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Rod Building

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I need a 10 wt rod. I'm putting serious thought into building my first rod. I'm not sure what blank to use so does anyone know anything about MHX blanks?

 

Kevin

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The MHX is a decent blank. I've been favorably impressed with the ones I've assembled for others. It isn't the most cost effective blank out there, but it's good quality for the money and it stands up very well against much more expensive blanks.

 

Assembling a graphite rod is not difficult. If you can tie flies, you can do a great job wrapping a rod. Go for it, and don't be afraid to ask questions.

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I built one didn't come out really pretty largely because I didn't put to much effort into it, it's fun to do though. The one thing I really wish I did differently is not going cheap on the reel seat.

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Kevin, regrettably, I can offer nothing about the skills, materials, or experience needed to assemble quality fishing equipment. Why I let Steel do it!

 

Just want to warn you that the catch-line on this thread may inspire hacking, of the worst sort, and thus may have to be locked down. But, Carry On.....

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If you decide not to go with the mix blank one of my rods is built on the anglers roost uhm12 blanks and I've been very happy with it, they offer a 9ft 10wt blank.

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I built a rod and a half (long story) years ago. Can't offer advice on modern blanks, but I can tell you it is very satisfying to catch a fish on a rod you made, even if it is not the prettiest.

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There's some good affordable 10wt blanks out there. MHX are nice. They are light and pretty fast action with a good amount of lifting power in the butt & mud section on the 8-10wt sizes in those. Another really nice 10wt is the Quickline series. I built myself a 10wt pike rod on the quickline blank last summer and love that rod for pike and big flies. I cast a 300grain streamer sinking line and joined 7" long flies with that blank all day long and it launches them like a rocket.

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H&H or Mudhole carry them http://store.hookhack.com/Quick-Line-by-Pacific-Bay/products/1437/

 

It's made by Pacific Bay so if you go to the Pac Bay website http://www.fishpacbay.com/ look for Quickline blanks under products. I would link you right to them but with their website it's a pdf file so have to go through the main site to get to them.

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Batson/Rainshadow do make good quality blanks - but I've found that the finish on the spin/casting blanks (Rainshadow) I've been building with for the past 15 years or so hasn't held up well at all... All of the blanks I've used have had the matte finish (not the high shiny finish) and after a year or two of hard use they begin to "sunburn" with the finish flaking off in any places where a slight knock or rub has occurred. It's been bad enough that I routinely, carefully hand scrape then compound out the blank on any rods I'm re-doing... The resulting re-builds have been on completely un-finished water sanded blanks... After the guides are wrapped and FlexCoated I then hand wax the unfinished blank surfaces and get a very good result - but it's still not the same as a good original blank with a durable finish coat on it before you ever start the build...

 

Over many years I've built with Lamiglass, Fenwick (when it was still a US enterprise -many years ago), Fisher, Sabre, Gatorglass, and many others.. All of my gear sees very hard use out on the salt in the tropical environs here in south Florida so my results may not be typical. At one time I used to do matched sets for boat owners needing heavy gear - then all the way up to ultra-light stuff... I still build every rod I hand my anglers - except for fly rods. I only have two fly rods still in service that I built myself (a pair of Thomas & Thomas Horizon blanks, a 10 and a 12wt). Since we break a lot of fly rods (rarely on fish, actually...) rods with warranties are the way to go for me...

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Steve where can I get more info on that Quickline?

 

Kevin

Kevin, know you asked Steve, but I sent you a PM re: Quickline blanks, too.

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Steve has built a number of rods for me and my family and friends. He has used a number of blanks and my favorite is a matrix blank that he used on my 10wt. Steve probably comment on that more.

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