Ok guys here is my write up. I am currently building a 1pc standup spinning rod for throwing jigs and live baiting spinner style. Today is just day one and have some components on backorder so it may take longer than expected to complete. Day one starts with the blank preperation and lower handle contruction. The blank started off as a 7' Mudhole Eglass fast action blank rated at 20-40lb line, which I then trimmed her 3" from the butt and 3" from the tip now at 6'6" to give her more backbone and fighting leverage. After trimming with my dremmel I then located the spine of the blank. For you first time rod builders locating the spine can be tricky, but my method is simple. Take the blank with the tip down and press the blank into your carpet down by the butt section. When pressing down, turn the blank slowly and observe the most common bending arch in the blank. This is your most common bend which will be the spine, so I marked it with tape and made a line in the RED tape.
After locating the spine I then determined the approximate length for the handle section. I will be using surf style grips along with cork tape as my choice for grip material. There is no advantage just style and preferance adding to this unigue rods style. The total handle length will be 28 &1/2 inches from butt to the top of the foregrip. This indication is marked in the BLUE tape. I note this in the blue tape because it helps me plan out the placement and location of the guides.
Ok here is step 2 from day 1.
Now the blank is ready for grip assembly, and sorry that the handle is only going to be half complete due to a backorder. Anyway first you want to scratch the lower half of the blank with a high grit sandpaper (220+) just to get the smooth finish off the blank to allow the adhesive supplied on the back of the cork tape to adhere. Once all prepped and scratched go ahead and wipe the handle section with a damp rag to remove all the dust otherwise you have defeated the purpose of scratching and the tape will not stick. Start wrapping the blank with the tape starting from the butt first working your way up. Be firm with the cork tape and try to get it as tight against the previous layer of tape to eliminate gaps. When you reach your designated height, trim the tape and apply a little over the counter crazy glue gel under the last wrap of tape to assure that it will not come loose. Next I whipped up a little Flexcoat rod builders epoxy and assembled the butt section. After assembleing the butt, store the rod upright so that the weight of the blank holds the butt cap on tightly. Be sure to whipe up all the mushrooming epoxy when sliding on the butt cap so that it does not stain the grip tape. here are my pics in stages...
Thanks guys, once I get my delivery then I will move on to day two. Mudhole emailed me today stating that all my components have been shipped out, so stay tuned.....
Thanks again guys for the support. Since its a holiday weekend with no deliverys on Monday, I hope my package comes this tuesday. As for the roller clamps, I purchased them from Jann's Netcraft about 15 years ago when I first started rodbuilding. Now I believe they have clip on V style supports for sale instead of rollers. I probably can mock up a prototype of the ones I have. hmm thinking....
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