# rod build suggestions



## JapaneseZero (Jul 27, 2009)

Hey all,
I'm thinking of building my next rod and was looking for suggestions. I'm thinking the 8' 3/4 oz 2 piece rainshadow inshore rod... doing a split grip and some spinning rod guides. last time i built a rod was a 2 wt fly rod. some of the things that concern me are guide placement, sizes, and reel seat placement. mostly ill be throwing plugs from shore and the surf and will also be using it as a kayak rod. ive held rods with the reel seat too low before and its awkward especially with an 8 foot rod. I have the st croix 8 ft ben doerr rod and the butt section is a bit long for kayak use and gets a bit cumbersome throwing lures all night. any suggestions are welcome. I also wouldnt mind doing a little bit of entry level wrapping on the rod to personalize it a bit.

Thanks!


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## Hudak (Sep 10, 2007)

Sounds like you know what you want in the butt length. Research the New Guide Concept method for placing guides.


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## JapaneseZero (Jul 27, 2009)

thanks! exactly what i was looking for. I have a general picture on what i want but some of the particulars i was unaware of how to accomplish.


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## sunburntspike (Oct 4, 2010)

as for patterns,you can't go wrong getting billy vivano's book,or looking at some good work on rodbuilders .org


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## JapaneseZero (Jul 27, 2009)

so i guess the first rod I ever built was a kit. Im struggling with what size grips to get and things of that nature. The butt is .5 and the tip is 5. Im looking at doing the split grip with a fuji graphite seat on it. none of the sizes of the seats and the grips really match up. anyone with some help?


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## Lickinfrogs (Mar 12, 2006)

JapaneseZero said:


> so i guess the first rod I ever built was a kit. Im struggling with what size grips to get and things of that nature. The butt is .5 and the tip is 5. Im looking at doing the split grip with a fuji graphite seat on it. none of the sizes of the seats and the grips really match up. Mkanyone with some help?


Get some calipers and measure the blanks diameter where you want the seat. You want to buy a seat with a slightly larger inner diameter than the outer diameter of the blank. For the grips you will need a tapered reamer . Buy them with a smaller id and ream them to fit.

Check the batson forum. They have a section on. there with recipes for just ab.out ev.ery blank they sell


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## sunburntspike (Oct 4, 2010)

as far as seats go,they are always going to be a few mm bigger than your blank,you can make up the difference with pre-made arbors or build them yourself from masking tape,the grips be they EVA foam or cork are going to be smaller than the blank so that they can be reamed to fit SNUGLY,you don't want the grips loose on the blank nor too tight before you glue them up.when i ream a grip i like to dry fit it to wher it will go about half way thru the installation area without much pressure,if they are EVA you can heat up some water and put the grips in and install wet to make sure they fit correctly,remember the glue is going to act as a lubricant when you go to install so the water will kinda give you an idea as to how they will act.with cork i use tapered reamers and just take my time and measure as i go with calipers,cork can be a little loose on the blank as you can use the masking tape trick to build up the difference.hope this helps


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