Help with rod build

[Mason]

I have a custom rod built off a Batson sw967. I’m wanting to build another one but having trouble figuring out the components I need for it. Want to use Fuji k guides but can’t find a tiptop that will fit it that’s relatively small. Also trying to find reel seat and butt cap. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated 

[morgantm16]

Looks like that rod has a 7.5 tip size for the tube, in my experience I'm better off to order the listed size and a half size up (an 8 in this case) for the tube to make sure i have something that fits, but I think its going to be hard to find anything in that tube size with a ring smaller than an 7 from what i see. I don't know how small your are trying to go, 7 isn't huge but it's not necessarily small either. 

Its hard to go wrong with just a fuji acs reel seat sized to your blank. Fuji is kind of the gold standard and thats a pretty popular and comfortable grip for most people. It may not be fancy or flashing but does the job. Some of the fancier reel seats may sound nicer on paper, but if they require inserts or arbors to fit the blank you're adding weight and layers to dampen the sensitivity that the plain ol fuji doesn't need being fitted to the blank. Less glue, less layers and exposed blank contact. If you have the blank on hand, you can figure where your reel seat would sit and i measure with calipers at the top where the threaded barrel of the reel seat would sit. Gets me kind of in the ball park.  Sometimes i still need a half size or so different. If its undersized you can ream the grip to fit. 

If you want something fancier.  I tend to lean towards the ALPS MVT toray reel seats.  Toray carbon fiber reel seats and they are still fitted to the blank in some sizes not requiring inserts or arbors to fit.  I think some may take inserts depending on the specific size in the line up.  Dual locking nuts or they have some other options as well if you want to go fancier.

 

Those are the two I go back and forth between on builds for the most part if they make it in the size you need.

 

What are you thinking for grips currently?

 

[Mason]

1 hour ago, morgantm16 said:

Looks like that rod has a 7.5 tip size for the tube, in my experience I'm better off to order the listed size and a half size up (an 8 in this case) for the tube to make sure i have something that fits, but I think its going to be hard to find anything in that tube size with a ring smaller than an 7 from what i see. I don't know how small your are trying to go, 7 isn't huge but it's not necessarily small either. 

Its hard to go wrong with just a fuji acs reel seat sized to your blank. Fuji is kind of the gold standard and thats a pretty popular and comfortable grip for most people. It may not be fancy or flashing but does the job. Some of the fancier reel seats may sound nicer on paper, but if they require inserts or arbors to fit the blank you're adding weight and layers to dampen the sensitivity that the plain ol fuji doesn't need being fitted to the blank. Less glue, less layers and exposed blank contact. If you have the blank on hand, you can figure where your reel seat would sit and i measure with calipers at the top where the threaded barrel of the reel seat would sit. Gets me kind of in the ball park.  Sometimes i still need a half size or so different. If its undersized you can ream the grip to fit. 

If you want something fancier.  I tend to lean towards the ALPS MVT toray reel seats.  Toray carbon fiber reel seats and they are still fitted to the blank in some sizes not requiring inserts or arbors to fit.  I think some may take inserts depending on the specific size in the line up.  Dual locking nuts or they have some other options as well if you want to go fancier.

 

Those are the two I go back and forth between on builds for the most part if they make it in the size you need.

 

What are you thinking for grips currently?

 

Thank you. Wish I could like this twice. I’m thinking cork grip but have Eva on my current one. Not much more thought put into it than that. 

[ikaika]

Not sure if you're building yourself or having someone custom build, but assuming you're DIY'ing:

Getting a set of digital calipers was the #1 thing that helped me order the right components in one shot.  Lay out how long your rear grip will be, measure blank diameter to get the sizing of the reel seat and winding checks, and use them to measure the tip of your blank for tip top sizing.  Sometimes the rodbuilding suppliers don't have a lot of technical specs on inner diameter or outer diameter and you have to do some sleuthing, but it's a lot better than it used to be.  The other thing that's a must-have are some reamers; these will allow you to custom fit your grips and reel seat to exactly the place on your blank you want them to sit.  Saves the headache of dealing with tape arbors and other stuff to make up for loose fitting components.

Guides: I run single foot guides for all but the first one, and there I use a Fuji K double foot in size 8.  Size 7 is about what I like for my belly guides and running guides, and I do single footers for these with Forhan locking wraps to hold them securely in place.  Some prefer double footers all the way up, which I've never felt was necessary on freshwater rods, but again personal preference.  They're expensive but I like the Fuji arowana torzite tip tops, usually also in a 7mm ring.  Torzite is denser than other materials, so the inner diameter of the ring is actually about 0.5mm bigger on a torzite insert than SiC or similar for the same listed guide size.  Especially good if you run braid to leader.  Spiral or traditional layout is personal preference, but either way you should start by looking at the recommended guide spacing from the blank manufacturer and tweaking based on static load testing.

Reel seats: The Fuji ACS is a super polarizing reel seat; some people love it, others hate it, and very few in between...personally it makes my fingers go numb, but your mileage may vary.  Make sure you fish with one for a solid day before committing to one on your build.  The Fuji ECSM is their most popular seat and has been for years, and while it's not flashy it's super comfy for pretty much everyone.  I've used both the ALPS MVT and tex touch seats, which are both fine in my book apart from the nosebleed prices on the MVT seats.  Some of the American Tackle seats look nice but don't fit the big blank diameters of some swimbait rod blanks.

Grips/butt: For split grips, I'd take a look at the new soft touch carbon fiber grips from CFX.  This one is my personal favorite and I use it on pretty much everything.  The knock on carbon grips for me was always that they were kind of rough, but these new soft touch grips solve that entirely.  The other thing I've done is wrapped a carbon grip in xflock shrink tubing for a more swimbait-y aesthetic if that's your jam.  If you want to custom shape cork or EVA, get yourself a steel mandrel and you can chuck it up in a drill to use as a little DIY grip turning lathe.  If you don't want to mess with any of that, American Tackle makes some adjustable length carbon handles as a kit you can use, and there are plenty of good cork options as well.  Good cork has gotten super expensive so don't be surprised if it costs almost as much as carbon.  I personally don't like the big bulbous end caps that are common in swimbait builds since they always seem to get stuck on my shirt, but that's a personal preference thing.  I either use a simple metal/rubber plug like this, or a smooth vinyl cap like this.

Finish:  A lot of people use high-build epoxy to cover their thread wraps, but I've moved entirely to using urethane finishes like Permagloss.  They don't yellow, are flexible, and are incredibly tough with extremely low weight.  It can be kind of tricky to apply, so if you decide to go this route you should look on rodbuilding.org or post up questions here.

Hope this helps.

[jthod]

That's a great blank for 2-4oz treble baits. I use it a ton for customer builds, and fish one myself.  

Holler if you need guide layout measurements. I've got Fuji KW on mine. Alps tx16 seat, and Batson oversized cork split grips.

[Mason]

19 hours ago, ikaika said:

Not sure if you're building yourself or having someone custom build, but assuming you're DIY'ing:

Getting a set of digital calipers was the #1 thing that helped me order the right components in one shot.  Lay out how long your rear grip will be, measure blank diameter to get the sizing of the reel seat and winding checks, and use them to measure the tip of your blank for tip top sizing.  Sometimes the rodbuilding suppliers don't have a lot of technical specs on inner diameter or outer diameter and you have to do some sleuthing, but it's a lot better than it used to be.  The other thing that's a must-have are some reamers; these will allow you to custom fit your grips and reel seat to exactly the place on your blank you want them to sit.  Saves the headache of dealing with tape arbors and other stuff to make up for loose fitting components.

Guides: I run single foot guides for all but the first one, and there I use a Fuji K double foot in size 8.  Size 7 is about what I like for my belly guides and running guides, and I do single footers for these with Forhan locking wraps to hold them securely in place.  Some prefer double footers all the way up, which I've never felt was necessary on freshwater rods, but again personal preference.  They're expensive but I like the Fuji arowana torzite tip tops, usually also in a 7mm ring.  Torzite is denser than other materials, so the inner diameter of the ring is actually about 0.5mm bigger on a torzite insert than SiC or similar for the same listed guide size.  Especially good if you run braid to leader.  Spiral or traditional layout is personal preference, but either way you should start by looking at the recommended guide spacing from the blank manufacturer and tweaking based on static load testing.

Reel seats: The Fuji ACS is a super polarizing reel seat; some people love it, others hate it, and very few in between...personally it makes my fingers go numb, but your mileage may vary.  Make sure you fish with one for a solid day before committing to one on your build.  The Fuji ECSM is their most popular seat and has been for years, and while it's not flashy it's super comfy for pretty much everyone.  I've used both the ALPS MVT and tex touch seats, which are both fine in my book apart from the nosebleed prices on the MVT seats.  Some of the American Tackle seats look nice but don't fit the big blank diameters of some swimbait rod blanks.

Grips/butt: For split grips, I'd take a look at the new soft touch carbon fiber grips from CFX.  This one is my personal favorite and I use it on pretty much everything.  The knock on carbon grips for me was always that they were kind of rough, but these new soft touch grips solve that entirely.  The other thing I've done is wrapped a carbon grip in xflock shrink tubing for a more swimbait-y aesthetic if that's your jam.  If you want to custom shape cork or EVA, get yourself a steel mandrel and you can chuck it up in a drill to use as a little DIY grip turning lathe.  If you don't want to mess with any of that, American Tackle makes some adjustable length carbon handles as a kit you can use, and there are plenty of good cork options as well.  Good cork has gotten super expensive so don't be surprised if it costs almost as much as carbon.  I personally don't like the big bulbous end caps that are common in swimbait builds since they always seem to get stuck on my shirt, but that's a personal preference thing.  I either use a simple metal/rubber plug like this, or a smooth vinyl cap like this.

Finish:  A lot of people use high-build epoxy to cover their thread wraps, but I've moved entirely to using urethane finishes like Permagloss.  They don't yellow, are flexible, and are incredibly tough with extremely low weight.  It can be kind of tricky to apply, so if you decide to go this route you should look on rodbuilding.org or post up questions here.

Hope this helps.

So much good information here. This is going to help me with this build and possibly future builds if I decide I want to build another rod. Thank you

[Mason]

18 hours ago, jthod said:

That's a great blank for 2-4oz treble baits. I use it a ton for customer builds, and fish one myself.  

Holler if you need guide layout measurements. I've got Fuji KW on mine. Alps tx16 seat, and Batson oversized cork split grips.

Thank you. I had seen some of your builds when I was digging through old posts looking for information. Considered asking you to build one for me but decided it was something I wanted to do myself. 

[jthod]

Have fun with it.  Tons of options, as I'm sure you've seen.