The challenge set is to assemble a fishing rod in less than 3 hours. However, it is important to understand that this is a measure of the actual working time to make our tool and by an experienced person.
Thus, the assembly is extremely simple and we only time the gestures involved in the construction of our tool. The time of preparation of the material, the storage or the drying of the glue and the varnish are excluded. Only the "rodbuildesque" manipulations are counted.
Part 1: Cutting and gluing the elements
The first step is to cut the thread of the reel holder and to glue the different elements that will constitute the grips, the quick lock and the reel holder.
Effective time: 15 minutes and 45 seconds.
Part 2: the handle
Once the glue has set, the second step is to determine the natural working direction of the blank, ream the grips to the right diameter and then glue them to the blank in the defined places aligned with the working direction of the blank.
Effective time: 32 minutes and 9 seconds.
Part 3: Binding of the rings
The most time-consuming step is usually the making of the ligatures.
The first step is to mark the location of the rings on the blank using the specifications provided by Fuji (the manufacturer of the mounted rings). Then, the big rings can be fixed with a strip of painter's tape, and those of the tunnel with micro-elastic bands which save a considerable amount of time.
It is obvious that with experience, the time needed for this step is reduced exponentially. I didn't think I would be able to do this step in such a short time.
Effective time: 45 minutes and 24 seconds.
Part 4: Ring alignment and head ring bonding
Once the rings are tied, they must be aligned one by one, then the head ring must be tied before proceeding to the final step of varnishing.
Effective time: 10 minutes and 03 seconds.
Part 5 : the varnishing
Finally, once all the rings are tied and aligned, we can move on to the last step, varnishing. It is then necessary to count 4 minutes of mixing, then the installation of the varnish and finally a last moment for the debullage.
Actual time: 21 minutes and 24 seconds.
Verdict
In the end, the effective manipulation time is 2 h 05. I must admit that I was very surprised, because when I set myself the challenge of succeeding in less than 3 hours, I was not sure I would succeed. However, it is important to keep in mind that it is not only not mandatory to hurry to assemble the rod, but also that I have the experience and the technical mastery to go so fast.
