Ideas for rod holders

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nosticks

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Tampa, Fl.
This is my first tin boat and I've been looking for some rod holders preferably to hold the rods vertical while underway. I have a small 12' A1257 Lowe, perfect for two of us but rods get in the way and are a target for breakage laying down. No problem with holders for the fiberglass boats as your local 7-11 (a.k.a West Marine) has plenty of junk at a kings ransom. Thought about some PVC. Any good designs out there or a place to buy some made for tin boats. I've googled rod holders, but nothing interesting came up.
 
If you decide to make your own PVC holders...You can get a pretty nice looking "flare" by heating the end of the tube...and then jamming it over a pop/wine bottle. The curve of the bottle does a nice job. I saw an article that showed a guy who made up a rounded edge mold to do his. I'll see if I can find it.

Wear gloves and be careful.

You might try a few short samples before doing the real thing. I used the lighter weight DWV drain/sprinkler PVC tubes, not the heavier schedule 40 that is sold everywhere.

I cut my reel handle slots, with a power jig saw, into the tops AFTER I did the flare. However, I would try cutting a thinner slot and then heat and flare afterwards if I were doing it again. You can smooth out things with a few quick passes of a propane torch(careful)..or a heat gun..., after you get comfortable with the process.

I don't have the pieces here to show with a picture..because they are in my Carolina Skiff up in Wisconsin. regards, Rich
 
No pictures but what I did was mount two vertical PVC tubes on the middle bench and are cut off at the same height of the bench. We use these to hold the rods while moving only. When the rods are removed, the middle bench becomes functional again.

I like the idea of the flush mount one.
 
One hint for mounting your holders.....simple....but I didn't know it for the first few that I did...

If you are using a 1/8 th inch thick screw...drill 1/8 th hole all of the way through the pvc holder's sides....then, take a 1/2 or even 5/8 th inch drill and only drill through the outside of the pvc holder. That way, you can slip your screw driver or screw gun into the larger hole, to fasten the small screw to the back wall of the holder.

regards, Rich

pvc%252520rod%252520holder%252520mounting%252520holes.jpg
 
go to the mod and restorations page and look at 79 loweline jumbo v final chapter and there should be a pic of mine, pvc and alum sq. stock. cheap and worked(works) great!
and i used rich99's method after a few other attempts that failed and that ur best bet doing it that way...
 
nosticks said:
This is my first tin boat and I've been looking for some rod holders preferably to hold the rods vertical while underway. I have a small 12' A1257 Lowe, perfect for two of us but rods get in the way and are a target for breakage laying down. No problem with holders for the fiberglass boats as your local 7-11 (a.k.a West Marine) has plenty of junk at a kings ransom. Thought about some PVC. Any good designs out there or a place to buy some made for tin boats. I've googled rod holders, but nothing interesting came up.

Does your boat have the rail on the top that is made to attach accessories too? If so I used the gray 2.5inch pvc conduit $4 for 8 foot I think at lowes and then just use the plastic clamps for the conduit and carriage bolts in the rail. I dipped the tops of mine in plasti-coat to protect the reels a little bit.
 
Great ideas. I like the video on forming PVC. I have the tools and it looks like a workable solution to use the thin wall PVC. Thanks for the advice everyone. Another problem solved.
 

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