does anyone here on the board do rod repairing?? im looking to get some of my old rods some new guides, can anyone help??

talked to my husband said you might call texas unlimited and they might know. academy sports might also know. here in the humble area used to be one but not sure if he is still here

thanks eksda

I have been building rods since 1995. I build fly rods, spinning, and baitcasting rods. And I also do repair at minimal cost.

What question did you have?

My uncle is a very well known world renown rod builder so I learned from his style of rod building and he is the one that got me into rod building about when I graduated high school.

If it is guides you want to replace, yes I can do that at very minimal cost.

I use Size A Gudebrod rod wrapping thread to wrap guides. I can do single or two-color wraps, whatever you like. And I use color preserver and thread sealer on the wraps, no varnish or NCP thread. And when I do wraps I don't use a turning motor for the finish to dry. I turn all rods by hand. So this produces a finish that is very flush to the blank and the finish does not bubble out. Also I do not put any finish on the blank itself, only on the wraps. It just gives it a more professional and clean look and provides for very easy repair to replace a guide.

But as far as guides I can put any guides you like. For casting and spinning rods I use Fuji guides and I can put any you like on up to the Fuji titanium guides.

If you are near San Antonio, David Mata at Bass Pro rebuilds rods. He did some nice grip conversions (regular grip to splir grip)for me for $5.00 each.

thanks guys for the help..where are you located at AJ? i have 2 maybe rod that needs new guide, 2 baitcast and 1 spinner..i would like to use fuji guide for all of them, wats the total cost and the turn around time? thanks in advance!!!

If you are anywhere near Bryan/College Station, Tommy Nuche does great work. Click the link in my signature to get contact info.

thats kind of far for me shootisttx, im in houston..thanks for the info tho!!

Hi Tank, would you want all of the guides replaced on the rod? I am located in Austin, but I commute from Austin to the Houston area about once a week. And pretty soon I'll probably be going as well to do fishing.

Generally the time to put guides on a rod from start to when the wraps are fully dried would be a few days. Basically I need to file and shape the foot of the guides to proper specs, and then wrap the guides on. And then I put a few coats of color preserver and thread sealer and that takes time to dry. And then the final step is actually applying the finish on the wraps which can take 24-48 hours to dry propery. So we are only looking at 2-3 days.

It takes me the same time to do one rod as it would 4 or 5 rods since I work on rods at the same time and what takes most of the time when building or working on rods is just drying time for the epoxies and finishes on rods.

Usually if say I am working on a few rods while one is drying I am filing cork rings for another rod or shaping a handle or wrapping guides or doing something while another rod is drying.

Also there are different types of Fuji guides you can use. Hardloy are the least expensive which are just the basic Fuji guides. They come in black or stainless steel frame with Hardloy rings. Then you can get O rings which are a step better and they come in black or stainless steel frame. And then there are Alconite rings with a black frame. And also Silicon Carbide rings which are popular and they come in gunsmoke and gold frame. You can also get them in a titanium alloy frame. And then the top of the line are the Gold Cermet ring and titanium alloy frame guides. Those are super lightweight and are saltwater proof to any corrosion and the best you can get but very expensive.

And as far as colors for the wraps, I can do a lot of different colors as I have about 30 different color threads. Either one color or two-color wraps.

Contact FTU...Fishing Tackle Unlimited, in Houston...ask for Terry Jones...he will put you in touch with alot of rodbuilders in Houston area...
Or go to www.2coolfishing.com ...go to the rodbuilding section and ask your question...


ML..

thanks for the info aj, let me know when you are coming to houston next.

Fishing Tackle Unlimited in Houston on I-10 west,rod repair.

Sure no problem. I'll let you know before I go to Houston. I go pretty often since my cousin lives there and I have other family there. If I work on your rods I could pick them up on a weekend and maybe drop them off back to you the following weekend or something like that. Or when I am in Houston I can look at the rods and see what you want or would like on them.

I have most guides already. And I have titanium and SIC guides and the titanium/gold cermet ones I use on some of my high end rods. I use the SIC the most for most rods. Or you can purchase the guides yourself and I put them on or whatever is easier if you decide you want me to work on the rods.

When I wrap guides I only put finish on the thread itself. Most put finish on the blank as well but I apply the finish to the thread only to give it a real professional clean look and it makes it easier to replace a guide too. And before the finish is applied I use color preserver and thread sealer on the thread to make the color really stand out and preserve the color as well so the finish does not change the color. And it also prevents fishish from soaking into the thread and blank so again it makes it easier to replace a guide in the future.

And when I let the finish dry I hand turn the rods at certain time intervals. No drying motor. That's so that the finish dries very flush to the blank and there is no bubbling or concave look to the finish. Not a big deal but just little things I do and some of my little trade secrets since I am a perfectionist when it comes to building rods, hah hah.

But if you decide you want me to take a look at your rods when I go down there I can show you different guides and color threads. I usually do simple 2 color wraps. But I can pretty much do as many colors as you like.

And I charge a very minimal amount. Since I usually don't do a lot of rod repair and most of my time is building rods from filing cork rings and shaping the handle and wrapping the guides, etc. I do all handcrafted custom work on rods from scratch from start to finish. It's more of a hobby for me but I build rods for people by word of mouth and right now I have time and I am not too busy. I do fly rods, spinning, and baitcast. The only thing I don't really do is offshore rods but I can if requested.

And if you are ever interested in rod building or rod repair you can check out my uncle's videos or books too. His name is LA Garcia.

I know he has a rod building book and one on rod repair and I think he has videos as well in different languages since he is pretty popular all over the world for his rods.

But that's who I learned from, my uncle and he got me into rod building in 1995. But for me it is a hobby and not a full time business or anything and I only build rods for people by word of mouth.

It's pretty easy to build or repair rods. Nothing hard to it. Just takes patience and a good eye and careful to detail and time is all.

AJ,
I'm also in Houston. Let me know when you're in town. I have two Penn Pursuit spinning rods (I know they're worth nothing, but hate to throw them away). One needs two new guides; the another needs one new guide. We may not have to completely replace the guides since just the inserts (inside rings) that were broken off. I can send you some pics.

AJ, sounds like a good plan..im going over to my parents tonight and i will take a look how many of them need repair and i will take them back to my apt with me. when you get in town give me a call and we can meet up.

aj, whats the price difference between the sic and black frame black hardloy ring guides??

Hi Waltchess, I'll let you know when I am in Houston and repairing them would be no problem. Just cost a few bucks for the guides and I can repair it easily at no charge if it is just a few guides.

Hi Tank, prices vary on guides depending on the style of the guide and if they are one or two-foot guides and whether you need guides for a spinning or baitcast rod since with spinning rods they require larger guides within the set which cost more, especially when you get into the SIC guides and so forth where price differences are greater.

Basically when it comes to the rings you have in order of price and hardness and durability, Hardloy (Aluminum Oxide), Alconite, Silicone Carbide (SIC) and Silicone Nitrate for saltwater use, and Gold Cermet. Hardloy is the least expensive and Gold Cermet being the most expensive and hardest and smoothest material.

And for the frame you have either black anodized stainless steel or the polished shiny stainless steel frame or you can also get gold plated stainless steel. And then you have titanium frame guides which are more expensive and lighter weight than stainless steel. The titanium guides look like a frosted silver color.

Basically in the Hardloy they make 2-foot guides and 1-foot guides for spinning and 2-foot guides for baitcast that sit lower to the blank, but you can combine them or use the spinning guides on the baitcast rod to have a guide that sits higher on the blank. A set of say a 7 to 8-piece guide set for a spinning rod would run between $9 to $11 for a black anodized frame and Hardloy ring. For a baitcast rod if you go with 2-foot guides that sit lower than the spinning guides it would run about $5 to $7 for a set of 7 to 8 guides. If you want them with the shiny polished stainless steel frame it would be just a little more since most guides in black anodized or polished stainless steel are about the same price or maybe 10 cents more per guide in the polished so the price difference is not much. And the price is just a little higher because the polished ones are bought individually too instead of in sets that help save a little money.

If you want to go a step above Hardloy guides you can go with Alconite ring guides. In a 7 to 8-piece set for spinning we are looking at about $21 to $23 or so. In a polished stainless frame it's about $23 to $25. For baitacast we are looking at a 7 or 8-piece set of about $17 to $20 for the black frame and about $19 to $22 for the polished stainless. A little over double the price of Hardloy.

In SIC guides with a stainless frame, a 7 to 8-piece set for a spinning rod you are looking at about $42 to $45 or $45 to $58 for Concept SIC guides, just depends on which SIC guides you want in what sizes. For baitcast rods it's about $34 to $41 for a 7 to 8-piece set in SIC. If you want the Concept style SIC guides they would be about $39 to $46 for a 7 to 8-piece set.

And if you want SIC guide rings with a titanium frame they get more expensive. A 7 to 8-piece spinning set would run about $106 to $111. In Concept style ones it would be about the same price. For a 7 to 8-piece set for a baitcast rod it would be about $60 to $76.

And with the gold cermet ring and titanium frame guides which are top of the line and super light weight, those would run about $180 to $195 for a 7 to 8-piece set for a spinning rod. For a baitcast rod a set of 7 to 8 guides would run about $105 to $130. But these are the best guides you can get and are top of the line and super light weight and very strong and totally resistent to salt and the toughest braided lines. When you put these on a rod it's like they are not even there they are so light. But they are expensive.

If you are looking at just replacing guides and the most economical approach then Hardloy is the best bet and they are great guides for the price.

But those prices are just to give you an idea of price ranges for different guides and they are not exact but just to give you an estimate of about how much the guides would cost for spinning and baitcast rods.

And again if you buy the guides I'll put them on at no charge if it is just a few guides that need replacing. And to replace all the guides on the rod if say you just want to replace the guides you already have or upgrade then I would just charge a very minimal fee to put the guides on if you pay for the guides.

It would take me about 2-3 days to do an entire rod with new guides. Most of it is just drying time and shaping the foot of the guides properly before I put them on the blank. And it would take me the same time to do one rod or 2 or 3 rods.

i think im just gonna go with a 2 set of black frame hardloy guides for 2 rods, they are not expensive rods but need new guides..thanks for the info AJ.

Sure no problem. I'll message you.

Yeah Fuji Hardloy guides are great guides for the price and they last well. And if they break or get worn out or need replacing they are very inexpensive.

sorry i keep forget to mention what kind of the rod it is, they both are baitcasting rods, maybe i have a few spinner rods need new guides too. i will check on them this weekend before i head to seawolf park.

Sure no problem. Whatever rods you need guides on just let me know and when I go down to Houston I can take a look at them and see what you would like on them as far as guides and thread, etc. and if you want me to work on them I could take them with me on a weekend and work on them during the week and return them back to you on the following weekend or something. I go to Houston often and I plan to also go down there for fishing as well in the Galveston Bay area. Maybe I can meet you at Sea Wolf Park or something like that too. I'll message you in a bit.

AJ,
You turn your rods by hand to dry? Wow how long do you have turn them? I don't have the strength in my hands to turn them during drying. Sounds like a thorough method. Thanks,

Hi xman, Yes I turn my rods by hand. I don't use a drying motor. I don't turn them constantly though, so yeah it's not tiring on my hands. I turn the blank/rod in increments and I turn it 180 degress at a time in increments of several mintues and as the rod wrapping finish dries throughout the process, those increments get bigger and bigger as time progresses.

For instance I'll apply the rod wrapping finish to about 4 wraps. I can do more at one time but I usually like to do 4 so it is easier for me to manage and eyeball each wrap during the drying process. I use a darning needle to apply the finish, never a brush. This is so it applies the finish very evenly to the wraps and makes it easier to apply the finish than a brush and helps avoids bubbles as much as possible too. A darning needle is one of those needles used for knitting and you can get them at craft stores. They have a nice pointy dull end on them and they are perfect for applying finish to wraps. What I do is cut off the end of it since the needles are long, about an inch to inch and a half I cut off with a little saw. And I epoxy it to a wooden dowel. And this makes my little rod wrapping finish applying tool. I'll show you a picture of the ones I make and use.

The reason I use the darning needle tool is so that it mixes the finish real nice when I mix the resin and hardener. And also it keeps any bubbles in the finish to a minimum when mixing or applying the finish. When I mix it I use a little machined aluminum mixing bowl that tapers down and is perfect for mixing. I turn slowly in one direction and count to 10 and then stir in the other direction and count to 10 up until I reach 120. And I mix REAL slow to avoid bubbles as much as possible.

So basically I apply the finish a little at a time to the wrap. Only on the thread. I make sure that no finish is ever applied to the blank or guide, just the wrap. Once I have my wrap covered in finish I do another one. Till I do about 4.

Then I turn the blank/rod so that the guides are facing down. I let it stay in that position for several minutes or more till all of the finish sags down and I can see that the finish is flush to the blank on the side opposite the guides. I let gravity do the work and it will slowly make the finish drop. If you have too much finish you can remove the excess with the darning needle tool very easily, and I do this where the foot of the guide is. Then I turn the blank 180 degrees so that the guides are now pointing up. So then gravity will pull the finish down towards the side opposite where the guides are pointing up, the side where I eventually want the finish to dry flush to the blank. The finish will start to sag from where it is building up and gravity is pulling it down. But that is okay because once it has sagged down I will turn the blank 180 degress again so that the guides are now pointing down and the finish will now sag down towards the side where the guides are pointing down, the side where the foot of the guides are. And I repeat the process over and over in increments of several minutes and as you are doing this and the finish is slowly drying with time, the increments get longer and longer. As I see how the finish is drying, I time it so that when I am done and I leave the rod/blank to dry and stop turning it, the guides are facing down and any excess finish will cover the foot of the guide, exactly where I want any little bit of excess finish to be. And the side opposite of the guide, the finish will dry flush to the blank. And it leaves a very nice and clean professional look to the rod wraps.

The whole turning process can take me over an hour to do. But you just have to sit there and keep an eye on the wraps and turn the rod in the proper increments. Just make sure you have at least an hour to an hour and a half to spare with nothing to do but sit there and watch the wraps dry and keep an eye on them.

With a drying motor the blank is constantly turning. So gravity is constantly pulling the finish in all directions and it will cause the finish to bubble out or sag around the wrap, the more finish that is used the more noticebale it is.

But all in all it's not really a big deal or it doesn't affect the performance of the rod or anything if the finish sags. It's just a little detail I do on rods I build. Just little things I do like that since I am a perfectionist when it comes to building rods. But it's not necessary to do that or if the finish sags it doesn't make the wraps look bad or anything. It's just more of a detail I do on the rods I build to give it my personal signature touch.

I learned that technique from my uncle, L.A. Garcia, so it is his method that he taught me. It's in his book and videos too I think. I just use what I learned from him and apply it to my own rod building. But he is the master rod builder with way more years of experience than me and he has built many more rods than me, I just build based on his technique and what he taught me. I have only been building rods since 1995. And I think he has been building rods since the 70s. A fly tying class was full and nobody was interested in the rod building class so he said what the heck and that's how he got started.

And then I got started when he introduced me to rod building right after I graduated high school and my parents and I drove down from Austin to visit him in Lakewood, Colorado. He lives in San Antonio now so he is closer in distance to me now, but he is basically the reason I got into rod building and loved it ever since.

yea that sounds like a plan, i will be at seawolf park this sunday..hit me up

AJ,
Thanks for describing and sharing your process. I have been making rods for about 12 years now. I started out on the west coast when I took a class from a guy who had 25 plus years under his belt. I made plenty of tuna rods, then onto the bass rods and a few fly rods. I use a lathe for everything but admit sometimes I'm not happy with the way the epoxy lays down including the bubble issue you describe. I have much to learn and have been wanting to attend the big Rod Builders conference they hold in North Carolina every year. As I near retirement I’d like to start my own little tackle business to keep me busy in the field. Your uncle has videos and books? Cool deal. I have all the Clements books. Thanks again, X Man

Thanks Tank, I'll see how I am doing and let you know if I can make it to Sea Wolf Park this weekend. I'd like to go check that area out since it has been a while since I have been there.

Hi xman, nice to meet a fellow rod builder. Yes, my uncle builds fly rods. He has a book out called Handcrafting a Graphite Fly Rod by L.A. Garcia. I believe he has a video too. I know the book is done in several different languages since he is known all over the world and has had many requests for the book to be in a lot of different languages. He also has a Rod Repair book as well I know that. Cabela's sells his books but you can probably google him, L.A. Garcia is his name, and find out about him and his books and videos.

I build fly rods, as well as spinning and baitcast rods. When I started out, my first rod was a baitcast rod on a Cabela's blank and then another one on a Fenwick blank. Spinning blanks but I made baitcast rods out of them because I like the travelling ability of a 2-piece rod. Then I was building fly rods shortly after and my first fly rod I built was a 4-piece Loomis IMX 8-weight, 9 foot rod. And then I built 2 spinning rods on Loomis blanks and another on a St. Croix. And then I built another fly rod on a Loomis IMX blank and after that I just took off and got really into it and started building more and more rods since then and still love building rods today.

I don't build rods as a business or anything or advertise my rod building. I just build for customers by word of mouth and my work is sort of my advertisement. I get more customers by word of mouth when I build a rod for a customer and they tell their friend and I build a rod for them and so forth.

I have a friend who owned a tackle store for many years but he doesn't have a store anymore since he pursued other business routes. But he is still a very avid fisherman.

Apart from building rods I also like to dabble with making my own lures/baits. Just trying to develop and create new lures and soft plastic baits for reds and trout and it's fun for me.

I like catching fish on things I make or build with my own hands. And when I catch a fish on a rod I built and a lure I made it is such a gratifying experience.

alright AJ if you come down let me know and maybe we can catch few flounders, if not this sunday maybe the next i will be fishing there till mid dec.

AJ,
Sounds like I need to meet you since I've been thinking lately of trying my hand a some lure making too. Hopefully I'll be putting some of work against some reds this upcoming Friday in Galveston and get a little of that gratification myself.

Yeah Tank, I'll try to come down there next weekend and maybe we can catch some flounders. I plan to fish Galveston Bay often during December too. I was going to call or e-mail you but my computer and phone was down all day yesterday since morning and they just fixed it and your number and e-mail was on my computer.

Awesome xman, I may be up there this weekend in Galveston Bay Friday or Saturday. I want to wade fish the Bolivar Pocket and try my luck for some reds or flounder and trout. And try out a new plastic bait I have been working on the past months.

I'll be launching out of the yacht club and hitting few spots before trying to get out to the north jetty both the cut and the end. I'll be in a OK registered Sea Pro. Say hello if you see me otherwise have a great trip, X man