Week 1

OK its just a few days til we start. i want to ask everyone to bring a notepad and pen , your reel if possible , decide on colors for your rod and if you know , decide on a distance from the butt end to the reel stem of your reel. For this rod about 18 to 22 inches would be good IMO. If you can't figure it out yourself from past rods you have had , we will be discusssing reel seat placement the first day so its OK if you don't know but at least think about it.

Class starts at 10 AM so please arrive between 9:30 and 10 AM. Don't be late as i intend to start right at 10 but also don't be too early as i will not be ready. Don't show up at 6 AM. :) If you get there before 9:30 please just sit in your nice warm car as i may be home but I may be running around until 9:30.

Please bring the $20 per class. It would be nice to get the entire $100 on the first day but if money is tight you can pay $20 or $40 whatever you can Please bring at least the first $20.

I should have all the parts by today and I am very happy with the way it all came together.

any chance someone is passing by West Warwick taking this class?

I'll be there. I don't go past Warwick though.

I hope he clears his driveway

We are going to have to delay the start of this until next Saturday Jan 28. They are now predicting 6 inches for my area and starting much earlier than previous forcast with very heavy snow by about 9 AM . Add the 6 to the 4 we got today and that's 10 inches. With the new heavier snow predictions and the earlier timing , There will be a parking ban in effect at the time of the class also.

So anyway , start of class will be delayed a week until 10 AM Jan 28.

Tomorrow looks good! Please arrive 9:30 - 10 AM. Please don't be too early but don't be at all late. We start at 10 sharp. I will supply the coffee , if you want anything else , bring it. I am really looking forward to meeting everybody.

Tomorrow looks good! Please arrive 9:30 - 10 AM. Please don't be too early but don't be at all late. We start at 10 sharp. I will supply the coffee , if you want anything else , bring it. I am really looking forward to meeting everybody.


Leaving shortly

Cool second week of class, I'll be doing my shrink wrap and bands tomorrow before the game while it's still fresh in my head.
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I have to shave down the cork tape and not cut myself, a very rare chance indeed

Cutting yourself would be bad but even worse would be nicking the blank! :)

Tomorrow we'll see what blood on the blank looks like
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I got the wraps and shrink wrap done last night while it was still fresh in my mind.

Glad to hear people are psyched now. I think as you do more yourself and you get a more and more complete rod , the excitement starts to build.

No blood or booze was spilled capping the cork grip, no nicks or cuts either

Good thing about the booze being safe! :)

Be sure to bring empty spool back this week!!


I was unable to get small spools of A black so please be sure to bring back the empty spool we used for the small amounts of C black. I had to buy a 4000 yard spool of A black which is about 10 times the thread we need but I need to wind it onto the spools for you. I will do the winding with a drill so no problem there , I just need the spools to wind on. If you have any empty spools in addition to the one I gave you , please bring them too.

thanks

See you all Sat.

Snow Sat

I marked the guide placement with my dremel, I left nice notches on the blank
(:-)

Two things from today

1) Everyone should see if they like the layout without the 12 guide better than with it.

2) Run the line to locate the reduction guides from the spool center to the top of the Choker (first 10 guide) (rodbuilders method) see picture in this link
http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/spinningNGC.pdf . You can even go from the top of the spool edge to the top of the choker guide. Geometrically , this will produce the best "bullseye" but remember , a bullseye is not required. Move around and tweak the guides by casting trials.

Remember , we want a balance between the 27X method (concept) and the Exponential Method (stress distribution)

Everyone read this article before next Saturday.

Tackle Crafting Tutorials | mudhole.com (http://www.mudhole.com/Rod-Building-101/Articles)

Read the article " Cross Wrap Made Easy" for next week.

Mike should I post questions here about my layout? Or you want it in a pm?

My spool is better big in diameter, but my numbers still look right, in theory, at work now so haven't had the opportunity to check it against the blank.
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*********************
Easier to PM me Chris.
Saltheart

heres a few pics from the class, unless you were there, there tough to explain.

first one is mike using two pairs of glasses and his special glasses to fix a trim band taper

second pic is mike helping set up the guide layout.

as you can tell from the pics, mike works very clean and loves fruit bars:rotfl:

learned a lot in week 3, left with a lot of numbers floating in my head, luckily i took really good notes. made it real easy to undertsand once i started my own rod.

all that first shot needs is the evil laughter

Somebody else ate the fruit bars , I just saved the box for my threads... :)

Even with the jewelers glasses I still couldn't salvage that taper for one of the guys. It ended up a do over. Do overs are much better than settling for less than perfect.

We are doing the classes upstairs with just one section of lathe bed. Its much more comfy upstairs where its warmer , there's a bathroom and a cofffee maker. The downstairs bench just has everything piled on it for now.
In two weeks when we do the thread finishing, We'll need to use the downstairs bench , so it will be organized. That will be a good time to take pics of my setup.

Between the Clemens lathe and the temp controlled drying box , its a top of the line pro set up. I or Paparazzi Chef Chris (Definition...From Italian: [papaˈrattso] photographers often described as an unacceptable annoyance ) :) will post some "authorized" pics of my set up.

So i did the ferrule wrap and placed the guides and took a few test casts. I need to modify the position of the guides, there was some line slap between the collector and the 16. I used all the guides, not sure if it is needed or not. When its not cold as hell out i will try a different set up. I did manage to disturb the ferrule wrap and the wrap below the reel seat during the casting practice. Had to re-wrap both of them. The rod has an awesome action to it. Cant wait to get it finished.

Even with the jewelers glasses I still couldn't salvage that taper for one of the guys. It ended up a do over. Do overs are much better than settling for less than perfect.

It came out looking muuuuch cleaner Mike after I cleaned it up. I think I even only needed to use 2 passes :eek:

I have the guides all layed out on the rod. When I did the 27x method, and ran a line from the face to the choker. I was only able to put the 20 and 16 on. When I tried the 12 guide it was way to close to the 16 . What are your suggestions?

Also what is a good trick to get all of the guides to line up straight on the blank other than using the naked eye? :confused:

Also what is a good trick to get all of the guides to line up straight on the blank other than using the naked eye? :confused:[/QUOTE]


Im wondering that as well.

better looking taper job then before :smash:

and my ferule wrap with a little spice :)

Much better on the taper Greg! It was worth redoing.

How to do the final alignment will be part of next weeks class.

Anyone with placement issues , PM me the spool diameter , extended spool location, Guide locations based on both your NGC method and the exponential methods I showed you. Then I can make suggestions.

Mike,
Do you want us adding the metallic thread on the wraps we did?

Feel free to dress up the handle with metallic as you please. On the ferrel I recommend just plain black so it blends in but you can add decorations if you want.

On the guides , you are just supposed to be figuring locations , taping on and test casting and adjusting.

Anybody want to come down to NYC with my blank?
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Mike thanks for the help today, making sure my measuremts and formulas were right. Layout looks great, stress test looks great too.

was way too cold and dark by the time i got done taping the guides on, but did hand some plugs on the line, a 3/4oz bucktail felt great, i then tried a loaded redfin, a ss darter and a heavy ss needle, all felt like they will launch a mile!!:fishin:

its nice to have friends that are handy, toaster made me and greg a hand wrapper with an extension piece and greg made us a stress test rod holder.

i needed my lil bros help to keep the stress tester in place, but worked to see the line layout.

Looks like nice stuff! try clamping the stress tester to a table leg or similar.

Its best to take the stress test pics from the side. Taking them from the front makes the closest guides to the camera look very far apart and the farthest from the camera very close together but we know the opposite it true.

I think we fell a little behind last week. Is it possible to start at 9:30 AM this Saturday morning. the extra 30 minutes would help. If that's bad for anyone just post here.

I think we fell a little behind last week. Is it possible to start at 9:30 AM this Saturday morning. the extra 30 minutes would help. If that's bad for anyone just post here.

works for me.

i'm good with that.

That will work for me.

I'll be there.
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Works for me too, can also stay to 1pm if needed
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Got to test out the century today, I'm impressed! Threw a 3/4 oz bucktail, a 1 oz lead head and zoom fluke, a loaded redfin and a super strike darter.

Didn't want to really load the rod hard, but some decent casts into it, the action is different than what I use to but once you get it down, it throws great.

After i went to the dock and did some water casting i hit the local football field. Was able to get a 3/4 bucktail 65 yards with no effort.

All the plugs felt great on the rod.

Can't wait til it's fully wrapped and I can really cast it and put some time in with the finished rod.

Very impressed
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jsut a piece of info for those not in the class....the ferrels are wrapped but not epoxied so i asked people not to lay into it 100 percent yet. 65 yards with 3/4 OZ is a great cast!

it's all in the twirl

jsut a piece of info for those not in the class....the ferrels are wrapped but not epoxied so i asked people not to lay into it 100 percent yet. 65 yards with 3/4 OZ is a great cast!

Just a nice side arm lobe got the rod to throw that jig that far, any wait to finish it and throw a lefthook pilgrim on it, it's going 125 yards all day!!
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OK , lets start at 9:30AM Sat morning.

Also , anyone who has not PM'ed me their guide starting locations please do so . i want to check them over so you at least have a good place to start. the sooner I get your numbers , the sooner i can deterimine if they are OK or need a little adjustment. then you can test cast and know you are starting off pretty close.

This is a sweet rod. I wrapped all the guides last night and cemented the tip in place and went out for some casing this morning. The rod does all the work when casting a 2 oz pencil. With my other rod a 1201L i have to get behind the cast to achieve the same distance. I was casting around 85 yards, and i know my form isn't that pretty. A real pleasure to cast, now the real test is how it fights a big fish.

this rod has some backbone it's going to be able to handle anyfish you can hit, you'll just need some patience in current, it's not a winch rod, a really like this blank.

My surf fishing is going to be selective this summer, I probably end up some places that Chris was talking about yesterday.

Did the cross wrap last night, came out nice, just have to pack it some more and it should look sweet, used metallic red, silver, metallic blue and black

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/chefchris2/9b7ff55c.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/chefchris2/abe54e92.jpg
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Should also note that the bottom of the wrap isn't finished, needs one more layer. Just ran out of steam.
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Very nice chris, im going stealth with a little decoration, you went all out. Awesome job.

I like all my stuff to be bright and loud and kind of obnoxious, I'll post some pics of my other build I'm doing.
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Nice job Chris. Pack it , let it all relax and pack again.

On the ends , are those supposed to be half diamonds? Either make them half or whole. You can start a short black wrap to get to exactly halfway. Do it on both ends.

I like the alternating Blue/Red!

I like all my stuff to be bright and loud and kind of obnoxious, I'll post some pics of my other build I'm doing.
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that's a good way to make sure it stays your's not someone elses

that's a good way to make sure it stays your's not someone elses

yeah i always put my name on the blank somewhere and under the reel seat.

my dad had someone pry open his ski racks and take 4 boat rods, he was able to recover them cause he engraved the reel seat under the reel and the bottom of the reel foot. found em at a local flea market

What time this week?

What time this week?

10AM

Come up to Freeport, we can cast the rods out back at the farm

do we need to bring our rods? I don't want to screw up the trim bands by transporting the top half if we don't need them for class.

If you are confident in what you have and I am not doing the coating for you , then you do not need the rods.

However :)

I recommend you let me do a final inspection of the finished product before you apply your own finish. It will be my last chance to "save the day" for you if you have made any major errors.

Come up to Freeport, we can cast the rods out back at the farm

Every time I go to Freeport it cost me about 500 bucks! If I stop at Kittery on the way up that costs me another 300 buck ! :)

I love those 1/2 day introductory outdoor lessons thay give at LLBeane. Dirt cheap group lesson with top notch instructors. I did the trap shooting and the fly casting last time. Was supposed to be a group lesson of 7 people. The shooting session I was in had just 2 people and we used these $1000 LLBeane shotguns. The fly casting had just one student , me. Since I have had a fly rod since I was twelve and since I was the only guy in the class , I got the advanced private lesson for the morning. Both classes were great experiences. I highly recommend them.

Some pics from today

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/chefchris2/d3d6d620.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/chefchris2/6a059b2b.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/chefchris2/72260b18.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/chefchris2/ff8c7e08.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/chefchris2/028888f6.jpg
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Every time I go to Freeport it cost me about 500 bucks! If I stop at Kittery on the way up that costs me another 300 buck ! :)

I love those 1/2 day introductory outdoor lessons thay give at LLBeane. Dirt cheap group lesson with top notch instructors. I did the trap shooting and the fly casting last time. Was supposed to be a group lesson of 7 people. The shooting session I was in had just 2 people and we used these $1000 LLBeane shotguns. The fly casting had just one student , me. Since I have had a fly rod since I was twelve and since I was the only guy in the class , I got the advanced private lesson for the morning. Both classes were great experiences. I highly recommend them.

I'm at kittery now. Cableas is up here too. Your total for Freeport is low, even with the employee discount my wife gets, staying overnight and stuff, has been painful
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http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/chefchris2/d5537e0c.jpg

Here's the last pic I took of saltheart heating the epoxy to remove bubbles.

The epoxy process is very similiar to the plug building way, just a different product.
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Man, seeing the wrinkles on the backs of my hands has ruined my year! :(

The whole class went well IMO. Everyone did a great job bulding 5their rods and the final product on the Century Stealth makes an awesome fishing machine.

Someone asked about the cost of the parts. The total for parts (not including shrink wrap which people paid for seperately) was $59.73 plus shipping and assorted transportation charges of about $10 per rod. I charged only $40 (very poor Estimate on my part as it turns out). So You guys paid $40 for the parts and including shipping etc , I kicked in another $30 per rod extra myself for parts. Multiply by the 7 guys I was over budget by $200+ for the parts for the class and I ate the overruns in cost myself. This does not even include epoxy , tape , the D thread , etc. Not complaining , just making sure people know they got more than their money's worth in that respect. We used Fuji parts and in general the more expensive Fuji parts (Deluxe Seats, KW Guides, Alconite guide rings, Fuji Alconite tips) so that all added up faster than I expected. Next class I'll have to charge more for parts.

One comment about the specific picture showing me flaming the thread finish. What a snapshot doesn't show is that the whole prtocess of flaming the ferrel wrap takes a total of about 4 seconds! Not a lot of heat at all.

Anyway , congrats to the first graduates of the Saltheart School Academy of Rodbuilding. :)

I learned quite a bit durring the class. what i did not expect was; how mentally relaxing rodbuilding is once you sit down and actually get to wrapping. Thanks for Teaching me this great hobby.

Jon.

I had a good time at the class. I learned a lot, now i just need to perfect what i learned.

I need to fix my powerwrapper, I have 2 flyrods to do now. I missed the bubble burster trick. But I did get to see some real snow this weekend.

Mike how long after the epoxy is cured do I wait before I can take the rod for a real casting session?
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Depends on how warm the room is where it cured.

Some say overnight and go. In the interest of long term crack formation delay , i would wait 3 days.

The two rods left for me to coat are done. Please PM me to arrange a pickup time. This sat 10 AM would be good for me.

i went and really test casted the rod on thursday, i was using the new zee and brand new 30lb fireline.

I counted the cranks of the handle and did the math so i know the measurements are accurate.

once the line breaks in a little bit and i get use to the slower action of the rod i should be able to squeeze some distance out of it.

But was able to throw a 1.5 gibbs pencil 105 yards, loaded redfin 88 yards, ss 1.75oz needle 94 yards and a bunch of other stuff i didnt measure just fine.

Sweet spot is in my findings 1.5 to 2.5oz, but it did throw a 3.25oz bm needle with no issues.

Cant wait to put some serios time in with it and get use to the slower action that the rods I used last season.

Casting any shape 1.5 OZ lure 100 yards is really good. As you get used to the action you can also gradually increase the length of your casting tail. This will also boost distance some.

Before I unstick this I want to be sure everyone has finished their rod successfully. If you have not and there is anything I can do to help , PM me by the end of March. I want everyone to have ended up with a nice rod .