This is my first opportunity since the Rod Building Weekend to post a report about the new boat rod, but firstly I must say a big thankyou again to Sue & Greg for opening up their home for us. I think they may well be stuck with the rod building orphans whether they like it or not.
Also not forgetting Stuart & David for giving up their time.
It was great to see familiar faces again as well as meeting some new converts.
The blank I brought along was a Hastings Challenger DHX URC60HXF 10-15kg very fast taper, produced in the USA. Starting to appreciate the very high quality of this brand of rod blanks.
The guides were all ALPS, XXNZG 316 stainless, the gimbal & reel seat also ALPS, I find it really hard to go past cork grips, mainly for their longevity. Thanks to Graham for putting together a great looking rear grip for the rod.
I finally managed to drag myself away from fish patterns, after seeing Jan’s scale wrap I knew I had to have one too!!!!
Never having attempted an eight axis pattern before made me a little apprehensive & the words of wisdom from the higher authority, “to be very careful” were not lost. THANKS VOLVO.
Never fear!!! I have the Visual Wrap software, and it is by far the most valuable aid to achieving a great cross wrap.
If anyone out there wants to get into some of the more complicated designs, or the simple ones for that matter, get yourself this program.
It totally eliminates the margin of error when transferring the points for the lay-out threads, and even shows the order in which the threads are placed. I would have had an up hill battle getting around this scale pattern without it.
Because of the Scale pattern, I decided to keep the bindings on the guides simple, at the same time allowing the quality of the ALPS guides to stand out.
Now the rod is all done!!! Bring on October!!!
Oh! One more thing, still waiting for the tip guide.
Cheers roz.
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Originally Posted by Lucky_Phill
