More Birchbark!!

I seemed to have a problem with my account and could not access my blog. All seems to be sorted out now. I have been making quite a few grips since my last post. This is another birbark grip attached to an 8' 3 WT. I really love the look of a birchbark grip. Definitely screems custom rod. If your interested in making one of these for yourself you can purchase the bark here. I have personally collected and sorted the bark. If you dont roll your own but would like one please contact me scott@solwaycustomcomponents.com

In this grip I have added Laguna Burl cork and Corian for the trim.
The seat and end cap are stabilized birch burl wood.
Please click on the photo to zoom it in.



A closer shot of the seat.

Custom ALPS Decal

I haven't been posting as much as I would like but I have been busy with customer rods and the like. I don't feel to bad spending time in the shop because the weather has been absolutely awful. Today I had time to slip in my water slide decal work. They were made on an ALPS printer using white ink. This is the stripping side with the builders name. ME!!! Click on the photos to zoom them in.



This is the other side with model, length and rating. I have to do some more experimenting with these decals. The carrier paper is extremely thin and they were not the easiest to bed down. I found the best so far is a coat of Chromaseal over the decal before it is cut to shape. This way the writing is more durable and you can give it a fair amount of pressure to squeeze the air out from under it. All in all its not to bad. I used Threadmaster over and turned by hand. Its nearly 3 3/4" long came out nice and level. I also changed the wrap a bit an put in some tan between the white bands to tie in with the grip.

A Strange Pike

No rod building today. My computer was so full of junk that I had to spend some time and clean it up.
I came across this photo that I had completely forgotten about. I think it was caught somewhere in Ontario, Canada. I have seen small slamon fry hatching like this but they usually didn't last
.Obiviously this fish was one of the very lucky ones. I figured I would pop it on here and see if other fisherman find it strange!!!!

Colour Preserver or CP

Wrapping finished and I now want to apply CP to the wraps. I have always used CP as it makes the wraps "sparkly" and the thread maintains somewhat of the original spool colour. I have never liked the guide feet showing through the thread but that my OCD kicking in. Another reason I go with CP is that it displaces the air trapped within the thread so I don't have any trouble with bubbles forming in my finish. When you don't use CP I find that the finished guide becomes "jewely". If you like this look then you can miss this step out. Most commercially built rods don't have CP'd wraps not because of any strength issues but because it is another step in the manufacturing process and time is money. Were talking custom here time should not be an issue.

In Rodmaker Magazine some articles were published about rod building myths. CP was one of the products written about. I have personally heard builders say that CP makes your wraps weak and the guides don't get "glued" to the blank. Ok guide finish is not an adhesive its just what it is A FINISH!!. Its actually the accumulation of thread wraps that hold your guide on. The finish or rod epoxy just protects the thread from being cut or scraped.

To put this to the test I wrapped a trout fly rod and have been fishing it for 2 seasons with just CP for a thread coating. Its still going strong and have caught loads of fish on it not to mention the constant flexing while casting. Need I say more!!!

Make sure your work area is extra clean. Remove all the clutter put your thread away and just get it generally tidy. Go over it with a hoover and let the air settle before you start to work. As when I'm finishing I lightly spray the surrounding area with a mist of water to knock down the dust.

The things I use for this part of the job are Threadmaster Chromaseal CP, mixing cup, brush and a metal spatula. I have found Chromaseal to be an outstanding product. It has a very interesting self levelling property to it which I haven't found with other products. You can find these products on My Rodbuilding Supply Site. I wouldn't sell it if I didn't think it was a quality product.

Now what you want to do is mix the Chromaseal slowly with a metal stirrer(in this case a spatula). Don't shake as you will create loads of bubbles. Mix thoroughly to make sure all the solids in the mix are suspended. FYI-Its actually the solids that prevent your finish from penetrating the wraps. When you apply it the carrier evaporates and leaves these solids behind. For this reason DO NOT THIN WITH WATER!!! You will only increase the amount of carrier and reduce the amount of solids that are left behind. It is thin enough to penetrate into the thread as it is.


Next take a piece of masking tape and make a sort of tack rag. Gently dab the thread all over to remove all dust, lint etc. Don't be too heavy just gently






Apply the Chromaseal liberally and totally wet out the wrap. It will turn dark but don't worry the colour will come back as it dries. Wick off any areas which have large amounts of excess. This is where the mixing cup comes in just wipe the area with your brush and scrape it on the side of the cup.I usually use two coats with an hr in between coats and 24hrs before finishing.

This is part of the butt wrap so there are no guide "tunnels". You will want to fill these up on your guides so the finish doesn't creep in the void and bleed through from behind the thread. To do this stand the rod up on end and use a pin or bodkin and "poke some Chromaseal down the hole". You may have to do this a couple times until the space is full.
Try not to go off the threadwork with the CP. You will want the finish to go off the wrap and seal it. If its not sealed on a wet day you may find that your guide wraps blush or become hazy. It usually goes away when the rod is dried out. To avoid this once again only coat the thread and dont go over on to the blank.
This photo shows the guide with a fresh soaking coat. Once it dries it will become somewhat dull. Don't worry though the finish really brings back the sparkle. Next time its the finishing!!!

Guide Wraps and Easy Trim Bands

Ok been picking away at this wrapping. The first thing I do is hoover(vacuum) my work area. I then take one of those magic dusters and go over the general area to minimize dust. Try to do whatever you can to keep the dust levels low to none. If its dry, which is rare here in Scotland, I will wear a nylon windbreak so there is no dust off of my shirt

I find some type of magnifier really helps to see what the thread is doing. This one has a daylight bulb in it. Overhead is 4 4" tube lights. most of my work area is painted white for maximum brightness. I also have a set of goggle magnifiers which fit to your face. I use this one the most though. Remember if your threadwork looks good magnified it will look even better when its not

I use a neptune thread tensioner. It doesn't use springs for tensioning. It is two magnets in which you put paper washers between to adjust the tension. The more washers the less tension there is. Its really smooth and especially good if wrapping with metallics. It doesnt get pinched between anything so there is no chance of fraying. The washers you see are my "guide wrap setting". I minus a few for ferrule wraps and threadwork such as chevrons, diamonds etc where you want your wrap just slightly tighter.
When a guide is wrapped you should be able to move it back and forth for alignment. If you can't its too tight

I wont bore you with a normal guide wrap procedure. But I will show you how I do all of my trim work whether it be thread or metallics.

Lay a 6" piece of your trim material over the blank. Place a darning needle(in this case), a wooden stick or your finger over the thread. Easy enough you say!!!

Now wrap your thread around your tool of choice. You will need to put one extra wrap of thread for the number of trim turns that you want. In this case I want 3 so I put 4 or its more like 3 1/2 turns and put the end throught the eye. Place your thumb on the loose wraps to they stay in the order you see. Pull the needle throgh and you will end up with a tag on each side. Now in order for it to "lock" on itself you will have to carefully remove one turn and you will see the two threads join in a sortof figure of eight in the middle. Dont pull it tight. Gently slide it up to your main wrap and pack it against the shoulder.

This is just loose before packing. Once it packed just pull each tag in the direction that they are lying (90 degrees to the blank). To lock them position one towards the tip and one towards the butt( parallel with the blank). Trim the tags, place a very small dab of CP or super glue right on the crossover point and bobs your uncle!!.
Oh one other thing. Place the knot or crossover on the side thats not seen by the angler. On a spinning and fly rod thats on the guide foot side, on a baitcasting it would be opposite the guide foot side.

Both trim wraps finished. I like doing it this way because your trim tags will never show under your main wraps especially if your not using CP.

Static Testing

Today I was getting my guide placement sorted on this rod. For the guides I've went with titanium Sic's as I'll possibly be using it in the salt for bass. Stripper is a 16mm DF, then 12 DF and 7mm single foots right out to the tip. For the life of me I could not find my wee surgical rubber bands I usually use to hold on the guides while testing so I can move them back and forth with ease. So went with masking tape after I found myself getting quite frustrated. I know they are in that shop somewhere. Tape will do in a pinch but the rubber bands are much easier to use. I was a little hot under the collar and you can see I just slapped the tape on any old way!!!

Ive got a rod holder bolted to a jig which is fixed to the side of my garage. The rod can be mounted in the holder and a weight attached to the end in order to fully flex the rod. The guides can be placed so the line path follows the arc of the blank. On a nice day like it was today its nice to do this outside. My stripper is place at 31" from the center of the reel. This is the distance I use for all of my fly rods. I can reach without stretching and my stripping hand lands about 2" short of the guide. The first guide from the tip goes at 4 1/2". Thread the line through the stripper and then slide on all the other guides between it and the guide at 4 1/2". They will just bunch up and hang on the line. Now thread it through the first guide and the tip. I just eyeball where I think the guides look good and tape them on. Now attach a weight to the line and put a bend in the rod. Adjust your guides so you get a nice path with no major "flat spots".

Just out of curiosity I compared my guide locations to a spacing chart. A few guides were close but the chart was 100mm out for a couple. This just goes to show this is the best way to find guide placement. Every blank is different so keep the spacing chart in the drawer where it belongs. :>)

Wrapping The Decal Borders

Ive started the wrapping today on this CTS. I took a break from the lathe work and cleaned up all the dust and tools that were laying around.

This is the wraps that will border my custom decal. Its Cobalt Blue regular nylon with white NCP inlay thread. I don't normally wrap with NCP as the wraps look quite "pastelish" if that's even a word!! But in this case its a dark blank and if I use white regular nylon the blue blank will bleed through even though I am going to use Chromaseal Colour Preserver.

Click on the photo and you will see no gaps, overlaps or bumps. I am happy that the thread spacing is uniform and has an overall "clean" look to it. I may tip each end with a metallic but I'm not sure at this point. I just need to cut the tags end with a razor blade and make sure everything is packed properly. The packing and burnishing is very important so that your wraps turn out a nice uniform colour once finished. If there is gaps it you will have darker shades in the wrap

You can see Rodmaker Magazine in the background. It a "how to" on an easy way to do these kind of thread inlays. The right hand page has numerous photos that show you every step. The left is written instruction. It could not be easier and I really cant stress enough how much time some of these articles can save you. There may not be something in every issue that will interest you but when there is it can be very helpful. I offer subscriptions on my site but if you need any additional info contact me scott@solwaycustomcomponents.com