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Rod Build Project No 2 - CTS Affinity Plus 14' #9/10 salmon rod

Started by stickleback, October 23, 2009, 10:06:01 PM

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stickleback

Finished this build at the start of October 2010.  Still to catch a salmon on it  :worms


My first rod build earlier this year was a #5 trout rod and that whetted my appetite for a salmon rod.  After doing a bit of research I learned that the Highlander rods built by R B Meiser apparently use the Affinity Plus blanks made by the New Zealand company CTS.  I reckoned if the blanks were good enough for Mr Meiser, then they?d be good enough for me.  I ordered the charcoal gloss 14?, four piece #9/10 and it arrived five weeks later.  I bought a Struble real seat and guides from David Norwich, and got the cork rings for the handle and the remaining sundries from Mudhole Custom Tackle who are based on the outskirts of Orlando, Florida ? I visited them whilst there on summer holiday.

Why build a Spey handle instead of buying one ?  Because I discovered in my first rod build that pre-made handles can be difficult to ream out to properly fit the blank ? the longer they are the more difficult it is.  You?ve got to be extremely careful otherwise the hole gets flared at the ends, which can result in a wobbly handle.  I hadn?t built a handle before.  Going by articles on the internet, most folk doing so seem to glue the cork rings direct onto the blank, then turn the blank on a drill and sand the handle down to the desired shape.  I wasn?t too keen on this method in case I knackered the blank (it cost a couple of hundred quid), or sanded off too much cork which would have meant I?d have a pile of trouble removing the handle and dried glue and then having to start over again.  My plan was to use a water soluble glue (whilst damp) to stick the cork rings together on the blank, slip the partially dried handle off the blank, let the handle finish drying, and then turn / sand it down on a home made mandrel and lathe.  That way I wouldn?t damage the blank, and if I went overboard with the sanding it would be a lot easier and probably cheaper to do a new handle.  That was the theory, but did it work ?

First step was to build the tools to make the handle, namely a handle clamp and a lathe.  I borrowed some ideas from designs on the internet and added in a few touches of my own.  Rather than clog up this rod build thread with photos etc of how to make these gadgets, I?ve done separates thread on them.

Next stage was to make the handle.  Titebond III was the glue I opted for to stick the cork rings together.  It?s a ?proper? wood glue, can be wiped down with a wet cloth whilst it?s damp, dries waterproof, dries a colour similar to cork, and sands quite easily.  First thing was to ream out the cork rings so they had a marginally snug fit, but not tight, on the blank in what would be their ultimate position.  I numbered them on the inside as I went along in case they fell off the table and got mixed up.  Then it was just a case of gluing them one at a time to each other on the blank (but not to the blank), and clamping them in place. 

Upper handle in clamp with blank going through it


I left the handle clamped on the blank for about half an hour allowing the glue to start working, then gently twisted the blank in a steady spiralling motion out of the assembled handle.  The blank came out no problem, but as anticipated had Titebond smeared all over it. 


A quick wipe down with a damp cloth and the blank was as good as new !


Both handles were made the same way.  Each had to be left to dry for twenty four hours.

The next stage was to turn / sand the handles to shape on my home made lathe. 

Upper handle ready to turn in my homemade lathe


Through trial and error, I discovered that everything works best if the drill is run at a fairly high speed ? if it was slow the sand paper and cork tended to ?bounce? quite violently, but the faster the drill went, the smoother the operation seemed to be.

I used three different grades of sandpaper ? very rough (80), medium (180) and super fine (350).  The medium and superfine were really only used for finishing.

I measured the shape of a handle on another rod and used it as a rough guide for mine.  I taped a sketch of the shape and dimensions on the workbench so it was easy to check my progress as I went along, with calipers.

I found that the normal cork sanded quite easily, the burl was harder, and the rubberised cork was pretty hard going.  I also found that when I had all three types of cork stuck adjacent to each other, if I didn?t pay close attention, my sanding hand would inadvertently tilt towards / dig into the softer stuff (normal cork) and take too much off ? just like this ! ? but fortunately not enough to really notice.


Finished upper handle


For the butt end of the lower handle I used a piece of rubberised cork.  I ?clamped? it onto a quarter inch diameter bolt and stuck the bolt straight into the drill, then sanded it down to the same diameter as the bottom handle where they would join together, and then rounded the butt end.






Next stage was gluing the handles and reel seat onto the blank.  First thing I did here was to very lightly sand the surface gloss of the blank with fine sand paper to give the glue a good surface to adhere to.  You?ve to be very careful doing this and not go too deep to the extent that you damage (and thereby weaken) the carbon fibres beneath.


I used Gorilla Glue to stick the cork handles on to the blank.  This stuff expands so it?s to be used sparingly.  I chose it for it?s expanding purposes ? so it would expand into any nooks and crannies inside the handle and hopefully give a really tight bond.  The Gorilla Glue website says that a hint of moisture helps it expand and key onto things so I briefly trickled a wee bit of water through the handle then let it dry for about an hour.  Then I applied a thin coat of the Gorilla Glue onto the blank and spiralled the lower handle onto it, ultimately overhanging the butt end of the blank by a couple of millimetres.  I had to watch it for about half an hour whilst the glue was expanding.  As it oozed out the butt end I scraped the excess away with a cocktail stick.  If you spill or smear this stuff you can apparently clean it off whilst it?s wet with cellulose thinner or xylene.

Oozing / expanding Gorilla Glue


For the reel seat I made some bushings from masking tape, then glued everything in place using slathers of epoxy glue as I thought that would give a better bond to the metal reel seat.  If you spill or smear epoxy glue you should be able to clean it off whilst it?s wet with acetone.

Then the upper handle was attached the same way as the lower handle, with Gorilla Glue.

After it had all dried I glued the rubberised cork butt end on with Titebond, and held it in place with strips of masking tape.  After it was dry I took off the masking tape and inserted a wee rubberised cork butt plug  :shock: into the hole and sanded it smooth.


The finishing touch to the handle assembly was gluing a metal winding check to the top of the upper handle.

Next, I found and marked the spine of the top section of blank.  I couldn?t find it in the three lower sections ? hopefully this won?t cause any problems.  I read on another forum that someone had a similar experience and put it down to the fancy helix wrapping process used by CTS when manufacturing their blanks.  Then I measured and marked the positions for the guides.  The first one to be attached was the tip guide, which was glued in place.  The others I tacked in place with slivers of masking tape, then whipped on with navy blue Gudebrod ?D? thickness thread.  The whippings were then ?painted? with colour preserver to stop them going transparent when epoxied.

When I did my previous (and only) rod build I rotated the blanks by hand whilst the epoxy was drying - the results were okay.  This time, to make life easier, I invested in a rotary fly dryer / rod turner, and I?m glad I did because I think the results are better.  It certainly made it easier when I was applying the epoxy onto the wraps.  Before you apply the epoxy you should wipe the area of the blanks which will be covered by epoxy with isopropyl alcohol to remove any greasy marks which could cause the epoxy not to bond properly to the blanks.  I then applied Flexcoat Lite epoxy which needs two coats.  The advantage I found with this stuff is that after the first coat has dried you can trim any wee protruding thread tags with a razor, so that the second coat comes out lovely and smooth. 

In hindsight I chose the wrong thread colour.  It went darker than I wanted when I applied the epoxy, turning into a dark French navy blue ? I would have preferred it a tad lighter for a bit more contrast against the blank.  The flash on my camera makes the wraps look lighter than they appear to the naked eye.  Perhaps a royal blue would have been a better choice as it might then have become the navy blue I was really after ?

Nevertheless, IMHO the epoxied whippings look pretty good


The rod was ready to go fishing, but I thought it looked a tad utilitarian.  It got me wondering if I should try writing the make / model on it with a gel pen.  However if you?ve ever seen my writing you?d know that idea was daft, so I ordered up a couple of water slide decals from tightlinecustomrods.com in the USA.

Whilst I was waiting for the decals to arrive I read a few articles on rodbuildingforum.com about feather inserts, even one from Mr Meiser himself.  I also read about how to do a single thickness thread ?highlight? wrap (I wish I?d seen it before I?d done all the other guides  - too late now !!).  That was enough for me to give both these ideas a bash.  I selected two JC eyes from a cape I had lying around, and trimmed them to size.  Then I did two separate thread wraps, in essence a mirror image of each other, with a gap in between them big enough to take the JC inlays and the water slide decals (when they arrived). 

Basically to do the feather inlays you thin some thread colour preserver and dunk the feathers into it quickly soaking them, then lay them in position on the blank and fine tune with a small brush getting any air bubbles out, and leave to dry.


I gave the wraps and JC inlays a first coat of Flexcoat and left them to dry for twenty four hours.

Then I did the decals.  One at a time I placed them in warm water for 5 seconds, then lifted them with a brush, and positioned them.  Despite wetting the blank I found that where I first placed the decals, was where they ended up.  I couldn?t move them even a fraction.  Thankfully both were reasonably accurately placed.


After leaving them to dry for a day, I was on the home straight with the last job to do, namely the final coat of epoxy over my ?fancy? wraps, decals and JC inlays.  I applied the Flexcoat without problem, stuck the rod section into my turner / dryer, switched it on and went off to watch the TV.  Two hours later I checked up on it and ??

?

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??. the rod turner had somehow lost it?s grip on the blank which meant the blank wasn?t turning which caused the epoxy to sag / ripple.


What a disaster.  I tried a hairdryer on it to soften it and hopefully blow it back into position ? sadly to no avail. 

Before scraping it all off and starting again I thought I?d try a 3rd coat of epoxy to see if that would level things out.  Thank goodness it worked and it looked fine.


The charcoal coloured blank doesn?t contrast particularly well with the feathers but when the JC is taken into consideration along with the highlight wraps and decals IMHO they give the rod a wee bit more class.




What would I do differently the next time ?
- Get a few shades of thread and test with epoxy so I can get a better final wrap colour against the blank
- Consider the colour of blank with feather inlays in mind, so that if I do them, they are easier to see
- Do single thickness highlight wraps on all the guide wraps ? I like them and they?re easy to do
- Don?t leave the rod turner unattended !!!!!

The finished rod certainly looks like it will do the business - not quite an Oregon Meiser, more an Aiberdeen Miser.   These last two photos were taken without a flash and better represent it?s proper colour / appearance.





Now I just need to get out to use it AND catch a fish.

stickleback

Yes to both.  I did a thin layer of Flexcoat Lite, then the decals, then another coat - in effect sandwiching the decals between the coats of epoxy.  Here's the full instructions I got off the internet on how to do it:

1.   Apply a thin coat of epoxy at the location you intend to place the decal. This will prevent the potential for fogging by filling in the porosity in the surface of the blank and leave a slick and shiny surface on which to apply the decal.  Ensure the epoxy has cured for at least 24 hours because if the epoxy surface is the least bit tacky, the decal may stick prematurely and damage to the decal will occur when trying to reposition it.

2.   Clean the area with a very small amount of rubbing alcohol to remove any contaminates.  Make sure that the area is dry before applying the decal.

3.   Cut the decal image with sharp scissors.  Trim as close to the logo and or the writing as you are able. This reduces the size of the decal and makes it easier to apply.  Be sure to make your corners rounded and not square. This helps with the way the decal lays.

4.   If you have your scissors and are holding them with the top part of the scissors angled to the right (if you are right-handed, you are cutting an edge that will leave a wrong angle. Decals cut in this manner will lead to an angled edge that leaves a minute air pocket around the decal. This angle, once coated with epoxy, appears as a white ?hair? on the rod). Make sure that the top of your scissors are held with the top of the scissors to the left (if you are right handed). If you think about this, you will realize that if you cut the decal this way, you will have a thinner edge and it will lay flat on the rod blank better.

5.   Dip the decal in warm (not hot), distilled water for approximately 5 seconds.  The paper will roll up and then straighten out again.  Place the decal in a saucer with the image face up on a few drops of water to allow the decal to continue releasing itself.  The use of distilled water prevents the contamination of the decal from impurities in regular water.  Never place the decal in the water and leave it until you think it is ready or until the decal comes off the paper backing ? if you do, the decal will be ruined because most or all of the water based adhesive will be lost.

6.   Ensure the surface where the decal is to be placed is sufficiently wet so the decal can ?float? on the thin water film until it is located as desired. 

7.   Pick up the wet decal, and GENTLY test to see if the film has released from the backing paper.  If it is ready, locate the decal at the blank position and proceed to slide the film from the backing paper and let it ?hang-over? the edge by about an eighth of an inch.

8.   Place the decal flat on the rod blank where you want it to go.  Hold the exposed end on the blank with your thumb, take your fingernail or a pin, and pull the paper backing off while allowing it to lay flat on the blank.  By placing the decal this way, you are not taking any risk of it curling up in your fingers (holding the decal in mid-air for application likely to lead to total disaster)

9.   Now that the decal is on the rod blank, gently align it into position with wet fingers.  Don?t hurry and don?t move the decal around too much as that can cause loss of the adhesive.

10.   When you are satisfied with the placement of your decal, use a regular tissue, not one with lotion, to GENTLY blot and squeegie the excess moisture from the decal area.  Gently is the key word here because these tissues consume the moisture fast and if you are not careful, you can inadvertently grab move the decal and then you will have to wet the whole area again to get it back in place.  Lightly rub from the center out to remove any excess water or adhesive.

11.   All excess moisture and air bubbles must be removed from under the decal for the best adhesion and appearance.   If you see small air or water pockets, just gently push them to the nearest edge of the decal.  If air pockets are left under the decal, they will appear as small circle blotches through the decal film.   At this time, do not try to remove all of the lint particles from the tissues because you will damage the decal and possibly move it from its intended location. You are not going to apply the finish now, so the lint is not an issue !

12.   When all the air bubbles and moisture have been removed from the decal area, allow the decal to dry overnight. 

13.   When it is thoroughly dry take a sable artists brush and gently whisk any fuzzies away.

14.   Finally, coat with finishing as usual.


Becasue my decals were small I used hot water out the tap instead of farting about with distilled water.  They came out fine, but if I was doing a large decal I'd play safe and use distilled water.

Cheers


Cammy

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