Building Your Own Custom Rods

aron

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I was looking at trying to build my own rods. Probably start with a couple ice fishing rigs geared towards walleyes. Who has built there own rods and where do you get most of your blanks and components? Mudhole? Are the MHX blanks top notch for ice blanks or what are the best?

What tools are neccessary for just doing a couple rods? Can I get by with minimal tools for only a couple rods?

thanks
 


DirtyMike

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I'm interested in knowing this as well. I believe thorne bros uses the end of open water blanks for their ice rods.
 

eklindworth

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http://www.prideofdakota.nd.gov/members/directory/chucks-custom-rods/

Took a rod building class from this guy earlier this year. Very knowledgeable. He packages up "kits" with only the materials that you will need if you want to get into building your own at home. He mentioned that a lot of the prepackaged kits from Mudhole have inferior eyelets and other things that you may not need, which requires you to order more stuff anyway.

If you live in/around Fargo, I would check him out.

ek
 

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http://www.prideofdakota.nd.gov/members/directory/chucks-custom-rods/

Took a rod building class from this guy earlier this year. Very knowledgeable. He packages up "kits" with only the materials that you will need if you want to get into building your own at home. He mentioned that a lot of the prepackaged kits from Mudhole have inferior eyelets and other things that you may not need, which requires you to order more stuff anyway.

If you live in/around Fargo, I would check him out.

ek

What did the class involve? Couple evenings??
 

eklindworth

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Friday evening about 2-3 hours, Saturday from 9 to about 2-3, and pick up the rod Sunday morning. I know that he already has a couple classes slated for this fall and winter. Give him a call/email him to find out when he is doing classes or if you have 6+ guys that want to do it, he will set up a time with you to host a class.
 


aron

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http://www.prideofdakota.nd.gov/members/directory/chucks-custom-rods/

Took a rod building class from this guy earlier this year. Very knowledgeable. He packages up "kits" with only the materials that you will need if you want to get into building your own at home. He mentioned that a lot of the prepackaged kits from Mudhole have inferior eyelets and other things that you may not need, which requires you to order more stuff anyway.

If you live in/around Fargo, I would check him out.

ek

I live in Fargo and saw this class about a week after it took place. It was less than stellar timing...

I will try and get ahold of him for some info.
 

Tikka280ai

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http://www.mudhole.com/Rod-Building/Tool-Kits/Rod-Building-Small-Business-Start-Up-Kit
here is the tool kit I got when I first started building rods in December

I also started with a couple CRB ice rods. After the first 2 I them made a HMX ice rod for my dad and he loves it. Light enough to catch bluegills but strong enough to use for walleyes. also built 3 CRB kits for xmas gifts.

Then I ventured on to 6.5 foot MHX rods for soft water and absolutely love mine.

After the first few ice rod builds I contacted St. Croix and got 3 blanks from them one ultra light and 2 medium actions. Haven't made anything out of the medium blanks yet

I would say for your first build to go with a cheap CRB kit from mudhole just to get the feel for it then go to the MHX blanks. From what I have gathered the MHX blanks are made the same way as G. Loomis blanks.

If you have any other questions pm me and I can answer them to the best of my knowledge

I order all of my stuff from mudhole. Best thing to do is order stuff for 3 or 4 rods at a time to save on shipping otherwise the screw you over big time. You can even wait until they have free shipping or flat rate shipping. seems like every few weeks there is one shipping discount or another
 
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aron

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thanks for the info guys. I'm usually pretty good at buying the supplies and letting it sit for a while so we'll see how quick I get to building one.

Is everything in that startup kit necessary? Or is one better off buying individual building supplies?
 


all4eyes

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Chuck Demeers i believe is who does the classes in the winter. Kits are good, but a truly custom rod can be done and be the lightest most balanced rod you will ever touch. Auggie on here is a good one to ask, he has built more then I have. Custom rods are addicting, what started as hobby has turned more into a need. Kind of like reloading.
 

Tikka280ai

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everything that is in the kit from mudhole has all the tools you need to build rods. if you are good at building you could built your own hand wrapper but for the price of the one on mudhole I thing it is had to build something for that price if you figure your time is worth anything. Custom rods are addicting since I started in late December I have built 7 ice rods and 2 summer rods and am itching to build a few more rods. it is just a matter of money and finding a place to use another rod since I have all aspects of my style of fishing covered
 

Auggie

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Chuck taught me how to build rods 8+ years ago. I now sell my own and help with the Minot class. Chuck is awesome! Anyways, Thorne does not use top halves of summer rods. They get their own specialty blanks. Summer rods are hollow and Thorne ice blanks aren't. If you buy an ice blank, make sure it is solid. Usually if an ice rods breaks, it's because it's hollow. I've built a number of MHX ice rods. I've compared them to Thorne and from what I can tell, they are almost identical. I've also had great luck with the summer MHX blanks and have had good luck with their warranty.
 

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