About that rod cap request

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Richard Lodge
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About that rod cap request

Post by Richard Lodge »

John Elder has graciously stepped up and said he will try to craft a nice screw-on cap for my cap-less rod tube. What he doesn't know is that the tube is also rod-less, so at the moment, it's a cap-less, rod-less tube suitable for .... ummmmm.... drinking a liter or beer, perhaps? Or taking core samples of melting permafrost in Alaska? I know I will find a suitable 3-piece fly rod that can live in this tube once it's back from the magician of San Diego. :bow:
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john elder
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Re: About that rod cap request

Post by john elder »

Well, i don’t know about any “magic” part of this, but making a tube cap turned out to be an interesting project that involved a half dozen different activities. It was a great exercise that got me onto the new lathe and allowed to me get used to its workings, from straight cuts to boring to knurling and finally, external threading. I ended up making three caps before i finally got what i wanted. great fun and best news is that it generated a functional brass cap:





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Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
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Paul M
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Re: About that rod cap request

Post by Paul M »

Looks like you had fun, John!
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RonG
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Re: About that rod cap request

Post by RonG »

That's a great looking end cap you got there John. Seeing the photo reminded me of a question I've always had about knurling around the circumference of a part. How do you start and finish the knurling without over striking the start of the knurling as you go around the circumference? You obviously know how to do this.
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john elder
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Re: About that rod cap request

Post by john elder »

Ron, overrunning is more of an issue with straight knurling and is controlled by making sure the diameter of the work is correct for the number of knurls per inch you want to make.. or vice versa. There are charts that give you those allowable dimensions for a given knurls per inch. Diamond patterns are a bit more forgiving, or at least your eye tends to forgive the variation. A close exam will show variations in the work above and matching the pattern in Richards “model” cap exactly is tough to do without having the same knurling tool. If you are making a dozen of these and want them the same, you have to maintain the same diameter as well as pressure ( ie, depth of cut) for all. There are some good videos out there to show the process.
ORCA member since 1999
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Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
Richard Lodge
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Re: About that rod cap request

Post by Richard Lodge »

Great job with this cap, John. And it's alway interesting to learn about how some of the simple things we see are quite complicated to make. Thanks again!
Richard
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klonder
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Re: About that rod cap request

Post by klonder »

I'm always amazed at what guys with lathes and skill can produce. Well done!
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Midway Tommy D
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Re: About that rod cap request

Post by Midway Tommy D »

Dr. Elder has a lot of patience, and an awful lot of skill to boot! :bow:
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Re: About that rod cap request

Post by Paul Roberts »

Wow. 😎
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