Newbie Questions Rod Building questions

[goodtimes]

Hello All,
So I've been on a scramble learning everything I can about rod building before I build one. I have a couple of questions.

One of the main questions I have is about epoxy and finishers. Epoxy seems pretty straight forward does anybody have a favorite. The finish is a bit more confusing. what are the uses of the heavy and light build finishers? There seems to be a lot of different kinds is one better than the next?

My next question is color preserve, do I need to use every time? Or does it depend on the thread?

Thanks for any help.

[koldkut]

epoxy, for adhering parts, no question....rod bond!

high build - thick finish
low build - thin finish

High build can do everything a low build can, but a low build cannot do everything a light build can. I use Billy's mix! It's nothing more than a mixture of 1cc, each part of threadmaster high build and pro-kote, so a total of 4cc of finish.

http://northeastrodbuilders.com/stuf...preserver.html

Do yourself a favor, whatever finish you do use, make sure you get the self sealing bottle tops.

Color preserver.....tough subject, you can use it all the time, or some of the time. Best thing to do is a test wrap and put water on it to simulate what the threads will look like when finished. I always use it on my decorative butt wraps, but never on my guide wraps. Over time, the bond between epoxy and color preserved threads weaken and you get a separation of the thread and finish and it looks cloudy.

[goodtimes]

Thanks for the reply, it helped clear things up... Their seems to be so many options I want to make sure I have the right stuff to start with.

When I first started fly tying I bought so many non needed materials etc. and would like to try to keep that to a minimum.

Once again thanks for the advice.

[mriddell]

With the threadmaster stuff, the biggest difference is going to be pot life (amount of time the finish will apply correctly) and cure time. If you're turning the rod by hand, you're going to find the high build will set up quicker and you don't have to turn as long, but you won't have as much working time. You may have to mix two batches to finish a whole rod. Don't push your pot life, once it starts to get gooey, your finish will suffer.
If you've got a motorized dryer, you can use the lite build, which will give you a lot more time to work but will take longer to set, as well. I've used most of the popular finishes but mostly just use Bullards D2 anymore.

Oh, and you'll find a lot of that fly tying stuff can come in handy when you're building, too.

[goodtimes]

I have a fly dryer (a disco ball motor) I use when I'm tying salt flies that I'm going to retrofit to be a rod dryer too.

I also have a blank question, my first rod I'm probably just going to do a spinning rod using a mudhole CRB blank. Cheapo setup but just want to get the first one off my hands and than I want to do a Crankbait rod, has anyone used MHX, Batson or Pacbay blanks? Any advice?

Thanks again

[koldkut]

I've built on all those blanks, the MHX is a good value for the dollar spent IMO. I've done a few batson's and they aren't bad either, well priced as well. I have only worked on one pac bay, I don't know enough about them to give any kind of feedback.

For an all American made blank, have a look at Hydra, good blanks, and for the shameless plug(and full disclosure), 'm a pro-staff builder for them.

What type of rod are you wanting to build for your first? I have blanks and parts sitting around that might fit the bill.

[goodtimes]

Probably just a 7` or 6 8" medium action spinning rod I was going to do a split grip. Nothing crazy, just one to get some experience.