[Matt Henderson]

I have just collected three blanks and now have an even bigger dilema on my hands.  How do I choose which rod rings to put on them?  Ben suggested the recoil rings but David N has a bit on his website saying that they aren't the most hardwearing of rings.  I'm looking for something thats bombproof and long lasting.  Two of the rods are 8wt double handers and one is a 5wt singlehander. Also has anbody got a generic way of choosing the size of each ring and the stripping ring/rings?

Cheers

Matt

[Rob Brownfield]

Stripping rings are a no brainer..Fuji Alconites..medium weight for the 8 wt, light weight for the 5 wt.

http://www.guidesnblanks.com/product.php?product_id=216 Light ones

http://www.guidesnblanks.com/product.php?product_id=215 Medium ones

or if you have lots of cash, the Fuji SiC ones  http://www.guidesnblanks.com/product.php?product_id=193

As for normal rings..I agree with DN, forget Recoil..they are horrible to work with and very expensive.

David has his own coated rings that are ment to be hard wearing http://www.davidnorwich.com/Rodcomponents.htm#flyrings the easy shoot lightweight ones...

or i use the TI coated rings from H&H
http://www.guidesnblanks.com/product.php?product_id=68 These I use on all my Pike fly rods and so far not had one wear out, even with heavy lines, big double hauls and big fish.

I have Alconites, Sic and H&H Tic rings at home if you would like to have a look before you buy,

Hope that helpos a bit,
Rob

[Rob Brownfield]

Oh..and sizing..you should find charts on the web..lots of the rod builders forum, but you could also try here....

http://www.guidesnblanks.com/rod_db_search_results.php

[Matt Henderson]

thanks for that Rod. 

I'm waiting for the guideplacement chart to see if it also has suggested sizes on it too.  We'll wait and see...

I'd found that guide on the guidesnblanks website but it has evry few fly rods in it unfortunately...

Cheers

Matt

[Matt Henderson]

Okay I've got the guide spacing chart from CTS now. 

It suggests the following for a 10ft rod as inches from the tip however there are no sizes

3.5, 7.5, 12.5, 18.5, 25.5, 33.5, 41.5, 52.5, 63.5, 75.5, 88

I downloaded a rod guide placement calculator from the rodbuilding forum and it suggests the following

3.5, 7.875, 13.1875, 19.375, 26.5, 34.25, 43.375, 53.1875, 63.875, 75.5, 88

so the largest difference is 1 7/8".  The guide placement calculator suggests the following sizes:

2 OFF size 1, 3 OFF size 2, 2 OFF size 3, 2 OFF size 4, 1 OFF size 5, 1 OFF size 12

does this sound about right for a 4 peice 5 wt?  I need to put the rod together and measure where the joins are and see if they need to be moved away from the joins.

Cheers

Matt

[Rob Brownfield]

The general concensus is that you want the least amount of weight on the tip section, so smaller rings are best...

I normally go for size 1/0 on lighter rods, and would probably go for the following....
4 x 1/0, 3 x 1, 1 x 2, 1 x 4, 1 x 12

A size 1/0 is about 6mm in diameter and plenty big enough for 5 weight lines in general.

However, if you are wanting the rod for distance casting, I would up all the sizes by one size except the stripper guide.

Ringing is very personnal and sometimes what one person thinks looks good, another may think looks to small/big.

The good thing is that rings are so cheap it might be worth ordering a heap and taping them to the blank to see.