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I use fibreglass often in the course of my work. So I have wanted (for a while) to make up a tube rod rest from sandwich composites just to see how it worked out.
I do a good bit of fly casting so one design feature was lower rod tips to keep the sky as clear as possible.
But to protect the low rods during launching I tilted it slightly to raise the tips higher than the reel ends. This also keeps them dry when pitching in a wave.
The materials are 4mm carbon fibre rods, arrow shafts or kite poles to make the frame. Some 1/8th" lite plywood, (balsa plywood) from the model shop, very easy to cut with a knife. Some carbon fibre roving or twine. Fibreglass cloth and carbon fibre cloth to cover it. Low viscosity (thin as water) cyano superglue and kicker activator spray to set the cyano when dripped into the roving joints to set them rigid. And a coat of varnish to finish it off nicely. Oh yeah .... I added a bit of neoprene rubber on the back so it won't chafe my tube cover.
The tubes are the usual PVC tubing and have the slots dremelled in with a locking reel mount slot.
It's very light and very strong.
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The building sequence photos are here
The method of mounting the front rod rest tube at an angle using the carbon twine/roving as a soft tie, but which becomes as rigid as steel when the glue runs into it wll probably appeal to other's out there who want to make one in PVC but are trying to get a customised angle not easily available from pre-made pipe joints.
The fibreglass is perfectly adequate to protect the soft wood, but the carbon fibre is only added on the topside for the look. The open frame was strong enough to do it alone.
If I had not wanted to "fill it in" with carbon covered wood, for appearance purposes, it would have been fine that way, and been a quicker simpler build.
If you look you can see that the carbon "scaffold" frame rod-rest (before the tray was added) weighed only 2 ounces! It is as hard as steel however.
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The rest of the build ....
If I only wanted the rigid frame, I could add the rod tubes after photo 19 and it would be done...
So the rest is optional.
I probably wouldn't bother "cosmeticizing it" beyond making the frame next time.
Jump to photo 28 and 29 to see the use of rovings to mount the front rod mount at any angle desired.
Jump to photos 31 - 35 to see it finished
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[cool][#0000ff]Looks like a well planned and fully functional system. There is decidedly a need to keep extra rods low when swinging a flyrod...especially in any kind of breeze.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have experimented with several designs for "horizontal" rod holders. I have decided that I prefer the vertical holders for the type of fishing I do most. But, it is always good to have options, for different situations and personal preferences.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You really are thorough in your photo documentation.[/#0000ff]
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Looks good to me. Soon you will be crafting them completely out of CF.
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Neat kind of stuff. How is it held together? Was it heated with the flame to melt the material together?
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Carbon Rod is straight fibres lined up and glued together with epoxy glue.
Carbon Roving is a silky black twine made of unglued flexible carbon fibres. Rather like the carbon rod if ALL the epoxy glue was removed.
So when you heat and burn a section, the epoxy glue burns off leaving the carbon fibres still there, now your rod has a "hinge" of carbon fibre twine in the middle with the rest still hard and straight.
Now you rub off any soot to clean it up.
Bend to the angle required, tie in position with the next piece with some CF roving.
Dribble some thin viscosity (like water) superglue into the joint and wait, or spray with kicker to make it instant.
It goes back to being hard, but now it has the join or angle fixed in it.
Finally cut off the protruding roving ends with a wire cutter.
The cloth is just "varnished or painted on" to the frame or balsa with fibreglass epoxy using a paint brush. It sticks on best with the right stuff. But I have used polyurethane varnish also for this job when short of the proper laminating epoxy glue.
The thing about the fibreglass and CF is they start out soft and flexible and go around corners and make curves. Then you paint on glue and they go hard as steel in the shape you made. Very handy for repairs or creating shaped stuff.
In a tube (with CF) you just got to keep any hard rough edges away from chafing your tube cover during use. I used a few bits of neoprene as "sponge pads" to avoid wear. Of course PVC tube being softer and smooth is handier on this particular feature of making a rodrest and it's pretty light too.
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