just saw the "dragon weave by hiro" on the moments of fame. i can not even get a single strand spiral to come out good! i would like to know how long something like that takes you guy's to do. also, about how long does it take to do a chevron or a maze or a diamond? AND, where can one learn those neat little tricks?

Chuck, I would suggest that you start out by buying books on custom rod building. Get Clemen's Custom Threat Art and some video's. Get some dowels or old rods and start wrapping. A chevron about 6 inches long will take you about an hour considering you are new at rod building. Most of the time you will spend trying to decide on thread colors and cutting your bands. In 1978 I went to a fishing show and I saw my first custom rod display. What really blew my mind was the American flag wrap this fellow had wrapped on a Kennedy Fisher casting blank. I bought some blanks from this fellow and got some start up lessons from him and went to work. I had been practicing and repairing my old rods so I knew some of the aspects already. Read every post on this board and make friends with a rod builder and get with it. Word of caution, you will lose sleep thinking of all the rods you are going to build. And don't forget to order Tom's book; you will need to learn the constructon of a custom rod.