Thread: My first rod build

I ordered the blank, grips, and guides from the rod room. A very nice lady named Kathy was very helpful. I cant wait to try it out..

[img width=480 height=640]http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s447/hossfly030/kinkrod1.jpg[/img]
[img width=480 height=640]http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s447/hossfly030/kingrod2.jpg[/img]

Nice job & congrats on another first in your life.
Time to go get bent! :fishing:

I like your DIY rod winding stand.

Winding the guides made me go cross eyed. I'm sure that it would have been comical to have watched me a little brother during the process.

Looks good man.One little bit of advice if you don't have a drying motor,put the finish on sort of thick so the finish will fill the tunnels of the guide feet and saturate the threads then wipe off as much as you can.Yes it looks a little rough but it beats having a lumpy uneven finish.Later on you can have somebody with a motor put the final coat on for you or you can stop by and I can show you how to do it.

I'm working on a DYI drying motor. I will post a pic when I finnish it. If DRH liked my winding stand he will love my drying motor. If I run into any snags I will take you up on your offer Thanks. One question though, is the RPM of the rod drying motor critical? From what I found on the net 6-9 RPM, and around 4 or 5 hours to dry.

I think I recall reading about somebody using a drying motor somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 RPM. The actual speed isn't that critical as long as it isn't too fast IMO. I think 4-5 hours may be long enough to let the finish set, but definitely not enough to allow it to dry. I always leave mine on until it's dry, it doesn't cost much extra for the piece of mind it gives me. Another thing I do when drying a rod is to, baby sit it. I use a consumer grade American Tackle drying setup and gremlins always seem to cause my chuck to back off or the rollers to bind up. I have learned from John G to use a rubber band to keep the rod butt chucked up so that problem is resolved, but I sit baby sit my rod. Old habits die hard and besides it offers me some down time to read and the sound of the drying motor is soothing to me.

Do yourself a big favor if it is at all convenient, visit J&M and have John show you how he does it. You will certainly pick up on some tips and tricks which you won't find written down anywhere. Even if you were to have him try to explain the process over the phone or written here, there are things which he has down as habit that he may not mention. He has the process down to both an art and a science and you can learn a lot. You will more than likely get some good ideas on how to construct your drying motor.

Im in Tuscaloosa, a little to far to just stop by, but if he wouldn't mind I will stop by on my next trip. Im sure this want be my last rod to build. My father is a big crappie fisherman, a custom rod would make all his friends green with envy..

I am a little closer than John to you if you feel like making a trip down to Montgomery.

I appreciate the offer, but me and little brother are going to struggle through the first one. I'm sure it will be like most of our projects, it will have some character. Or what some call flaws. :fishing: