Ice rod building

I am interested in making my own custom rods. Can anyone recommend a starter kit to get me going?

All-in-One Ice Rod Building Startup Kit

This is the easiest, turn key, ice rod building for dummies kit that you will find. Like any kit you’ll get a bunch of stuff you don’t need but the guts of the kit are solid. The wrapper, dryer, and reamer set are all good and would be about $150 alone.

The only thing I would recommend absolutely replacing from this kit is the guides. The epoxy and finish are a little suspect as well, but probably fine.

That is not a bad starter kit. If you are handy you can make all the tools you need except the dryer. You can still make your own dryer but that will only save you $15. A couple of the more common companies that supply hard water rod making stuff:
http://www.jannsnetcraft.com
mudhole.com
basskhang.com/collections/ice-rod-blanks
http://www.vlinecustomrods.com
rodgeeks.com/pages/blank-shop
sportsmensdirect.com/shop/Ice-Rod-Blanks
http://www.dhcustomrods.com
getbitoutdoors.com/ice-fishing-blanks

When I started building rods my first dryer was a dewalt corded drill and a zip tie just barely tight enough on the trigger to make it turn. Chuck up the blank and let it spin through the night. It was crude but did the job.

Ha ha me too

Red Eye wrote:

When I started building rods my first dryer was a dewalt corded drill and a zip tie just barely tight enough on the trigger to make it turn. Chuck up the blank and let it spin through the night. It was crude but did the job.

Bonehead wrote:

I am interested in making my own custom rods. Can anyone recommend a starter kit to get me going?

Let us know how much you’re willing to pay to keep it simple and clean or if you’re up for DIY. In that case you’re peeking down a very deep rabbit hole.

Just an example I’ve built rods for years with a wrapper made from a 1×6 and $5 worth of hardware – I still use that wrapper. For a dryer I used a cordless drill with a zip tie on the trigger. I bought a little tool kit when I started but the only tools I use are razor blades, a lighter, and a china marker. My kids’ paint brushes work fine for finish.

Point is you can do a lot of this stuff on the cheap if you just want to try it out, but if you just want to keep everything super simple then you’re not going to beat that first kit I posted.

LOL I guess we’ve all been there. At one point I did graduate to a u-bolt with lock nuts on the trigger

bigcrappie wrote:

Ha ha me too

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Red Eye wrote:</div>
When I started building rods my first dryer was a dewalt corded drill and a zip tie just barely tight enough on the trigger to make it turn. Chuck up the blank and let it spin through the night. It was crude but did the job.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”ido-oembed-wrap”>All-in-One Ice Rod Building Startup Kit</div>
This is the easiest, turn key, ice rod building for dummies kit that you will find. Like any kit you’ll get a bunch of stuff you don’t need but the guts of the kit are solid. The wrapper, dryer, and reamer set are all good and would be about $150 alone.

The only thing I would recommend absolutely replacing from this kit is the guides. The epoxy and finish are a little suspect as well, but probably fine.

I agree. I basically have this kit, but have purchased it all separately over the years to replace my DIY setup. You most likely won’t need the reamers for an ice rod, but if you get into it and decide to build something bigger you’ll need them. I use all of the same paste and epoxy in this kit. My biggest recommendation would be to swap the guides as well. Those big clunky guides add so much weight and steal from the action. CRB SSR guides for the bottom 2, and CRB fly for the rest has been my go to combo.

I would build a couple summer rods first to get the hang of it. Ice rods are a harder to work with. I’m sure you could do it, but when I made my first ice rod I thought these kind of suck to work with.

Bonehead wrote:

I am interested in making my own custom rods. Can anyone recommend a starter kit to get me going?

^ I agree with Mojo. The larger the tip and diameter of the blank the easer it is to do. I would not suggest making a power noodle for your first rod. If anything get a wood dowel and practice wrapping on that.

Where are you located at? If your close, you may want to come by when I’m building a few more