Andy Dear | Monday, 22 April 2024
“Footwork is one of the primary prerequisites to becoming a great player.”
--- Mike Krzyzewski
Per Mike K's quote, footwork is also one of the prerequisites for becoming a great rodbuilder!
For the first time in a long time, I was able to break away from packaging epoxy to do some actual rod-building work. Currently, I have 4 prototypes that need building out, which include 3 flyrods and one spinning rod. Two of these already have handles and reelseats glued up on them, so the next step is to prep the guide feet and layout the guide spacing.
Now, I will be the first to tell you how much ai ABSOLUTELY HATE prepping guide feet. It has to be the most boring part of the assembly process, but it is also one of the most important.
For the uninitiated, a properly prepped guide foot does several things for you: First, it creates a shallow taper on the edge of the foot for the thread to more seamlessly be wrapped up and over the edge of the foot. Second, it removes any potential burrs and rough spots that may be left from the factory that could potentially cause catastrophic damage to the outer layers of fibers in the rod blank. Third, once the finish is applied it creates a more aesthetically pleasing look to today's slimmer, more delicate tapers, while decreasing the chance of the finish cracking at the flex-point where the foot meets the blank.
Over the past 30 years, I have played with many different techniques for proper guide foot preparation, all of which left something to be desired. Recently though I have settled on a small 2" sanding disk mounted in a slow-speed motor that seems to make the process...well...TOLERABLE. As important of a step as this is, tolerable is a good thing, as it ensures that the builder (me!) won't cut corners as an excuse to not do a job that isn't at least somewhat enjoyable.
Next time you have your favorite factory built stick out of the rod tube, take a look at the edge of the guide where the thread transitions up onto the foot. Because of the volume that many of these factories are doing, they simply don't have the time to devote to prepping guide foot. There's a good possibility that you may see gaps in the thread or cracking in the finish due to little or no guide foot preparation. While most of the time this is nothing to worry about, it's one more reason to inspect the wraps before pulling the trigger on that new $1000.00 rod!
Hope you all are having a great week!
Andy