Fly rod and Rod tube winter project

Now that the Canoe up-grades and Dip net projects are done for the year, i’m starting on a Glass fly rod and Kevlar rod tube.
I recently picked up this 7’6” 3wt. Fiberglass blank and am excited to have this project. Ive made numerous Rod tubes so that’s the easy part.
First thing was to fit the reel seat to the butt. It was larger than the bore in the reel seat so i cut 4 inches off the blank and made a carbon stent to join the seat to the rod. The short brown piece was taken from out in the middle of the brown rod section in the 2nd pic, and all was assembled with 105/207.

Now that im waiting for the remaining fly rod components i started on the Rod tube. Most of the ones i’ve made were carbon fiber but im using Kevlar on this one. Starting with a T12 bulb protector i roll wrapped it with some 2oz glass tape and rasp/sanded it smooth, before slipping the Kevlar sleeve in place.
Knowing the difficulty of finishing Kevlar neatly, i out thunkit this time by bunching the sleeve at the top and turning the fabric in on the bottom. The Machined ends will go over or into the finished tube and give a nice neat look. I never sand my Carbon tubes, preferring the textured finish which this one will have as well.
I’ll go over it again this afternoon with some more epoxy and move on to Machining the end fittings tomorrow.
I’m using brass for these versus the Aluminum i typically use on Carbon tubes.

That is a fantastic rod. My wife had one built for me a couple of years ago (same 7’6” 3wt).

It’s one of the 4 rods that live in my rod vault now n top of the truck (and I’ve got 35-40 rods!). I have a problem.

It gets fished a lot. My “home stream” here in RI is the Wood River. I may not be able to jump across it, but not far off. It will handle drys, small to med nymphs, and dry droppers all day. Unweighted streamers too.

That is a great project, sure beats my crude pvc black pipe and fittings. Looks very nice, must be very light weight too. Fly rod building is good way to while away winter. I have found that as far north as we are, fly rod building and fly tying with a full spectrum lamp does away with symptoms of seasonal affective disorder.
Looking forward to seeing your finished fly rod & tube.

Do you pull the plastic bulb protector out after doing all the layups or does that stay in?
Thanks for posting this, it is an interesting project.
Jim

The bulb protector stays in “the lay-up” and then becomes a nice slick, liner that is not susceptible to corrosion from moisture, as some aluminum ones aquire.

Here’s a (funny to me) story of the evolution of these projects.
When i started making these i went looking for a form that was around 1 5/8 diameter and just used a spent fluorescent bulb for the first one. It was waxed to prevent adhesion and once the first layer was solid i simply smacked it on the work bench and dumped out the glass. When i relayed this story on my fly fishing forum all the various laws id broken were pointed out to me; sending me skulking back into the bushes.
Along the way one of the respondents pointed out these tube protectors and to this day i’m very grateful for this tip.
I guess the moral of this story is “even when your in the stocks and they are winging tomatoes at you; there can be a teachable moment if your paying attention”!
P.S - i’m still very sorry for breaking that bulb.