First time building a flyrod

I was asked to post about my very first time building a flyrod . I wanted to keep this on the cheap . So I built a wrapping stand from some scrap wood and after talking with some guys on the Ultralight flyfishing forum , I found out I didn't "need" a drying stand . I can use several thin coats of varnish on my thread wraps and hand turn the rod every 15 minutes , instead of the epoxy coated wraps , that require a constant turning while drying. I chose an American Tackle Matrix blank because Cabela's had them on sale before Christmas and I had read they were nice blanks . I chose a cork and rings handle from Jann's netcraft , also because of the price and because I want this to be a super light weight bluegill rod . It's a 6'6" 2wt blank . My thread and the hook keepers came from Jann's too. I just received the blank this week as they had been on backorder . Guides and tip top I ordered from Hook and Hackle . I'm using black thread and guides and will be wrapping in a plain manner and will be building a plain , functional, low cost rod . Fancy stuff can be down the road if this one turns out OK . The first thing I did was spline the blank to find the belly ( where the guides should go) Blanks will have a side where they prefer to bend . I did this by hold the blank at the tip , with the butt on a hard surface , while putting a bend in the blank , rotate the blank back and forth and it will rock into the place it prefers to bend . Place several marks with a grease pencil along the inside of the bend ; this is where the guides will go. I then sized the cork reel seat using a rat tail file so when slid along the taper from the top , it fit the butt section of the blank , snug , but not forced . Slow filing with multiple checks along the way is the way to go . Then I did the same with the cork handle . Once sized , I epoxied them in place with the rings installed properly using some 60 minute epoxy . I got my guides in the mail today but the tiptop guide was too small for the blank . I ordered what the manufacturer specified , but I guess these things happen , so I reordered the next size larger , along with some single foot guides ; after giving it some thought , the single feet guides should be lighter and easier to wrap and with such a small blank , than the two footed snake guides , allowing a more even bend in the rod when wrapped . That's where I stand as of today . As I do more I'll be adding to this post if anyone's interested kirby here's A picture of my wrapping stand and butt section of my rod .

Great!

Great write up. I have been eyballing a blank or two as well but still dont know if I am ready for a build yet. I think it would be nice to build me a nice small brookie rod.

Man!!!! I can't afford another addiction! I must stay away from rod building,I must stay away from rod building,I must stay away from rod building .

What a timely thread. I ordered a 9' 5wt 4 pc American tackle Matrix blank and all the fixins from Mudhole a matter of hours ago. To keep the cost down on my I ordered cork rings and intend to turn the handle myself. I also Just ordered the reel seat hardware and will turn the insert out of a piece of Osage. Wraps will be a chestnut brown with a goldenrod trim band. I will also build a wrapping stand out of some scrap plywood I have. Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out.

Kirby999,
There is nothing like catching a fish on a rod you have built and a fly you have tied. I built a flyrod last year. Lucked up on a G. Loomis GL3 blank on ebay. Rod build ended up costing about $100. A steal on a G. Loomis rod.

Be patient when wrapping your guides and it will turnout great. Don't try to wrap to many at one sitting. Your hands and eyes will tell you when to stop. Don't worry about getting your guides exactly strait in line until you are done. You will be able to move them a little to get them dead on when you finish wrapping all of them.

Good luck with it.

John

Great writeup kirby! What reading material would you suggest to others who are wanting to learn more about rod building? The web? Books? What are your suggestions? I would LOVE a new addiction!

jfinch said:

What a timely thread. I ordered a 9' 5wt 4 pc American tackle Matrix blank and all the fixins from Mudhole a matter of hours ago. To keep the cost down on my I ordered cork rings and intend to turn the handle myself. I also Just ordered the reel seat hardware and will turn the insert out of a piece of Osage. Wraps will be a chestnut brown with a goldenrod trim band. I will also build a wrapping stand out of some scrap plywood I have. Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out.

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Sounds like it will make a great looking rod . Did you get the emerald green or black matrix ? kirby

KINGFISHER said:

Great writeup kirby! What reading material would you suggest to others who are wanting to learn more about rod building? The web? Books? What are your suggestions? I would LOVE a new addiction!

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All my reading has come from the web ; at different forums . the fiberglass flyfishers is a good one and the guys over at the ultralight flyfishing forum have been great . I almost didn't try , until I spent a few hours on Youtube . There's one series over there , that takes you step by step through the whole process . Really helpful . kirby

A Tip : Go with single foot guides . The inexpensive double foot snake guide set I bought , all have feet pointing in different directions and have to be straightened . it's a pain. I've ordered a set of single foot guides , but couldn't wait to work on the rod , so I started straightening them . kirby

Here it is , almost finished . It's a plain janer . It's hard to tell a lot about the wraps from the pictures . They'll look better with more coats of varnish . I went ahead and used the snake guides . I had to bend them to shape and file them to get them to fit right , but I didn't want to wait for the single foot guides . Also i took a very small allen wrench and reamed out the tiptop and got it to fit . Got to do , what you got do sometimes . It still needs a few more coats of varnish on the wraps , but it should be ready to fish by Saturday. kirby

I went with the green matrix. I thought it would look better with the rich gold color of the Osage I plan to use for the reel seat.

Kirby, your rod looks great. I also went with the snake guides. Sounds like I will have a little work prepping the guides. To me though the single foots looked like they would catch on everything and I tend to be a little rough on equipment sometimes.

Another good source of info is Rodbuildingforum.com. I have been reading over there for a couple weeks getting ideas.

Thanks ; I think the green will look great with the colors you've picked out . I love osage . Good luck and post some pictures . kirby

If it ain't cork and ring.... it ain't all that! That is one nice looking rod! Need my address for shipping?

Nice lookin rod Kirby! I swear you guys are gonna get me in trouble....I got at least 20 flyrods in the closet.....two more on the way.....I need to take up rod building like I need a hole in my head.....but dang it....the thought keeps lingering

Lord....give me the strength to resist

Thanks Guys ........ I enjoyed putting it together . Won't be one and done . I got plans already . Just need to get this slimmed up first . kirby