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Steffen 3/4 7'9" 4pc. --------<"(( <

Rod Building 
2K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  clarkman 
#1 ·
#3 ·
Nice Colt. I am going to try and start my 8' 4/5 over Christmas. I am still debating on the thread color. With the color of the blank most options dark threads are fairly utilitarian or threads with more color just don't look right. So not sure what I will go with, more than likely something dark like yours. Is that camel or other shade of brown?
 
#4 ·
Mike,

Actually this is Pearsall Naples Jasper thread. Looking at how it turned out, I don't think I would have guessed it. If the rod is in the sunlight you can start to see the variegated coloring; however under normal lighting the color looks more like a rootbeer brown.

If you look at the stripping guide in the fifth picture from the top, you can sort of see the translucent "rootbeer" color.

Colt
 
#6 ·
Mike,

Actually this is Pearsall Naples Jasper thread. Looking at how it turned out, I don't think I would have guessed it. If the rod is in the sunlight you can start to see the variegated coloring; however under normal lighting the color looks more like a rootbeer brown.

If you look at the stripping guide in the fifth picture from the top, you can sort of see the translucent "rootbeer" color.

Colt
I have never used Pearsall. Looks great. I also think the reel seat matches the color of the blank and thread perfectly.
 
#10 ·
Sagebass, I really like the small diameter full wells cork you did. Exactly what I want to do with a build but I have some questions?

Did you buy a smaller size full wells than sand it down or just do your own rings and made this cork yourself.

The seat end is thin at the top of the seat because of the ring and I had a redington cork crack or split in this area I believe because it was to thin around the top ring. Do - or can people use a better glue to help prevent this, or any tricks? The rod I have is a rs3 696 7 wt. ripped right at the ring.

Do they call this style a reverse full-wells? any name to this style without a flare at the real seat end?

I love full wells handles but I do not like how over bearing they can be to a reel seat almost taken all attention away from a great wood and reel seat. The cork you did up just matches the diameter of the blank and seat so nice.

Great job------
 
#11 ·
Sagebass, I really like the small diameter full wells cork you did. Exactly what I want to do with a build but I have some questions?

Did you buy a smaller size full wells than sand it down or just do your own rings and made this cork yourself.

The seat end is thin at the top of the seat because of the ring and I had a redington cork crack or split in this area I believe because it was to thin around the top ring. Do - or can people use a better glue to help prevent this, or any tricks? The rod I have is a rs3 696 7 wt. ripped right at the ring.

Do they call this style a reverse full-wells? any name to this style without a flare at the real seat end?

I love full wells handles but I do not like how over bearing they can be to a reel seat almost taken all attention away from a great wood and reel seat. The cork you did up just matches the diameter of the blank and seat so nice.

Great job------
Mark,

Sorry for the delayed response. I have not logged into this forum for a few days, and I did not notice your questions right away. First, thank you for the kind words.

To your questions about the grip, I glue cork rings and turn the grip in a lathe. I find this to be a cheaper and easier way to customize my grips. I am also very picky about how my rods balance, so the length of the grip is very important for me. Although I would have to double check, I believe I used a 6" grip on this rod. As you probably know, it is almost impossible to find a 6" full wells grip as most of them are closer to 7" or 7.5"; and as you state, they are usually quite large and cumbersome. This is why I custom build my grips.

I try to keep the rear diameter of my grip just slightly larger than the reel seat's grip check, and I try to keep the front diameter just a hair larger than the rear diameter. I also try to keep the middle section of the grip fairly straight with very slight contour exaggerations.

I do not have a name for the grip shape, but I would say that it is a slim full wells style grip. I am not sure I completely understand the situation for which you are dealing, but it sounds like you might have an uplocking reel seat with the inletted hood built into the rear of the grip. The thinner cork is usually a function of the inlet which houses the uplocking hood. Often times you see the more exaggerated "flare" at the rear of the grip to thicken the cork and better accommodate the inlet/hood. Because I almost always favor a down locking seat, I do not have to worry about any inlets or thinner cork at the rear of the grip. I don't know if that answers your question(s) though.

As for glue, I use Tightbond III waterproof wood glue for gluing the rings together, and I use a 5 minute two part epoxy for attaching the grip to the blank.

I hope that helps.
Colt
 
#12 ·
Makes perfect sense how you build the grip! Yeah the up-locking part to the bottom of the cork a lot of times makes the cork very thin to go around a up-locking larger diameter seat top. I was just thinking it would make a weak spot in the lower part of the cork beings the cork would have to be much thinner around this area.

Love how you explained the down locking combating this thinner cork area. having a down locking allows for more material - love it!

I also like the small size like I mentioned and I hold my handles way down on the corks when casting so a 6 inch wouldn't bother me - so much that I can get my finger rubbing on the reel, during a full day of casting it can cause loss of skin or blisters and I sometimes tape these finger areas to combat it. reason why I mostly like down-locking also and you just gave me another "REAL GOOD REASON FOR IT" a thicker cork on the top part on the seat ring! thanks I just learned some new things ;)

The glue question was for making the thinner cork area stronger around the top seat ring when it is so thin it seems a problem area for splitting or chunking off!
 
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