How to Build your own Fly Rod
The first step to building your own fly rod is 'information'.
For the beginner it can all seem a bit daunting, the best way to get started though is to get yourself an instructional book.
There are many available from overseas, 'Fly Rod Building made Easy' by Art Scheck is a good one. I have the 'Start to Finish Fly Rod Building' which is a soft cover book put out by Flexicoat, it's a good basic guide with diagrams and explains things simply, and covers everything you need to know to get started. And of course the Internet provides endless amount of info too.
And you don't need to spend a lot of money on tools, much of what you need can be made at home, a simple rod wrapping stand can be fashioned out of wood. These fit over the far side of the bench, the groves the rod sits in are angled back a bit so the rod doesn't pop out as you wind thread on and are lined with plastic cut from an ice cream container for the rod to sit against, decreasing any friction and protecting the blank from scratches - Easy!
A reamer for sizing the inside hole in the cork handle sounds more of a challenge but I made one from an old rod with a strip of sand paper wrapped around it, piece of tape each end, then fit it into your hand drill, works perfectly adequately.
The two things I would recommend buying are a drying motor, which rotates the rod slowly as the epoxy used to cover the thread that holds the guides in place dries. Again you can turn them by hand but the drying motor save you having to be in consent attendance. And one of the thread tensioners would be useful, I tried to make a home made one and well it just didn't work that well, not smooth enough, though again if you want to keep costs down an old book will suffice as a tensioner.
Rod Blanks are also widely available from overseas, so depending on your budget and what you might want from your rod then they're an option.
For the shop I've chosen to go with the locally made CTS brand because they are a very good product, which I can highly recomend to you, plus they're 100% Kiwi made and it's good to support the locals :)
First time round it's good to spend a bit of practice time on the guide wraps and epoxying, just use an old rod, make the mistakes there before tackling the real thing. Anyone who is at all good with their hands and enjoys making things should find rod making an enjoyable pastime, but be warned like many things to do with fly fishing you may be come addicted!© Flyshop NZ 2012