Two new rods

[Koldkut]

Since I've started building rods, my mind has run wild with some ideas, but others have not come to me by my own admission. I got a hold of a rod owned by Dragon1 and the handle was a split grip Tennessee design. I've never been a fan of them myself, just didn't look right in my mind. Then I got a hold of his and man, it felt real nice, the most comfortable spinning reel grip I've ever tried. So I ordered up some blanks and had some mudhole cyber monday dollar cheapie tennesee grips hanging around and I put them to good use. The far rod in the pic is a Batson IP841 and the close rod is a batson ISB822.5 You can see the one guide pic from the ISB822.5, I put blue pearl powder in the finish on that rod, looks super nice in the sun. Also, and it's hard to see it, there is a single trim band of blue metallic thread near the bottom of the wrap, about 5 wraps up from the start of the wrap. I'll put them on the water this weekend to see if they are fish tamers.

[jimmyb]

agreed on the tennessee handles, they are the most comfortable! I, personally, use reinforced packing tape to strap on the reels (i dont bother with the rings at all) and use some higher quality electrical tape on top of the packing tape to cover it up. The only downside to the tenn handles is if you like to swap reels around a lot

hopefully you will have fun taming the fish!

[Koldkut]

I've got an idea for a different design on a Tennessee grip and I'll put it on a cheap rod to try it out and see how it feels. I flyfish quite a bit and I like a larger palm swell than most rods have, so here goes.

The grip would be a rear tapered design, like the rod that Dragon had, and the grip that I built on a rod for him. http://forums.tackletour.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=33525

Where the first Tennessee grip ring comes in, it would be necked down and the cork would only fit half way under the ring.

The next piece would be the palm swell portion, built and turned down on the lathe with the rear portion necked down for the rear Tennessee ring. The rear ring would then be trapped once these two pieces would be put on the rod. the palm swell portion would be sanded flat on one side where the reel foot would sit.

The front piece would slide down over the reel foot like a normal Tennessee ring. So it would a two piece assembly with a built in swell and the tolerance on the grip's ring seperation would be limited.....

I don't know how well it would work or how well I articulated how it would look.....maybe a prototype would be in order.....

[RGMatt]

The rods look great. I dig the blue pearl powder in the finish. what kind of powder did you use?

I think I'm getting what your describing about the captured ring on a tennesse handle. I like the idea of flush rings or hoods in a spinning seat and kinda fooled w/ something similar using skeleton seats. I ended up scrapping that idea on a few rods (pre lathe).

Instead, I laminated EVA on a standard DPSM reel seat to give the extra padding and dia. to the palm support area of the seat. Then cut the area out where the reel's foot goes. You can shape it w/ a hump before drilling it out too. I need to order some rubberized cork to try it w/ that as well. Cork would most likely be too fragile along the edges though. For that turning on the lathe and sanding the bottom smooth like you described is the only idea I've come up w/ as well.

this one isn't glued up yet

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here's one that seen over a season's use and still holding strong

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49038.jpg (60 KiB) Viewed 3635 times

I played w/ another one where the front hood was covered in EVA but I didn't take any pics. Really I got the idea from holding a few NRX rods and fishing cumaras and feeling how comfortable they are

[NCbigbass]

I like the split tennessee handles! It doesn't get much lighter than that!

[Koldkut]

The rods look great. I dig the blue pearl powder in the finish. what kind of powder did you use?

I think I'm getting what your describing about the captured ring on a tennesse handle. I like the idea of flush rings or hoods in a spinning seat and kinda fooled w/ something similar using skeleton seats. I ended up scrapping that idea on a few rods (pre lathe).

Instead, I laminated EVA on a standard DPSM reel seat to give the extra padding and dia. to the palm support area of the seat. Then cut the area out where the reel's foot goes. You can shape it w/ a hump before drilling it out too. I need to order some rubberized cork to try it w/ that as well. Cork would most likely be too fragile along the edges though. For that turning on the lathe and sanding the bottom smooth like you described is the only idea I've come up w/ as well.

this one isn't glued up yet

20812.jpg

here's one that seen over a season's use and still holding strong

87797.jpg

49038.jpg

I played w/ another one where the front hood was covered in EVA but I didn't take any pics. Really I got the idea from holding a few NRX rods and fishing cumaras and feeling how comfortable they are

I like it,and would have prefered this method I think on that ISB822.5. I had it out on Saturday for some lake trout jigging. 95' of water and a 3/4 oz crippled herring slab spoon. When I set the hook, the handle did flex just a tad, not anything I'd concerned with, but enough that it was noticable right away....if not for electrical tape, I could see it being an issue. I will have to do some experiementing with EVA like that on the seat. I will still probably give my idea a go round to see how it works and if those rings feel better than the hoods on the seats.

The powder is an automotive pearl powder, very very fine. So fine in fact that I dole it out on the end of a toothpick, usually I only have to insert the toothpick 1/8" into the powder and tilt the toothpick up and it gets such a smidgeon amount and that's enugh, I've had that same 1/8" pick up too much material. I have about a half of a teaspoon of this stuff and I don't ever see myself running out of it. I did some testing with my wife's eyeshadow, since it's about the same type of stuff in a compressed cake form, some colors fare better than others but they show up best against black thread, or a black/natural graphite finish blank.

[btune]

Guys I suggest you try a TN grip without any rings or seat. That gives you the length of the grip to put the reel on which can help in balance and allow for a longer front or rear grip area at your option. As mentioned with the strapping tape your reel will NOT move, ever. Some even wrap the reel on with thread and finish. Looks good and is still pretty easy to remove when you want to change. Most reel seats weigh an ounce but the cork rings needed to replace them will be half that. I do suggest a flat area 1/4 to 3/8 wide for the reel foot. Rubberized cork rings are heavy also!

[Alex D]

if you want to add stability to a TN handle - and have a lathe - try inserting a couple poker chips in the handle. The reel will press against those and the cork will not be compressed due to the poker chips taking the stress.

[Koldkut]

if you want to add stability to a TN handle - and have a lathe - try inserting a couple poker chips in the handle. The reel will press against those and the cork will not be compressed due to the poker chips taking the stress.

When I upgrade to a lathe, from the caveman c-clamp and drill setup, this will happen Thanks for the tip.