The Board

Hi everyone,

I am very interested in building my own Sage (to save money!) and i was wondering if anyone else has done the same? I'm sure there must be a few of you on here. If so, could i see some photos of your work? Doesn't have to be your own, it could have been sent off to a rod builder.

All the best

Nick

I've built several rods in the past 25 years, and I was never very good at it, but they worked just as well as the factory versions.
If you want top quality hardware you're not going to save a whole lot. Buying top quality rings (which you should), thread, epoxy, cork (good cork is ridiculously expensive), getting a rotating setup built for curing the epoxy and wrapping the rings on and few other bits and pieces, including the blank, you'll already have spent so much money that you really should consider whether it's worth the time.
The only real place where you can save some money is on the reel seat. I always built my rods with cheap Fuji reel seats - they're not pretty and everything, but they hold the reel as good as any other reel seat and they're even light weight.
I don't know today's blank prices, but when all's bought and paid for, I'd be surprised if you can shave off 100 quid compared to a factory rod - especially if you want top quality hardware from tip to fightbutt (there's another expense if you want something like that on your rod).

That's a decent amount of money to save of course, and if that's your make-and-break on getting a top-shelf blank, then go for it, but give it some consideration. And also bear in mind that if this is your first rod, it's not going to look nearly as good as the professionally built ones.

Lars

Yes it’s not a cheap way of doing it. I once stripped and rebuilt an XP5 and fitted it with SICs. Completely changed the action

Cheers, Paul

Hi,

For the last couple of years I have renovated a couple of rods. I have changed the rings, the handle and so on. My experience has been that the results can be very good if you take your time and are meticulous - even if you are a beginner. I have wrapped and epoxied some rods and the results have been better than almost all other commercial manufacturers (certainly better than Sage). If you use several very thin coats you dont need a machine that rotates the rod because epoxy in such thin layers will hardly "sag" anyway. Just turning the rod 180 degrees once in a while works just fine. Use 3 or 4 coats. This takes time of course but the results are well worth it. So spending money on a machine is unnecessary in my opinion. I made my first "rod-wrapping" and "rod-coating" machine out of a cardboard shoebox and a bobbin. I intended to buy a "proper" machine but this cardboard thing works so well that I see no reason to do so anymore.

Hi Nick, I agree with Thomas 100%. Go for it. If you can tie flys you can build a rod. Don't confine yourself to Sage for your first attempt. My first project was an Epic build your own kit. Very nice blanks and components and most importantly a great manual to guide you through the build.There are many great rod building sites online and it becomes quite addictive. I am now on rod no 5 .................... John

Paul Arden wrote: ↑Sun Oct 13, 2019 5:49 am Yes it’s not a cheap way of doing it. I once stripped and rebuilt an XP5 and fitted it with SICs. Completely changed the action

Cheers, Paul

Remember to tell you used the rings for a spinning rod, and that they weighed as much as the blank itself


Cheers
Lasse

And I agree with Thomas, I've assembled and refurbished well over a couple of hundred rods, still use the couple of pieces of wood with a v cut into them, and it took me alot of rods before I got myself a little motor to turn the rods while drying, turning it by hand every 15 minutes for the first couple of hours works fine.

Cheers
Lasse

When it comes to thread varnish, just like in fly tying, uv cure has replaced epoxy in my arsenal. No more need to use drying motor or have those cases where the damn mix ratio or mixing wasn’t good enough or either part (Resin or hardener) had gotten bad - all these resulting in sticky wraps and thus a redo. A good uv cure resin that doesn’t stay sticky is my choise nowadays. I apply the resin so that it wets the whole thread, add and move/spin until I like the shape/distribution of the wraps (I do one rod part at a time) and then give them uv flash light to set the resin. The full cure I tend to do by placing the rod parts out into the sun. In winter I use my nail uv studio (which I use to fully cure flies).

sms wrote: ↑Sun Oct 13, 2019 3:37 pm In winter I use my nail uv studio (which I use to fully cure flies).

And those are some faboulus nails, ups flies

Lasse Karlsson wrote: ↑Sun Oct 13, 2019 12:09 pm

Paul Arden wrote: ↑Sun Oct 13, 2019 5:49 am Yes it’s not a cheap way of doing it. I once stripped and rebuilt an XP5 and fitted it with SICs. Completely changed the action

Cheers, Paul

Remember to tell you used the rings for a spinning rod, and that they weighed as much as the blank itself


Cheers
Lasse

I’m still not sure if it was the weight or the rigidity of the snakes but it became an XP4

I think we need some measurements

Cheers, Paul