Good morning,

Last night i went home to check out the two fly rod seats i had glued up the night before, eager to get them on the blanks. That's when i noticed that on one of them i put the hardware on totally backwards (as i was proudly showing them to my wife, who already thinks i'm brain dead).

The point to this, other than to point out that Budweiser and Rodbuilding don't always mix, is that i knew i could boil the reel seat to release the glue and fix the problem. Without this board, i would not have known what to do, so thanks to you all!

Just to make me feel better, let's hear some of your best (or worst) screw ups.


Thanks again,

Carrington

Don't fell bad. We have all been there and done that
Ya big dummy Only kidding
Now what does your wife think???

12 custom made stand-up trolling/stand up rods for a tournament fisherman - every roller tip top installed 180degrees off. They got all the way to the customer who called me back to ask if this was a "new technique" ... Duh-OH.

The wife is alway right.

I had to throw out the microwave cause I heated up epoxy for 10 minutes instead of 10 seconds.

Chris your on a roll LOL
Ken should have told him yes and charged him an extra 20 a piece Sounds like a lot of work

When mounting grips on offshore trolling rods that you've just installed a uni-butt ferrule on - it's important to remember to put the ferrule collet nut back in place before you glue the grip on. Luckily the two I forgot to do this were caught before I wrapped all the guides.

........

OK, I’ll fess up if it’s just between us.

I glued up the entire butt grip, fore grip, hardware and insert along with the winding check on a float rod. I keep the glue mix to verify a good mix. I can’t remember any bad mixes but better safe than sorry. So when I check on the glue, it’s still tacky. Well I might as well strip it, clean it up and re-glue. I get the job done and head upstairs to complain to my wife. She says to me, “Didn’t you just glue that handle up earlier this morning?” Duhh… I was sure that I crossed the International Date Line while working in my shop. It must have been the fumes or something. I don’t know what the moral is or if there is one but my wife didn’t seem all that surprised.

OK, I’ll fess up if it’s just between us.

I glued up the entire butt grip, fore grip, hardware and insert along with the winding check on a float rod. I keep the glue mix to verify a good mix. I can’t remember any bad mixes but better safe than sorry. So when I check on the glue, it’s still tacky. Well I might as well strip it, clean it up and re-glue. I get the job done and head upstairs to complain to my wife. She says to me, “Didn’t you just glue that handle up earlier this morning?” Duhh… I was sure that I crossed the International Date Line while working in my shop. It must have been the fumes or something. I don’t know what the moral is or if there is one but my wife didn’t seem all that surprised.

Ooooh yeeeeeaaaah! feeling a little better, keep 'em coming!

Carrington

One picture ---- a thousand muttered words

[www.kensfishingrods.com]

OK...I have another.

I one got confused and mixed FlexCoat Lite Hardner with FlexCoat High Build hardner. I was a little miffed and bewildered as to why it wouldnt dry. You wouldnt believe the snowball effect this causes. The syrynges contaminated the other bottles..etc...etc

I did resolve it by removing the old finish with coffee filters and acetone.

I have repeatly went to glue the end cap on certian fly reel seats only to discover that the particular cap is not indented to allow the blank, which I have alined to the end of the reel seat, enter the recessed area of the cap. Thus, there I am trying to carve away about a 1/4 inch of the blank butt, which is inside the reel seat, to allow me to glue on the end cap. You would think I would check this before I glue on the reel seat.

Bob Widmaier

One of my regulars is to have a section of blank work off while the rod is rotating on the drying rack. You find the section(s) stuck to the carpet in the morning.

Am I the only one that has wrapped 4 single foot spinning guides Backwards , and didn't notice till I got to the tip ??........atleast I didn't have the epoxy on yet. JD

Late night... two piece rod. Finish all the guide wraps. Put it on the dryer... Carefully apply epoxy to all the threads & go to bed. Next morning it's looking really good. Nice smooth finish, no bubbles - even across the ferrule which is now cemented together.

Okay, I'll mention two I didn't see above and confess I've done most of those -ONCE-, I'll not admit to twice even though... I might have, probably did. Turning off the light in the new workshop the first time. (the rod dryer was plugged into the lamp plug) When the electrician (guess who) put in a ceiling fan & light kit he left that plug in the circuit instead of wiring it with the other plugs in that room. And the cat walked across the turning rod once causing three well cured fuzzy guides the next morning. Merry Christmas. Ralph

If at first you don't succeed, go fishing, then try, try again.

That's why I stick with Miller Lite! Ha! Ha!

All it does is make me put the loop in backwards when winding guides. How can I still do that after 30+ years of rod building?

"D'oh!"

--Homer Simpson

That is an easy fix, however. You just drop a new loop piece into that one, and pull the new loop into place.

..............

Russ Vance Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's why I stick with Miller Lite! Ha! Ha!
>
> All it does is make me put the loop in backwards
> when winding guides. How can I still do that
> after 30+ years of rod building?
>
> "D'oh!"
>
> --Homer Simpson


Russ, it's very easy! Here, let me show you how I still do it!! :>) "D'oh"