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