I want to hold a Rod Building series of classes for beginners. In this series of 5 --2 hour meetings , we will all build a rod using the same blank and guides that I will provide. You can build it Spinner or Conventional. The cost of the class will be $20 per meeting plus the cost of materials. Materials should be between $180 to less than $200 depending on what you want. If you go with my basic suggestions , the materials will be about $180 total (estimate, you pay actual retail cost).
When your family or girlfriend etc ask you what you want for Christmas , tell them you want to do this!
If I get at least 5 guys I'll do. I can only handle 10 at a time so first come first served. If more want to participate I will schedule a second series, perhaps running on the same dates but at a different time of day or at a later date. If there are less than 5 guys interested then its not worth my time to do it.
I am in the north east corner of RI in Cumberlad , just 1/2 mile from exit 11 on Rt 295. One exit from the Emerald Mall.
My plan is for everyone to buld an all around 1 to 4 OZ rod on a 10 foot Century Stealth blank. The rods will have cork tape handles and all Fuji--Alconite guides, reel seat and tip. If you want you can put shrink wrap in place of or over the cork tape but be aware the shrink wrap costs more than cork tape. I will be building one for myself as we go along each week as I love this blank and want a finished rod of my own built on it.
The first meeting
(1) will involve locating the reel seat and doing the handle for each individual and mounting the reel seat. This is a critical step so I want everyone to have a reel seat mounted while with me and then left for the epoxy to cure until the next meeting.
(2) when I will demonstrate how to finish the handle and talk about the guide layouts. For this meeting you need to know what reel you will likely be using on the rod in order to best select guide locations. It will be best if you can bring the reel with you week 1 and 2. If you are not sure of the exact reel , we will layout using a safe standard guide layout.
Meeting (3) I will look over your layouts and demonstrate guide feet grinding and guide wrapping. I will demonstrate guide underwrapping with inlays and trim bands and overwrapping .
Meeting (4) I will show you how to layout Diamond and Chevron crosswraps. We'll try to space the pattern and get the first few critical threads on the rod while with me. I'll show you how to finish off the cross wrap and pretty up the rod with a tip wrap , some foregrip decor and apply your name to it if you desire.
Week (5) I will go over a finial check of guide alignment and everything else and show you how to apply the thread finish to the rods.
Between each week except 1 and 2 , you will bring the rod home and work on it yourself. Since the Stealth is a 2 piece rod blank , you should have no problem carrying it back and forth in you car. The blank has a spigot joint and almost inflexable butt section so it will fish as good as a 1 piecer , not like some old fashioned 2 piece rods with questionable ferrel designs.
I want everyone to end up with a finished high performance rod so if it turns out you are all thumbs or just not to good at crafts I will complete anything that you couldn't do yourself (or did but botched it up
) if in any way it is salvageable.
You must at least have tried to do it yourself. Of course the idea is to do it yourself as much as possible. You will get real satisfaction when you catch your first fish on a rod you built yourself. Like all the rods I build myself , we will strive for perfection on these builds , stressing good craftmanship rather than fast results.
I'd like to start the first week about the third week in January (Saturday , January 21) If you want to do it but can't make the dates or time let me know and I may be able to schedule a second class or adjust the time/date later in the year. I want to do a Saturday morning schedule. I think Saturday morning ( 10 to 12 oclock) is best but if enough people say that is bad for them we can consider a differet time/day.date.
So to sign up , send me a PM with your name and phone number and email address. This was mentioned in a response on a seperate thread but please send another PM based on your participation now that you have the details.
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