Are you proud of a specific butt wrap, guide eye wrap, or mid section wrap? Take some photographs and show off your work for everyone to see!!!!!!
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Are you proud of a specific butt wrap, guide eye wrap, or mid section wrap? Take some photographs and show off your work for everyone to see!!!!!!
Congrats going to be a great!
Very nice Abby, Rich3 catch my eye!
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WOW Wicklundrh.You have amazing skills.Those wraps are awesome!
WOW what can I say WOW
I do not have an electric wrapper. All of my work is done by hand with the original wrapping jig I started with. The Rich3 (orange wrap) had close to 8 hours worth of work in it and had 5 different color variations. This was also the FIRST and only rod I have ever broke. At that time, it was the third broken rod that I had tied from this particular company. It was also the LAST rod I ever tied for this company.
The underwrap diamond 2 was the hardest and took the longest. All of the light blue you see underneith is actually a wrap. I think I have 5 hours just in that alone. This is my custom tournament walleye jigging rod. It is basically the porsche of the fishing industry in regards to walleye jigging specific rods.
The black and gold one on the bottom was actually the first wrap I ever did. It was done on an old rod that my dad had originally tied as a retirement gift for my grandfather.
The Abby rod is actually the second wrap I ever did.
If anyone wants the documentation I used to learn how to do wraps, I have it in PDF form. It is a great proof source documentation. I got my best friend involved in tying and he has done some amazing wraps on his rods with some new techniques that I have not tried yet. We have taken 10 dollar rods off the shelf, stripped them down, and built some awesome stuff that would probably sell for way more money!
Attachment 312184
The most difficult wrap I ever did. I had 80 hours in the flag alone.
Not. Good pic. I will try another.
Standard crappie wrap
Basic diamond on all 4 axis.
For the beginning rod builder there is a piece of software out there called Visual Wrap. This software will show in an animated form how to make any decorative wrap. I have literally Essex it for decades. It is a great help when you can’t see the finished product in your mind.
While Visual Wrap is a great help, getting your decorative wrap strait and equally spaced is probably the single most important step to creating a quality decorative wrap.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wicklundrh
Please PM me the photo of the entire completed rod. (Gold with black) and the Blue and Chartreuse) Is it 6.5 feet with light action? Do you put people's name on it? Also PM your prices. I probably will not be able to afford this quality work but Christmas is coming. Thanks.
Used not Essex
Nice work on those rods.
Ship, I sent you a PM.
Just so that everyone knows. I build very few rods that I sell anymore. The primary reason is the guilt I feel for the amount of money I have to charge in order to make my time worth it. I've been asked by dozens of people about the cost and I always try to give them the same information that I sent to Ship in his PM. My primary reason for this forum is to try and help other people realize that this can be a great hobby, with great savings for building custom rods for yourself!
I didn't want people to think that I was using this platform as a means to promote or sell anything. That couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, the last custom rod I built to sell someone, the guy bothered me for more than two years, didn't care about the cost, and was in no hurry to get one!!! If anyone has questions about the business side of it (if it is something they might be interested in) feel free to ask. I'll share my opinions and experiences with everyone! And just so that everyone understands, I no longer do this as a business, just as a hobby!
That’s the problem with building the best rod money can buy. You can’t do that and compete with Walmart. That’s why I also seldom build rods any more.
To build a custom Rod in my Opion is not to compete with WalMart.
But to Build a Rod That Walmart Cannot sell.
Walmart sells by Price and to Fit Every one.
We build a Custom Rod for Quality and Performance.Hard to put a Price on Workmanship.
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Its not what something cost.But What it cost to Replace it.
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You guys are all correct. It is also what some are willing to pay!
I liken it to the fact that I can put 250 in materials in to a rod, 10 hours worth of work, and in order to turn a good profit for my time, I would need to charge about 450 for that rod.
Some understand what they are getting, and some don't. It is also the main reason why I never built on COTS (commercial off the shelf) blanks. I couldn't build and sell a St. Croix rod for what they do in a store. Not unless I am willing to make 4 bucks an hour for my time.
Ditto, of the several hundred rods I have built for paying customers basically as a paying hobby prices always started at $500.00. I also like St Croix blanks. I even have a few GLoomis blanks left over from when Gary Loomis still owned GLoomis Rods.
You know I have been tying lures for 14 years and making soft plastic lures for about the last seven. People do not realize how much money you have wrapped up in equipment and supplies. The average price you can get for soft plastics is about 14 cents each. People argue about paying that. That means for a bag of 20 lures you would have to charge $2.80 per bag. Take away your costs and you actually make about 4 cents per lure or about 80 cents per bag.Quote:
Originally Posted by wicklundrh
For a small production lure maker you have to be in this hobby to make lures for yourself and a few friends. I stopped selling my lures two years ago and concentrated more on teaching people what I know. https://www.crappie.com/crappie/diy-...ppliers-tools/
So, I guess I can empathize with all that you said. I will go and get a MR. Crappie rod and be satisfied because I stopped tournament fishing 15 years ago when I was 58. Yes, I am 73 now so the rod would have been more an ego thing for me than anything else.
Again, thanks for taking the time to respond. You do good work on your rods and you can be proud of that. Good fishing to you.
I had a 6" lamiglas pistol grip BC rod built for me in about '78. Had some wonderful work put into it with a fancy wrap on the lower end and my name under the coating. That and a 5001C was stolen from me a couple of years later. Never regretted the money I spent on the rod, loved it's action. If I could find a rod that met all my expectations, I would pay very large dollars for it. I have wound some rods of my own, utilitarian and not fancy but they had action I couldn't find in the stores, also Lamiglas blanks. Love seeing the work on here. Might one day build enough of a fire for me to build another one for my self.
For those that were interested, I finally found the document I was referencing when talking about decorative wraps. I thought I had the actual PDF but realized it would be harder to get it to you guys. I found the URL to the guide itself!!!
http://96.30.27.81/docs/CrossWrap%20B%20D%20Ehler.pdf
I don't think you can beat an old Lamiglas blank. I have not played with any of their newer ones but from my understanding, they are still trying to do things like they always have. Just with a little different materials.Quote:
Originally Posted by skeetbum
I would hold on to those GLoomis rods!!! I've looked far and wide for some old Fenwick blanks but they are hard to come by too. I have a 12 foot two piece fenwick that I have been redoing for a couple of years now. I don't know why I never finish that thing!Quote:
Originally Posted by crappie wrangler
I went and looked just to know what I have and I have 4 CB845Bronze blanks left. I used them for Striped Bass and made a lot of them for the same use. While you can't lift a 10 pound fish with them they are very sensitive and will land anything in the water assuming the drag is set on the reel properly. I personally never caught anything over 25 pounds with them. They were my slabbing rod. 2 oz Prune Picker Slab Spoon.
Thank you for this PDF file. Lots to learn for sure. Hope I can get just a part of this down...Thanks again. Eric, AKA "jamesdean".
Just getting started learning the art of wrapping rods. You guys are awesome with the work shown on here. One day if I stay with it, I'll be able to do some of what I've seen here. In the mean time one has to start some where, and make mistakes, take criticism, and learn. I will be the first to admit I am not good at much, mediocre at best, but here is my first attempts at this rod wrapping. Now this is an old, old piece of rod that the local flea market had thrown away and it didn't even have a handle so I thought I would get it and use it for practice...Attachment 313516Attachment 313517. In the first one I didn't catch that the thread had slipped over the darker blue and then came back till after I had already finished and tied it off. The second id a design, not the colors that my better half likes. She wants Blue, Black and silver...But as I said, it's just practice, as with practice one gets better... Thanks for looking. Eric, AKA "jamesdean".
That’s a good start.
Thank sir...
.I think I need some different tape as all I had on hand was duct tape. When doubled over so a sticky side was up, it was a bit high...what you think?
I use blue or green painters tape in different widths. Those look great! I've done many practice runs on old blanks and wood dowls.
I've also taken 10 dollar Walmart rods, stripped them, sanded them, and turned them into better quality works of art.
What kind of rods you getting at Walmart for 10 dollars. The cheapest decent rod at my Walmart is 20 bucks, not counting the little kiddy pols with the one piece plastic reel/handle combo's...But it sounds like an idea till I start on my crappie poles.
"What kind of rods you getting at Walmart for 10 dollars." I think it's just a figure of speech. Point being it's an inexpensive way to get experience, or experiment. All the while upgrading an otherwise common production rod. I have some older rods I'm planning on doing the same thing with.
OK I gotcha...had me going for a minute or two. I was looking at the Cherrywood 7' med./lt rods. Their one piece rods and go for 19.99. thought of getting a couple and reworking them.
My teacher
Attachment 313737
And
Attachment 313738
Youtube didnt exist when I started. :)
I have 2 rods that came to mind when I read this. I have a Fenwick 6'6" jig/worm rod that just needs to be made better looking for the rod that it is. Another is an inexpensive rodQuote:
Originally Posted by SpeckledSlab
that I bought out of the bargain bin for 8$. It's 6' and almost parabolic but I haven't found a better rod for small crankbaits or light spinnerbaits. These both need handles also and will be complete rebuild. I'll start with the cheaper rod one day.