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Post 07 Oct 2021, 10:36 • #1 
Sport
Joined: 05/14/15
Posts: 96
Location: Little Rock, Ar
Hard to believe that I've waited this long to cast a Steffen blank rod but extremely glad I chose to build these out and still have a few more Steffen blanks to play with. Still learning but having a lot of fun so far ! These are rods #6 & #7 and are a 8034/3 and 8045/2......











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Post 08 Oct 2021, 07:06 • #2 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/30/10
Posts: 1847
Location: Michigan
They look great!


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Post 08 Oct 2021, 07:38 • #3 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/26/14
Posts: 3578
Location: US-MN
The blue wraps really turned out nice. Have not seen that on a Steffen before - great job!


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Post 08 Oct 2021, 12:13 • #4 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/02/14
Posts: 537
Location: US- Northern CO
very nice colors. im currently building out my last Steffen blank. they are truly exceptional fishing rods.


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Post 18 Oct 2021, 07:23 • #5 
Sport
Joined: 05/14/15
Posts: 96
Location: Little Rock, Ar
Shane wrote:
They look great!


Thanks ! Still quite a bit to learn but getting the basics down and having a blast in the process. And thank you for continuing to roll these blanks !!!

Driftless wrote:
The blue wraps really turned out nice. Have not seen that on a Steffen before - great job!


Thanks. Yeah, I've been checking out pictures of Steffen builds/wrap colors the past several months before starting on these and did not find many with a blue theme so wanted to try it out a few variations and like how they turned out. The 8034 was built for my wife and was trying to get close to the agate color. The result was a darker teal wrap that I think turned out very pretty and gives some contrast to the agate..........She likes it anyway which is all that matters. I still have a few more to build ( 8656/2 and an odd older staggered ferrule blank that I think may be pretty amazing to cast ) and thinking I may explore some reds and golds for those.

xNYkid wrote:
very nice colors. im currently building out my last Steffen blank. they are truly exceptional fishing
rods.


Thanks. And yes, they certainly are ! I've built three so far, all 8 footers, and each one is fantastic. Even though I benefit from a longer rod on the tailwaters I typically fish I tend to gravitate towards 8 foot rods for some reason and the action of these just fits my casting stroke.


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Post 22 Nov 2021, 12:55 • #6 
Sport
Joined: 07/25/18
Posts: 27
Location: US-CA
Do you mind sharing what thread you're using on these? It's helpful to us nubies to correlate thread with finished products to understand how the application of epoxy will change the look of the thread on blanks of different colors. Nice work BTW.


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Post 22 Nov 2021, 15:05 • #7 
Master Guide
Joined: 03/09/15
Posts: 684
Location: Arkansas
Very nice. I like your thread selection.


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Post 22 Nov 2021, 22:34 • #8 
Guide
Joined: 07/14/20
Posts: 111
Beautiful builds. Thanks for sharing.


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Post 23 Nov 2021, 21:07 • #9 
Sport
Joined: 05/14/15
Posts: 96
Location: Little Rock, Ar
Choptanked wrote:
Beautiful builds. Thanks for sharing.

Panfish74 wrote:
Very nice. I like your thread selection.


Thank you both very much ! I appreciate it.......

EasyRider wrote:
Do you mind sharing what thread you're using on these? It's helpful to us nubies to correlate thread with finished products to understand how the application of epoxy will change the look of the thread on blanks of different colors. Nice work BTW.


Thanks. And I'm very new to this as well so I understand ! I've been using Kimono silk #100 and have been pretty pleased with the results. I BELIEVE with the 8034 I used Kimono 348 / Osaka tipped with 343 / Okinawa and the 8045 343 / Okinawa as the main wrap tipped with 333 / Dripping Springs and I did NOT use color preserver with these. I did not write down the thread selection unfortunately so perhaps the take away from that would be to write down EVERYTHING about the build in a notebook to reference later if needed. I've been doing this with everything else so at the very least I'll have a guide map for the spacing should I build another on the same blank but in this case omitted the threads. But I've gotten in the habit of doing A LOT of test wraps beforehand so I know exactly how a particular thread color is going to turn out with each finishing method and then select what I like. You will have a decent amount of blank where the seat and cork will go to throw test wraps and I've found that space is more than enough. Here is a pic from the last Steffen I just completed, an 8656 using Kimono Castle Gray as the main wrap tipped with Kimono Golden Pavilion. I DID use color preserver ( Al's ) on these and was very pleased with the turnout. I'll post pics of the rod at a later date.........





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Post 23 Nov 2021, 23:21 • #10 
Sport
Joined: 07/25/18
Posts: 27
Location: US-CA
Wow ... nice! I appreciate your response. I'm building on a natural GTX blank so I'll do some experimenting.


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Post 24 Nov 2021, 11:25 • #11 
Sport
Joined: 05/14/15
Posts: 96
Location: Little Rock, Ar
EasyRider wrote:
Wow ... nice! I appreciate your response. I'm building on a natural GTX blank so I'll do some experimenting.


You're welcome. And yes, absolutely experiment !!! If you have a broken section of a rod lying around experiment on that as well. What I've found is that there are several factors that will affect the outcome of your wraps colors, a few being what you use to finish the wrap and the blank color. I've used spar varnish, spar urethane and TM epoxy without color preserver and they each give the silk a different look on the same blank. There are plenty of threads on this forum regarding wrap finishing for reference but ultimately I think the best guide will be your own eyes and test wraps.


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