More Winter Stuff: Wader Upkeep

We are still in the deep freeze here in Utah. In fact, it is supposed to start snowing again today. Another item to take care of during the winter while you are waiting for the warmer weather is your waders.

Wader Repair

I have noticed that the tape over the seams in the neoprene footies of my Gore-tex waders starts coming off after a couple of years. This has happened on both my Simms and my Clouveil waders. Both companies supply a tube of Aquaseal for repairs.

It is fairly easy to repair as long as you have a fresh tube. The tube of Aquaseal I got seven years ago with my Simms waders started to harden up and didn’t stick well. The recent tube I got with the Cloudveil waders is still very sticky and easy to work with. Apply some on the wader tape and the neoprene.

Cover the area you have applied with scotch tape and put some weight on it to hold it together while it dries.

After it dries, pull the scotch tape off.

The Aquaseal is also used for repairs and leaks. For leaks, put scotch tape, or the patch provided with the repair kit, on the hole on the outside of the waders. Apply Aquaseal to the hole from the inside and at least ¼ inch around it. Scotch tape this side too and let it dry overnight. Remove the tape.  Aquaseal is great stuff!!!

Building A Fly Rod – The Steps: Day Two

Guide Spacing

Guide Spacing is usually supplied by the manufacturer. If not supplied with the blank you can find this on line at the manufacturer’s site. If not, I recommend just looking up a similar blank i.e. same length, line weight, and action, and using that recommended spacing. Several rod building supply companies supply guide spacing recommendations. Hook and Hackle even has it in their catalog. Mark this spacing on the blank. One way to do this is to wrap masking tape around the blank at each spacing and mark it. Or just put the top of the tape wrap at the location where the bottom of the lower guide foot should go.

Wrapping the Guides

There are several pieces of equipment on the market that will help with the wrapping of the guides. I have always done this manually. I will explain this manual method.

Gather together a cup and a couple of books. Place the bobbin of thread in the cup and run the thread on top of one of the books. Place some of the books on top of the thread on top of the first book according to desired tension. This can be adjusted as you start wrapping. If you would like more tension add another book. If you would like less, remove a book. How much tension is correct? Good question. A little bit of tension so that it keeps the thread tight is good. Too much tension where it is hard to pull through the thread would be too much tension and could with time, damage the blank or cause the rod to be stiff in that location.

Always wrap from the rod blank toward the guide. Start with one wrap. Purposely cross the thread over the first wrap in the direction toward the guide. Keep wrapping toward the guide and over the tag end of the thread. Go ahead and pinch the wrap against the blank as needed at first so the thread doesn’t just slip around with each revolution. After 5 to 9 wraps, cut the tag end thread close to the wraps. A razor blade works real well for this. Keep wrapping so the tag end is covered and hidden by the wraps. When the wraps are within about ¼ inch or 5 to 9 wraps from the place you will stop wrapping, place a loop of thread along the blank and wraps and wrap over it leaving the loop end in the direction you are wrapping. Once you have wrapped up to the end of the foot where it starts bending up, pinch the thread so it won’t unravel when you let go. Cut the thread leaving a 2 or 3 inch tag. Thread the thread through the loop you prepared. Pull the loop back under the wraps bringing the 2 or 3 inch tag through with it. With you fingernails, gently move the wraps where the tag end got pulled through slightly away. Cut the tag end as close to the blank as possible. Move with your fingernail whatever tag end is left to the side and then push the thread wrapping over the tag end closing the gap. This should hide the tag completely. As a last resort, if there is still a little tag left sticking out, put it near a flame and it will burn off. Be careful though, just bring the wraps close enough to the flame to singe the tag, not to burn the wraps or even worse, the blank. As a second last resort, if there is still a little tag end left when you put the finishing epoxy on the wraps, you can cut it off with a razor blade after the epoxy is dry. Then put a thin second coat of epoxy on over the wraps.

After wrapping a few guides it will become much easier and you will get the hang of it. You may even come up with some better ideas on what will make this process easier and better.

The Disappearing Thread Trick

Another way of finishing off a wrap is to cut the thread short enough just before you pull it through so it still is pulled under a few wraps of thread but not long enough to pull out the gap where the loop is pulled out. I will have to perfect this technique on my next rod.

The Tip Top

The tip of the rod is glued on with ferrule cement. It is a glue stick that is specifically made for rod and arrow tips. It is made so that with heat it will become liquid and you can easily use it to glue on the rod tip. Melt the glue with a flame. Place some of the melted material onto the tip of the rod and quickly twist the tip onto the glue on the blank. After rotating and pushing the tip on as far as it will go, twist it so that it lines up with the guides or the mark you made indicating the spine. Keep in mind this has to be done quickly enough that the glue will not set up before you are finished with the tip aligned properly. Wipe off the excess glue. Double check the alignment. Any remaining glue can be scratched off with your fingernail after it dries. Place a few wraps of thread on the blank right next to the tip if desired to make it look pretty.

Applying the finish

The finish is actually flexible epoxy. It is similar to the epoxy that was used to glue the reel seat and handle to the blank, only flexible when dried and also has a longer dry time. It is mixed and prepared the same way.

Attach the blank to the rotator just prior to applying the epoxy finish and apply as the rod rotates. I use a small paint brush to apply this epoxy finish. Use as little epoxy as possible but still enough to cover the thread completely and not show any of the threads texture. Go ahead and let this rotate overnight to dry. If you don’t have a rotator, rotate the rod manually until the epoxy does not sag. I did my first rod this way and it turned out perfect. I rotated it every few seconds for the first half hour and then gradually backed off on rotations to every couple of minutes and then every 5 to 10 minutes after that until I wasn’t worried that the epoxy would sag.

NOW GO FISHING!!!

Building A Fly Rod – The Steps: Day One

A lot of the manufacturer’s expense in manufacturing a fly rod is the labor it takes to wrap the guides onto the rod. You can save a lot of money on a high quality rod by doing this yourself. The starting point is deciding which rod you want to build and then purchasing a blank. The blank is typically half the price of a finished rod.

The Spine

Once you have the rod blank you need to find the spine on each piece. This is usually provided by the manufacturer now days. When I built my first few fly rods 20 to 25 years ago this wasn’t the case. You would always need to determine this yourself. On the Sage blank I’m currently building, the manufacturer put white dots on the spine. This lets you know how to align the guides and reel seat on the blank.

If you do have to do this yourself, I will explain. Start with one piece of the blank. Place one end against a smooth surface and the other end on your open palm. Gently bend the blank. Rotate the curved blank back and forth. At one point you will notice the blank will pop or jump into a natural curve that is hard to roll out of. This point in the rotation indicates the spine. I usually wrap a piece of masking tape around the blank and mark this point on the tape with a pencil. The guides will be aligned along the inside curve of the spine (for a fly or spinning rod). If you were building a casting rod you would place the guides on the outside curve of the spine. Find the spine for each piece of the blank.

The Cork Handle

The inside diameter of the preshaped cork handle will need to be reamed to fit the blank. To do this I use a rat tail file and start reaming out the middle of the handle. There are also rod building reaming devices specifically made for this purpose that can be purchased.

The important thing to remember as you file is to keep rotating the handle so the hole stays perfectly centered. You want the handle to snugly fit on the blank so don’t overdo it. This process will create a lot of dust so don’t do it in the same room where you will be doing the wrapping and finishing.

The Reel Seat

The inside diameter of the reel seat will always be larger than the outside diameter of the rod blank. To compensate for this you will need to build up the blank to fit the reel seat so the reel seat will be centered. This is done by creating shims or arbors by wrapping masking tape around the blank in the amount that will fit the reel seat. Leave about 1/8 to ¼ inch between the ½ inch to ¾ inch wide arbors. This will allow the epoxy to cover all the surfaces between the blank and reel seat and provide proper gluing.

The Epoxy

After the blank is prepared for the reel seat and the cork handle fits the blank properly, you are ready to prepare the epoxy. The epoxy comes in two parts, the resin and the hardener. You will need to mix equal amounts of each in at least the quantity needed for the gluing of the reel seat and handle to the rod. First, warm epoxy part A (The Resin) and epoxy part B (The Hardener) in some warm water. This will make it easier to work with, easier to measure, will help expel bubbles formed from mixing and also give you a little more working time. It is important to mix equal amounts and to mix adequately. If these two important items are not done properly, the epoxy will not dry hard and will remain tacky (sticky). One way to mix this is the following. On a plastic lid, place an equal amount of each epoxy component next to each other in the approximate amount that you will need, or a little bit more. Mix the two circles of epoxy components together with a wooden stick, plastic spoon or knife, or something similar. Mix for at least two minutes making sure all of it is mixed in together.

Coat the tape arbors completely with the mixed epoxy and then the blank between the arbors. Place the reel seat onto the bushings, twisting the reel seat as you slide it on to make sure it also gets completely covered inside with epoxy. The dried epoxy will then provide the support for the real seat, not the tape. Align the reel seat with the spine. Double check that the reel seat is aligned with the spine.

Mark the blank for the top of the handle so you will know how far to coat the blank with epoxy. Coat the blank with epoxy from the reel seat to the just below the mark. Place the handle onto the blank twisting as you reach the epoxy ensuring the epoxy is covering everything it needs to. Align the handle with the reel seat, which is in turn aligned properly with the spine. I usually glue the reel seat, the handle and the winding check to the blank in one step since I already have epoxy prepared.

Winding Check

The winding check is a small ring to cover the rough connection between the handle and the blank. It is usually made of metal, rubber or plastic and is sized to fit the diameter of the rod right at the top of the handle.

Place a little epoxy next to the top of the cork handle. Slide on the winding check and butt it up right next to the top of the handle on the epoxy.

When you are satisfied everything is properly in place and aligned (double check), you can allow this section of the rod to dry over night.

Building A Fly Rod

During this long winter I also completed another project, building a new fly rod. It has been 20 years since I’ve built a new fly rod. However, in these twenty years I have rebuilt two tip sections and one butt section. I’m thankful for lifetime warrantees.

My wife asked me what I wanted this year for my birthday and I responded that I would like a new fly rod blank for building a new fly rod. I started doing research on the latest and greatest fly rods on the market. The last two rods I built and fished with these past twenty years were Sage rods (5wt 9 1/2 ft RPL and a 4wt 9 ft LL) which I really liked so I started with that brand. Sage Z-axis rods seem to have the best reviews and are well liked by everyone, including the guides at the fly shops. Doing some price comparisons I found a seller on eBay (Angler’s Habitat) that offered the same price for the blank as everywhere else but also included all other components for building the rod for free. I went with this – Happy Birthday!

One thing I have noticed with the newer rods/blanks is that they are quite a bit lighter. Another thing is that 4 piece rods are a lot more common. This is due to the fact that ferrules have improved drastically from twenty years ago. Another improvement is that the manufacturer marks the spine location for you. This is to help you know how to align the guides so you don’t have to figure it out yourself.

The hardware components for building a fly rod include: Reel Seat, Cork Handle, Winding Check, Hook Keep, Stripping Guide, Snake Guides and the Tip Top Guide.

Other items that are needed are: Epoxy for gluing the reel seat and cork handle to the blank, Flexible Epoxy for the finish on the thread wraps, Rod Wrapping Thread and Masking Tape.

An Arbor Knot Trick

This week I was putting some cool orange backing onto one of my reels. After tying the arbor knot I was a little frustrated that the backing wouldn’t just wind onto the reel as I wound the handle.

I had to hold the backing against the arbor until it had made a couple of wraps around itself so it wouldn’t keep slipping. I tried the knot again, but this time I wrapped the backing around the arbor twice before tying the knot. This did the trick. I was able to wind the reel and the backing did not slip.