# Latest work



## Shieldski (Dec 2, 2007)

Hey Everyone,

Here's my latest work. Thank God, this one was finally for me !! It's a Batson Live Bait blank, 8 foot, RCLB80M, rated for 20 - 50 lbs. Spiral wrapped and paired with a brand new red Avet HX 2 speed.

Here's the lower section. EVA covered with Nu-skin rod armor. Batson reel seat and gimball. My first ever epoxy ramp winding check.









Water slide decal "Tuna Thrasher" with epoxy ramp.









Guide wrap with Alps XN guide.









Spiral wrapped guides. Stripper guide sits at 70 degrees, second guide is 160 degrees, the rest are 180 degrees all the way out. Casts like a dream and can heave 10 oz's easy.









Nice shot of the new HX on the Batson Centra-Lock reel seat.









Now my buddy just showing off with his macro lens. Cool shot of the HX.









Hope you like it. Take care, Jeff (Shieldski)


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## trentmc (Jul 5, 2006)

Nice work Jeff, One of these days mine will look half that good.


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## ellisredfish (Jul 5, 2005)

Perfect is the way I can discribe your rod. I'll take a pound of tuna to make some tuna stew.


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

Beautiful, Jeff! Now go get some slime on it!


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## d4rdbuilder (Jan 19, 2007)

Jeff that's one fine job! Nothing like the first one on a new rod.... Good Luck!


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## Cylinder (Oct 8, 2006)

Everything looks really nice but I have to ask; Why use that many guides if the line is suspended under the rod?
Roger


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## captneilf (Feb 29, 2008)

Hi Jeff,


WOW!!!

I should have also added great photography!

Capt Neil

PS, I will get the pics of the wooden grips out to you.


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## Shieldski (Dec 2, 2007)

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

Roger, I do my static deflection testing as if the guides were going to stay on top. Then, once everything is exactly the way I want it, I flip them to the 180 degree position. I could probably get away with using one or maybe even two less guides, but since this is a heavy saltwater rod and the weight doesn't matter, I would rather have more than needed and get a really nice uniform deflection throughout the blank. Just personal preference. I've layed it out both ways and I feel more comfortable with the layout I've come up with. As they say, find what works for you and stick with it....

Just for a visual, here's what the rod looks like under full load. The guides in the other photo look much closer together. I personally wouldn't want any less guides than what I currently have on it.


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## dc1502 (May 25, 2006)

Great job , I like the color. Now your making me want to build one for myself lol..........................................Dave


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## Fishtoys (Jul 4, 2007)

*Nice*

Nice job Jeff, I want to know where can I get a camera like that.......Great job dude, I'll take a chunck of that tuna also, PINS is waiting for that stick. Post your monster behind that blank. Great job as always.


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## Terrynj (Jun 27, 2006)

Beautiful work Jeff! The rod looks great. The camera work is outstanding...what camera did your buddy use?


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## mark blabaum (Dec 6, 2007)

Very nice work Jeff. I like the colors, the ramp work is very well done as well. Being from the midwest we don't see a lot of the salt water stuff. I hope to to get a chance to try a rod like that out some day, the only problem is once I try tuna fishing I may never want to go back to fresh water (lol).


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## captneilf (Feb 29, 2008)

Hi Jeff,

I keep coming back to look at the pics of your rod. Each time the rod work looks even more beautiful. Nice!

The Nu Skin where it ends rolls over the EVA butt beautifully. Does it do that naturally when you shrink it? Did you do something special to make it look perfect?

As a spiral wrapped rod maker your placement of the guides are well planned. Can I assume that most of the rod builders on this site are sweet water anglers and they use mostly graphite blanks that only flex at the top? They might expect to see fewer guides. Many of the salt water blanks we build on are composite blanks and by their nature flex more and require more guides.

Which finish do you use if I may ask?

Neil


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## Shieldski (Dec 2, 2007)

Thanks very much everyone. I really appreciate the kind words.

Neil, the Nu-skin, if you choose the proper diameter, will simply roll over the edges of the EVA and then you just push your components up to the edge and it hides the seam. If you will notice on the gimball side though, I had a little bit of EVA showing so I had to add a trim ring from a slick butt to hide my ooops. 

Thanks for the comments on the guide placement. Not sure if most are fresh water or not but if I were looking at this rod for the first time I might think that the size and number of guides was a little overkill. But then again, when you are offshore tossing lead or topwaters you really never know what you are going to get hooked into. I made this as a heavy kayak rod for shark and also as a offshore rod for everything from AJ's to yellow fin. So I would rather have a couple too many guides when a 200 pound YF decides to take the bait.... lol.

The finish on my last two rods has been Threadmaster Lite, exclusively.

Terry, I'll find out what camera he's using. He hasn't made it into the office yet. Those artistic types can be slackers... lol.

Thanks again, Jeff


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## d4rdbuilder (Jan 19, 2007)

Jeff, had to take another look... This is one great looking rod! You've carried the color scheme from butt to tip very nicely. 

I'm in the process of building 2 (30 - 50 lb) standups and had thought about the nu-skin before going with the Aftco un-butts... But, this makes me wonder if I made the correct choice!

Again, very nicely done!


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## Shieldski (Dec 2, 2007)

Thanks Doug, I really appreciate that.

Terry, I spoke to my buddy about the camera and here's the response I got:

"Canon Digital Rebel XT. The lens is a Canon 100mm macro. The lighting setup is a simple 4-point setup, and the background is white "seamless" paper (available at your local high-end camera shop)."


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## Stan Grace (Dec 13, 2007)

*Very, very well done! Great job and great photos. *


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## lunkerbrad (Feb 17, 2007)

hell yea!! very nice work .put me on your waiting list .


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## ellisredfish (Jul 5, 2005)

I have to agree with you on the placement and number of guides. I built a couple of rods for my son and daughter-in-law in California and that is exactly what I did: stress with the guides on top then flip them and do a spiral wrap.


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## ShawnQ (May 21, 2004)

Nicely done Jeff.

Care to post a pic of your static deflection tool?

Later,
Shawn

PS: ShawnQ = SABlueWave...just in case ya didn't know.


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## Shieldski (Dec 2, 2007)

Sure Shawn, no problem. I'll take a pic of it tongiht when I get home. It's just PVC pipe in the shape of a "T". Really simple to make and cheap too. I'd be happy to help you make one over at Henry's next time you are up in my neck of the woods.


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## captneilf (Feb 29, 2008)

*Static Deflection jig*

Hi,

Page 120 in the new Mudhole shows a pic of the tool that has been around for quite some time. Very easy to make if you have a few wood working tools.

You can have some one hold the rod at a 45* angle while you arrange the guides. I also have one that stands alone on the flood but it is burried in the garage. When available I will post a pic as it is easy to make. I don't have room to use it.

Capt Neil


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## Shieldski (Dec 2, 2007)

*Static Deflection Tool*

Here's the tool that I made. It's just PVC and some bars that I got from work that we use in telecommuncations closures, some hose clamps and a couple of bolts with cotter pins. The angle on the rod tube is adjustable and I even built an extenstion piece so when I'm working on longer surf rods I can add that.


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## pg542 (Oct 9, 2006)

There's some good "how-to" for proper static deflection guide placement on RBO. Go to home page,click on library, then scroll down to "Static Guide Placement". Interesting reading, especially the 8th paragraph. Good luck,,,,,Jim


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## remedo (Nov 26, 2005)

It'l look pretty'er with fish blood and shrimp guts all over it!!!!!



SUPER JOB ON THE WORK.


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## Steve Gardner (Mar 23, 2008)

Pretty set up I like the way you matched the reel and thread work colors. Personally I like the guide spacing.


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