Fly Rod Building Tools

Before you even start to build the fly rod of your dreams make sure you know the type of fly rod you are building. Decide if you are building a casting rod, a short rod or long rod for distance. Know the type of fish you are going for. The bigger the fish the weightier the rod blank. Most fly fishing rods are made of solid blanks of graphite. Purchase blanks of graphite from retail fishing gear stores and stores specializing in fly fishing gear or online.

  1. Cork Clamp

    • The handle uses burl cork rings which can be purchased from a cork supplier fly rod specialty shops. Burl cork is chosen for its custom look when finished. The burl cork has interesting dark swirls that make different patterns in it for a flashy feel to the handle. You need twice the amount of cork rings as the length and the cork rings come in ½- inch in diameter rings. Then you need to place the cork rings on a cork clamp.

      A cork clamp aids in manufacturing a cork handle. Slip the cork rings onto a 12 inch 1/4-inch diameter threaded rod and place one large washer on either end to sandwich the cork. Then secure the ends with wing nuts. This tool is called a cork clamp. The cork clamp then is placed in the lathe or a drill so the cork can be shaped.

    Rod Lathe

    • The ideal situation would be to spin the cork on a rod lathe. A lathe allows you to place the cork in it so you can obtain the desired shape. The lathe spins the cork while you apply a hard grit sand paper to it to shape the handle. Start with 60 grit and the use 100 finish with 320 grit. You can also make your own lathe by using a drill and attaching the cork clamp to the drill and then packing the drill in a vice.

    Rod Stand

    • A sturdy rod stand is used to steady the rod while threading the guides onto the rod. The stand can be purchased or you can make one. Construct an easy rod stand from cutting notches into a cardboard box on either end so the rod lays flat and then cut away a whole side in the box so that you can work on the guides. Cut holes into the side of the box to use as a thread tensioning device to keep the thread taught while you are threading the guides.

    Geometry Compass

    • The guides on the fly rod are highly visible so great care needs to be taken when threading the guides. The thread wrap keeps the guides in place along with glue. Guide thread wrapping uses a common geometry compass to mark the starting and end point of each thread wrap. A compass is used like a template and insures that all the thread wraps are evenly spaced.