Brookside Rod Co.

G. P. Dabrowski

~ Components for the Rod Maker ~

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Contact Information:

Gary P. Dabrowski
The Brookside Rod Co.
37 Brook Street
Naugatuck, CT, 06770-3101
(203) 729-1503

email:
gdabrowski@yahoo.com


Contents copyright 2001, 2002
by G. P. Dabrowski

This page last revised 15 MAR 2002



Links to drawings
in pdf format
and finishing guide

 Cups Drawing
Reel seat insert drawing
Butt cap finishing drawing
Slide ring finishing drawing
Cork check finishing drawing
Butt cap turning mandrill drawing
Finishing Guide (HTML)


Links to construction
articles courtesy of
Powerfibers
Online Magazine
(pdf format)

Making reel seat inserts
Making drawn metal components


The punch press used to produce some of our rod components

Our Rousselle punch press

Rod Builders Hardware Kits

Cap
and ring
hardware
kits		Drawn metal cup matrialparts finished from our blanks
cap and ring reel seat parts finished from our blanks
18% Nickel silverAluminum
reel seat
diameter		 part
number		 price part
number		 price
11/16 in. CR1 $16.35 CR1A $11.35
5/8 in. CR2 $16.35 CR2A $11.35
21/32 in. CR3 $16.35 CR3A $11.35

Each cap and ring hardware kit contains three drawn cups and finishing guidelines. See below for description.

Individual
pocketed
butt cap
blanks		Materialpocketed butt cap finished from our blanks
pocketed butt cap finished from our blanks
18% Nickel silverAluminum
reel seat
diameter		 part
number		 price part
number		 price
11/16 in. CAP1 $13.50 CAP1A $11.50
21/32 in. CAP3 $13.50 CAP3A $11.50

See below for description.

Individual
pocketed
butt cap
blanks without
machining		MaterialAs-formed pocketed butt cap blanks
As-formed pocketed butt cap blanks
18% Nickel silverAluminum
reel seat
diameter		 part
number		 price part
number		 price
11/16 in. CAP1M $11.50 CAP1AM $9.50
21/32 in. CAP3M $11.50 CAP3AM $9.50

Jewelers Bronze or "NU-GOLD" is available on special order. This material has long been used as a substitute for gold by jewelry craftsman. Reel seat components made from it offer the look and feel of real gold without the expense and approach the strength of nickel silver. Cap and ring kits are available for $26.00 each kit. Pocketed buttcaps are $21.00 each for machined parts and $18.00 each for as-formed blanks. Lead time on these special orders could be up to four weeks as they are run to order.

Other sizes under development. Inquire with your needs.

Shipping: Please add $3.65 to each order for Priority Mail shipping for up to four kits to most destinations in the continental U.S. Orders for five or more kits or to some other U.S. and to offshore destinations will require my shipping quotation before your total cost is known.

Ordering: Orders may be placed via U. S. mail or email. Payment may be made by U. S. Mail with money orders or personal checks (which are held to clear before product is shipped) or with your credit card or personal check through PayPal. Paypal may be accessed on my ordering page.

Rod Craftsmen & Dealers: Unfinished cups and pocketed butt caps are available in bulk at a volume price structure. Active rod craftsman will find it economical to purchase quantities as few as twelve pieces.

The current volume price list.

Dealers of rod building components will find attactive pricing for both bulk and retail packaged product. Made to order or contract manufacturing of special related product is available upon quotation. A modest tooling cost is necessary for such projects.

A drawn nickle silver cup

"CR" cap and ring hardware kits contain three formed metal cups and a finishing guide. Intended for rod builders with machining capability, they require finish machining in the lathe. These cups will be converted into a grip check, butt cap and sliding band by the rod maker. See the finishing guide in the left column for details of one method of completing these parts. A mortised wood insert would be made by the rod builder.

The "CAP" individual buttcaps are a single pocketed butt cap as formed and finish machined to height of .563 inch (14.3 mm). It will require polishing before applying to the rod. Best results are had if the wood reel seat insert is machined to a diameter of .678 to .685 inch (17.22 to 17.39 mm) for the 11/16 buttcap and .646 to .653 inch (16.40 to 16.58 mm) for the 21/32 buttcap.

The "CAPxM" individual buttcaps are a single pocketed butt cap as formed and without any finish machining. It will require machining to establish a desired height and polishing before applying to the rod. A tool appropriate to hold the part in the lathe will be required to be constructed by the rodbuilder in order to correctly and safely establish the height of the finished part. Ordinarily such a tool would be comprised of a specially altered soft collet, special machined chuck jaws or a chuck-held split collet. Secure grip of the formed part diameter is required to safely and correctly machine the part.

A group of drawn nickle silver cups

(right) Drawn nickle silver cups.

The above builders hardware kits and components are comprised of deep drawn 18% nickel silver or aluminum cups made here in my shop. I employ these formed parts in my own work to make reel seat components for the rods I build. Unlike an assembled or soldered butt cap, where a disk is soldered into the end of a portion of a tube; butt caps made from seamless drawn cups require less time to make and will never come apart. The press forming process employed to form these cups is the same method used by the makers of the classic era rods. They are stamped, drawn and formed from either flat strip Alloy C752 (18%) nickle silver or corrosion resistant aluminum type 3003. The process permits a generous and stylish radius at the end of the cap not typical of soldered butt caps. Using these cups to make your own components personalizes your work, making it uniquely yours. Separating your work from that of those who simply assemble widely available commercial components onto the rods they build.

Nickle silver strip and round blanks(left) Cups are formed from round blanks which are punched out of coils of nickle silver strip.

A link to a finishing guide is located to the left. It describes some typical methods of finishing grip checks, butt caps and slide bands from the drawn nickle silver cups available here. A copy of this guide is provided with each kit.

Always use safety glasses when operating any kind of power equipment.


Disclaimer: The successful conversion of purchased nickle silver cups into visually and technically acceptable rod / reel seat components requires personal technical skill in machine operation, knowledge of strength of material issues, general manufacturing technology and shop safety. The supplier makes no guarantee that any individual can successfully do so and is specifically not responsible for any injury or damage that may come about as a result of machining or finishing or attempting to machine or finish purchased cups. Machining metal is inherently dangerous.