Rod building 101 ?'s

[markm]

Sorry for the beginner questions but I thought with the level of experience on this board someone could answer these. I am working on my first heavy trolling rod an have some tasks that are new to me.Thanks in advance.
1. Do you put any finish on the underwraps before wrapping the guides?
2. When filing and grinding the guides- I know the bottom of the foot is normally filed or ground for good even contact with the blank but do you also smooth the top as well?
Any all answers appreciated.
Mark

[paul708]

i usually coat the under with a light coat of finish,mostly top, and some bottom are ground for ease of thread wrapping, and less guide foot cracking

[gradywhite273]

i usually coat the under with a light coat of finish,mostly top, and some bottom are ground for ease of thread wrapping, and less guide foot cracking

well paul is the guy who taught me , so the answer is the same. the better you grind the guides, the easier the thread will work its way up.

[Marlinmate]

I put a lite coat on underwraps for a few reasons:

1. If you ever need to replace a guide, you only need to replace the guide and the guide wraps, not the entire underwrap as well.

2. With the lite coat on underwraps and proper guide foot prep, your thread should transition easier up and over foot of guide which leads to below:

I've found that a round chain saw file, (different diameters) is useful on the bottom of the guides. Hold guide and press down and go in one direction and repeat. Dry fitting to blank is recommended to see if guide feet need to be coerced into position by bending up or down for proper contact. ( I wrap electrical tape on plier jaws and gently bend as needed.)

The top sides I use a 2" grinding wheel chucked in a drill motor. Others use a belt sander etc.....Then I use a buffing wheel chucked into drill to polish up what I just ground down. I like an absoulte smooth surface with NO nicks or scuffs.

It is a royal pain in the a$$ to prep guides, but the longer you take, the better your finished results will be.

[markm]

thanks for the answers guys. I will definitely follow your advice and methods and hopefully get good results. If they are anywhere near some of the photos I have seen in this forum I will be very happy.
Mark

[Showtime]

you will quickly find out if you didn't grind your guides down sufficiently.....thread is slippery and you will run into headaches trying to keep it running over the guide properly

[Gringo]

I ran across this thread doing a Search for replacing rod guides. ( See, I DO use the Search function before asking stupid questions. THEN I ask stupid questions).

A local friend asked me this week if I could fix his rod guides for him. From what he told me, I gather he bought a couple spinning rods when he was visiting the States, and they have the guides with ceramic rings in the center, and he has lost several.

But besides that, I have about a dozen rods with bent, broken, or missing guides. Nothing else wrong with them. I am going to the US next month on a brief visit, and have been thinking of what I need to buy at Bass Pro. A selection of rod guides is one thing, but I don't know diddly about replacing them. I am assuming you cut the old ones off, put the new ones on, and wrap them with some kind of thread. I can figure all that out, I think. I am good with line related stuff, including whipping rope ends, splicing, braiding, plaiting, all that stuff. So I know I can make a neat wrap with the ends underneath. But what is that thick, even glossy finish on the nice rods? How do you get it like that, i.e. no drips. You must paint it on and turn it slowly with some kind of lathe or something right?

Do any of you guys know if someone makes a 'rod repair kit' that includes all the stuff you need? As far as I know...nobody in the TCI is in the rod repair business. Not that I want to go into business, but it would be good to be able to fix them for people. Barter system is alive and well here.

[paul708]

I ran across this thread doing a Search for replacing rod guides. ( See, I DO use the Search function before asking stupid questions. THEN I ask stupid questions).

A local friend asked me this week if I could fix his rod guides for him. From what he told me, I gather he bought a couple spinning rods when he was visiting the States, and they have the guides with ceramic rings in the center, and he has lost several.

But besides that, I have about a dozen rods with bent, broken, or missing guides. Nothing else wrong with them. I am going to the US next month on a brief visit, and have been thinking of what I need to buy at Bass Pro. A selection of rod guides is one thing, but I don't know diddly about replacing them. I am assuming you cut the old ones off, put the new ones on, and wrap them with some kind of thread. I can figure all that out, I think. I am good with line related stuff, including whipping rope ends, splicing, braiding, plaiting, all that stuff. So I know I can make a neat wrap with the ends underneath. But what is that thick, even glossy finish on the nice rods? How do you get it like that, i.e. no drips. You must paint it on and turn it slowly with some kind of lathe or something right?

Do any of you guys know if someone makes a 'rod repair kit' that includes all the stuff you need? As far as I know...nobody in the TCI is in the rod repair business. Not that I want to go into business, but it would be good to be able to fix them for people. Barter system is alive and well here.

i can probable put a repair kit together
if you know the guide size you need. i can get those also

after you apply finish you need to have rod spin till finish wont run
usually appox 6-8hrs

when you cut the old guides off, cut on the foot opf the guide, the metal part, only cut on the metal that has thread on it
you should be able to peel the thread and finish off
if it is a little difficult to peel, try a little heat. i use a heat gun/ hair drier
you dont need it to hot.. just enough to soften and be able to work with

for thread the bigger the easier to work with..
size A is small
size D is easy to work with
start with C or D size thread
black is the easiest to work with.
try flex coat high build for you finish
its easy to use and dries faster than some finishes

you can apply with a cut up credit card
or a spatula
or a brush
no need to get anything fancy for repair work

[Gringo]

Thanks for the tips. If I can't buy Flex Coat here ( and I can't) would some other type of epoxy or material work? And the thread...is it cotton or polyester or nylon, something like that?

I found photos in the Cabela's online catalog of the type of rod wrapping stands, and I can certainly build one of those. I might have problems sourcing a slow motor locally, too. And I can see some kind of thread tensioning device is needed. I was thinking of just a series of little screw eyes in the base of the thing I build to hold the rod while I wrap the guides. I could run the thread back and fourth through screw eyes until I got the right tension....would that work?

[paul708]

get a stack of books, put the thread in a glass behind them and run the thread thru the books
you can add weight on top of books to add tension
i usually have the thread coming down to the rod, and over in front when wrapping

you can use V blocks
or cut a cardboard box with V in each end to hold rod
you can put a few weights on strings ends and wrap around blank to keep the rod steady in v area
when you come to US..can you have the stuff shipped there before and take home?