Rebuilding a Rod on an Old Blank

[Cheetam]

I have a rod that I absolutely love.  It has the greatest action and parabolic bend for crankbaiting, and I found a guide missing a ring today.  No big deal, I could probably replace the one guide, but now I'm thinking about pulling all the guides off, stripping off the reel seat and old cork and rebuilding it.  How many of you have built on an old blank, what was involved, and any lessons learned?  Just curious...

[thedude]

i've rebuilt on a new blank...

its not that hard, don't plan on salvaging anything other than the reel seat and that will be the hard part if you take it off

some heat and acetone (seperatley) goes a long way in getting old finish off, just don't use too much. An old credit card makes a good scraper too.

I know they make products for refinishing the blank itself, but i haven't tried those.

[Cy]

I have completely re-purposed a rod before.  I built a casting rod from scratch and then decided I wanted it to be a spinning rod.  Taking the guides off is easy and cleaning up the old finish isn't too bad.  The worst part is getting the cork and reel seat off, especially if you put it on.  Meaning I attach reel seats considerably better then factory rods.  I ended up going at with side cutters and pliers and basically peeled the old reel off in little pieces.  I then sanded down with blank and fit new reel seat in it's place.  I left the bottom cork in place.  The only part that doesn't look good is the guide placement.  Moving from a casting to spinning, the guide placement was completely different.  You can see where the casting guides once set.  You can do it but it is a bit of a job.

Cy

[thedude]

since you'd be removing the guides, you could save the old reel seat - just put down new cork infront of the reel seat before you rewrap the guides 

[Lightningboy]

Well worth the trouble if you like the action of the rod.  Unless there's a problem with it, I'd leave the handle alone.  I would suggest you get rid of the foregrip cork; you don't need it, and it only adds extra weight.

Remember to write down the guide spacing if you like it at present.  Depending on the guides on there right now, an upgrade can be awesome since it usually reduces the tip weight.

Great way to get started in rod building.  Just a warning though, it tends to be addictive...

[Cheetam]

No issues with the front cork, there isn't any...lol.   I do have an issue with the reel seat, so I would want to replace that (I like the looks of the new fuji seats, although I have never personally held one yet).  I'm thinking about recoils only because I tend to bend the guides on my rods every once in a while.  If not the recoils, then I will probably go with something along the lines of an alconite guide.  What epoxy and thread does everyone use?

[thedude]

the fuji acs seats are really comfortable.. i used them on the last 2 rods and i'm not going back... plus they have built in arbors so you can get them to fit the blank exactly.
For grip epoxy i use U-40 rod bond. Gudebrod NCP thread is good (no color preserver needed). and Flex-coat for the finish epoxy.

[Cy]

I think Fuji makes the best reel seats no matter what.  They always hold the reel the best.

Gudebrod Thread , always size A, NCP is great.  I use color preserve any way.  It helps hold the threads in place and gives you different color thread.  You should try a sample of thread with preserve and with finish and one with out preserve and with finish.  You will be surprised by the color difference.

I typically use all Flex Coat stuff and I like the light build finish.

Cy