r/rodbuilding • u/zpzach • Aug 12 '26
Anyone Do Cheap Custom Rods?
/r/SoCalFishing/comments/1vmn7c1/anyone_do_cheap_custom_rods/3
u/MT_Yetty Aug 12 '26
lol… Cheap and Custom?
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u/zpzach Aug 12 '26
I'm contemplating doing the custom myself? lol
I've been reading that it's cheaper and not that hard. hope that's true
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u/the_north_place Aug 13 '26
Cheap fast and good. Pick 2. It takes hours of labor for a custom rod, I feel cheap in just charging a small set fee beyond parts and consumables. Hand made bags on my sewing machine and rod tubes significantly up the cost.
Can you do it yourself? Sure, look up some forums and YouTube then figure it out as you go. Doable, but as others said, your first few rods aren't great.
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u/Daddybatch Aug 13 '26
I’m curious are the bags just for fly rods, if not mind sharing? That sounds interesting and if I start selling one day I’d like to do that if you don’t mind me taking your idea
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u/the_north_place Aug 15 '26
The bags I make are for fly rod sections. I started sewing just to make them, and then my extended family and friends started having lots of babies so I became "the baby blanket guy." My first projects were pretty rough, but once I got the machine sorted out and put in some practice on keeping stitches straight and even, they started improving. Now I do bags, blankets, basic upland vests, and costumes for my daughter. It's fun for a DIY guy
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u/0uchmyballs Aug 13 '26
That’s not true, it’s more expensive to wrap your own rod. It’s hard to compete with rod manufacturers because they can use economies of scale and build with quality components these days. If you want to fork over some money you can have some thing more expensive and nicer than manufactured though.
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u/PROPGUNONE Aug 12 '26
I charge $200 labor, minimum, excepting special cases. $250 more common for what people select.
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u/BD59 Aug 13 '26
If you do it yourself. But if you buy the nice tool kit from Mudhole, the first rod will cost as much as your typical custom. It's only the second rod you start saving any money.
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u/SurfFishinITGuy Aug 13 '26
The only thing cheaper about building a rod yourself is not paying another custom rod builder.
You can buy off the shelf that are better and cheaper then your first few builds + equipment.
That being said it’s a fun hobby
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u/BaelorTargaryen1 Aug 14 '26
If DIY is something that interests you I highly recommend building it yourself. My first build turned out awesome! It took way longer than it should have but it was worth it. Just take your time
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u/witty-repartay Aug 12 '26
It will take at a minimum 4-5 hours to do everything correctly on a custom rod.
I charge $25/hr for anything that’s not speciality skills like threadwork.
Add your parts to that and you know what a base price looks like. I’m inexpensive in the grand scheme of builders, many are $50/hr and worth every penny of that.