again, let it sit for at least 4 hours to fully harden.
Step 9, install your tip top with tip top adhesive. Line it up with the spine! I also used a piece of vertical tape on the butt to mark the center & spine so that I can sight down the rod to the tip top and ensure that it's aligned perfectly.
Step 10, use thin strips of masking tape to mark the guide spacing down the blank from the tip top. Mark the center of each one along the spine. You can find guide spacing charts appropriate for your rod's length from several online resources. I used the version viewable for free on www.mudhole.com. It worked great.
Step 11, use thin strips of masking tape to hold the guides in their proper position as you wrap them with thread. Only tape & wrap one at a time. If you try to tape them all on at once, you'll surely knock them out of alignment or, worse, knock them off altogether as you're turning the rod in your rod wrapper. Remember, there's no rush. Do it slow and do it right.
Let's talk about wrapping stations for a minute. I got this one from www.mudhole.com and I love it because it's got a lovely, built-in thread tensioner and elastics on the rod stands that allow me to remove my hands from the rod when need be without my wraps coming undone. This is incredibly convenient but it's more of a luxury than a need. My grandpa didn't have anything this fancy and his bamboo rod turned out beautiful. You can use something as simple as a cardboard box with V notches cut in the sides and an open area cut out of the front to give your hands room to work. For a thread tensioner, you can put your spool in a coffee cup on the floor, run the thread through a book either on the floor or in your lap, and set your makeshift wrapping station on a table or desk so you can sit comfortably while you wrap away. You can decrease or increase tension my putting the thread in upper or lower pages in the book! Some folks just run the thread under their thigh, not using a book at all. With this method, the proper thread tension can be applied by raising or lowering the thigh that the thread is ran under. Let's see here, a cardboard box, a coffee cup, a book or your thigh... Tools cost: $0.00! The only real downside to this method is that you must keep a hand on your rod at all times or your thread wraps will unravel at a surprisingly fast pace! So, be mindful of that when choosing which route you'll take. Pictured below is a redneck rod wrapper I made out of cardboard. I actually used it to start my second build while my first build was drying on my fancier, manufactured wrapping station.
I'm a fan of cheap tools but I'm in love with FREE tools! There's no need to be pretentious. Don't be a tool hipster.
Step 12, start wrapping the guides! Begin with your stripping guide and finish with the decorative wrap at the tip top. Don't forget to wrap the ferrule/s before applying any pressure or bend whatsoever to the blank! Make your ferrule wrap at least as long as your guide wraps. As you're wrapping, make sure your thread wraps are side by side and not overlapping each other. You can use a burnishing tool or even just your fingernails to continually press your wraps tightly, straightly together as you go. Not only do your wraps look better this way, but they're stronger, too. Overlapping wraps are unsightly AND weak, allowing for the possibility of your guides to become misaligned. It's unlikely they're once flex-coated, however, but still ugly. Downright hideous. Have some pride in your work. Don't rush. If a wrap ends up looking rough, cut it off and start over. Don't just flex coat over an ugly wrap. It's permanent at that point, like a bad tattoo!
I'm not going to go over how to start and end a wrap here in this article as there are plenty of videos on YouTube regarding how to do that. It's pretty easy, really.
Step 13, apply flex cement to the guide wraps and let the rod turn on your drying motor for no less than 4 hours. I let mine turn for 8 just to be safe. If you don't have a drying motor, you can achieve the same results my rotating your rod by hand turn every 15 minutes for at least 4 hours. Alternate by doing a 1/4 turn and then a 1/2 turn every other time to ensure that a belly doesn't develop in your flex cement. Once it dries, there's not much you can do. You can remove any bubbles in your flex cement immediately after brushing it on with a 1/4" natural bristle paint brush by holding a flame close to the wraps(I use a regular old cigarette lighter) but NOT on them! Bubbles are easily removed this way but it's best to not have any bubbles in your mix in the first place. Do this by mixing your two part flex cement slowly and carefully for two minutes on tinfoil or in an aluminum wine bottle cap with a straightened paper clip. Don't use plastic, because some plastic contains silicone and if any silicone gets into your mixture, it'll never fully harden. Don't make that mistake. Again, just like when you mix your handle epoxy, your two part measurements must be precise.
Flex Coat guide cement makes this easy because they include two silicone-free syringes to help apply equal parts with precision. These syringes are reusable, too, considering you reserve one for hardener and one for the glue and never let them intermingle. Keep them in separate ziplock bags and don't bother washing them because you don't need to as long as they remain separate from their opposite liquid.
Step 14, look it over after drying for at least 8 hours and determine whether it needs another coat of flex cement or not. The wraps should be completely covered with the flex coat with a little bit of the epoxy overlapping onto the blank as pictured above.
Step 15, take your new rod and go fishing!
Building a rod is a tedious task but it's also a fun one. And that's what fly fishing is all about. Fun! The fun, the challenge, and the nostalgia are the aspects that have always attracted me to fly fishing. You might say that building your own fly rod and then catching a fish with it is the epitome of such nostalgia within our sport. I certainly think so, having done it myself. Twice, actually! A couple days ago, I finished a pretty little 7'3" Mtn Brook Fiberglass fly rod for small stream fishing. It turned out beautiful, I don't mind saying. The first build pictured in this article was built on a 9'6" St. Croix SCIII blank made for Cabelas that I bought for a ridiculously good deal while shopping in their bargain cave about a year ago. I paid a whopping $18 for it! That's amazing considering that blank sells for $150 and the St. Croix Avid, their factory rod utilizing that very same blank, retails for $270! All in all, I built my custom St. Croix Avid for only..... drumroll, please.....$87!!!! Can you believe that?! That's less than 1/3 the retail price! So, in addition to being a fun, new avenue in your fly fishing journey, building your own rods can also save you money.
Well, that's all for this article, folks. I hope my ramblings here were somewhat informative and that they may help someone avoid a few pitfalls as they start their first build. Or even better, perhaps my ramblings here will inspire someone to start their first build, period! If so, please share with me what you've done, I'd love to see it!
Cheers, y'all!
Taylor Nauta
Southern Fly Guy
P.S.: Below is some fly rod porn for those of you who would like to see my fiberglass 4wt project from start to finish.
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