New project | 6 piece hiking/travel rod

[Korrie]

very cool project.
Will be very interesting to cast it once completed.
Will be very interested to see the finished product.

Imagine showing this rod to someone who does not know to much about this project.
you can feed them a lot of B/s.
How you custom designed your own blank, to get the right feel, the right action, stiff but, medium mid section and such a delicate tip.
you can make up lots of stories, how you went about trying out all the sections, went about procuring the sections etc.
When a newby cast the rod, telling them what they are suppose to feel, asking them if they do feel the "special spot" on the forward cast etc. Almost like the Naked King/Emperors clothes. Bet you can have serious fun.

[smallstreams.co.za]

How you custom designed your own blank, to get the right feel, the right action, stiff but, medium mid section and such a delicate tip.
you can make up lots of stories, how you went about trying out all the sections, went about procuring the sections etc.

You don't have to make up stories about this at all. I have done this a few times, some with great success, some with horrible results. As long as you have the time, patience and enough rod pieces you can pretty much do all of the above and not have to feed anyone any BS at all.

[BenzoV]

Will hopefully find some time tomorrow to give them a coat or two.

...or maybe not, being two degrees outside and snowing in Joburg all that.

[BenzoV]

very cool project.
Will be very interesting to cast it once completed.
Will be very interested to see the finished product.

Imagine showing this rod to someone who does not know to much about this project.
you can feed them a lot of B/s.
How you custom designed your own blank, to get the right feel, the right action, stiff but, medium mid section and such a delicate tip.
you can make up lots of stories, how you went about trying out all the sections, went about procuring the sections etc.
When a newby cast the rod, telling them what they are suppose to feel, asking them if they do feel the "special spot" on the forward cast etc. Almost like the Naked King/Emperors clothes. Bet you can have serious fun.

Haha! What I do like about these builds is that I have a rod that is completely unique, down to the very blank. No one in the world has a similar rod. I think that's cool

Speaking of tips, man it was hard getting one that would have been remotely suitable. I have about 8, but they are all as stiff as a board. The one I chose is the softest one of the lot, but even that one is a little too "tight" for my liking.

@Mario I hear you, but I don't think I can claim that with a straight face yet, for me it will be more like what Korrie said :-)

[Ryan]

Benzo, You must pop round again.. Bring your project. I'd like to see what you have up nyour sleeve etc.. seems interesting!

[Ryan]

So is there a reliable way to do a preliminary test to see if the blank will hold up, before I start a full blown assembly? I guess tying on guides with tape and doing a curve test and maybe a couple of casts is about it, right?

Howzit Ben, This isn't difficult.. If you have any issues, give me a shout...but as I said, pop round as I'd like to take a look at this project.

[BenzoV]

Ja thanks guys, I just meant I wanted to see if there are any obvious weak points in the blank. I don't want to build the whole thing and then with the first cast it breaks in 4 places :-)

So I cheated and used a guide calculator. Attached is an image. Does this mean anything to anyone?
travelrodcurveweb.jpg
There is a higher res version available here: http://www.benviljoenphotography.co....vehigerres.jpg

I also made a few casts outside (in the snow...ALASKA!! whoohoo :-)) , whipped it a bit to put some strain on it. Seems to hold up just fine.

[BenzoV]

Howzit Ben, This isn't difficult.. If you have any issues, give me a shout...but as I said, pop round as I'd like to take a look at this project.

Will make a plan soon, will let you know.

[Ryan]

Doesn't look too bad.. Did you use 9 guides + tip top? How do you plan to spray the blank? How does it compare action wise with your 2wt?

[GGY]

There is a higher res version available here: http://www.benviljoenphotography.co....vehigerres.jpg

Hmm - my company firewall identifies your website as a threat, since "it has been determined byWeb Reputation Filters to be a security threat to your computer or the corporate network. This web site has been associated with malware/spyware."

???
07-08-2012 13-26-39.jpg