Project description
I fish from a boat, mostly alone, and after a few seasons I've hit the point where shop rods no longer match the way I cast or the way my hand tires by evening. Factory blanks are put together for an average arm, not for mine. So I want a spinning rod built from scratch, and I'd like to talk through action and casting weight with you before anything is bought.
Here is how I picture the build. The blank comes first, chosen by action and by a length that actually works in a boat: too long and it fights me at the gunwale, too short and I can't flick a lure under the overhanging brush. Guides spaced by the load the blank really takes, checked on a bend test rather than copied off a generic chart, so the curve stays even and the braid doesn't slap the blank. Thread wraps in two colours with a finish coat over them — I care more about a clean edge than a loud pattern. A cork grip shaped to my palm: I'll send the circumference and the length from the seat, or I'll come in for a fitting. A reel seat that takes my reel with no shims or adapter rings. At the end, balancing with the reel mounted, my name under the finish so it can't rub off, and a hard case the rod can survive a boat trip in.
Three things I'd rather state up front than hear as a surprise at handover. The rod is built for a specific lure weight, and going over the stated test breaks the blank — those numbers are the working limit, not a safety margin. Finish and glue cure for days, and the schedule doesn't shrink because of it: a fast build here means a bad one. And a crack in a blank is not something a wrap repairs — that blank gets replaced, and I want to agree in advance how we handle it if it happens.
What I'd like back from you:
— a blank you'd propose for my conditions, with the reasoning on action and test;
— the guide layout and how many guides you'd set;
— cork and reel seat options you can actually source;
— wrap samples: colours, number of finish coats;
— a schedule broken down by stage, curing time included;
— the full price and what it does not cover;
— what happens, and who pays, if the blank has to be replaced.
Here is how I picture the build. The blank comes first, chosen by action and by a length that actually works in a boat: too long and it fights me at the gunwale, too short and I can't flick a lure under the overhanging brush. Guides spaced by the load the blank really takes, checked on a bend test rather than copied off a generic chart, so the curve stays even and the braid doesn't slap the blank. Thread wraps in two colours with a finish coat over them — I care more about a clean edge than a loud pattern. A cork grip shaped to my palm: I'll send the circumference and the length from the seat, or I'll come in for a fitting. A reel seat that takes my reel with no shims or adapter rings. At the end, balancing with the reel mounted, my name under the finish so it can't rub off, and a hard case the rod can survive a boat trip in.
Three things I'd rather state up front than hear as a surprise at handover. The rod is built for a specific lure weight, and going over the stated test breaks the blank — those numbers are the working limit, not a safety margin. Finish and glue cure for days, and the schedule doesn't shrink because of it: a fast build here means a bad one. And a crack in a blank is not something a wrap repairs — that blank gets replaced, and I want to agree in advance how we handle it if it happens.
What I'd like back from you:
— a blank you'd propose for my conditions, with the reasoning on action and test;
— the guide layout and how many guides you'd set;
— cork and reel seat options you can actually source;
— wrap samples: colours, number of finish coats;
— a schedule broken down by stage, curing time included;
— the full price and what it does not cover;
— what happens, and who pays, if the blank has to be replaced.
Other / Miscellaneous Cash, Bank transfer
