This is the coolest thing I have ever seen on a fishing rod.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Plan to try my hand at it with a different type of skin with the instructions in the magazine. Different is good and this is sure different. Congrats to Joe Emig. This is hot.

That is sooo cool! I will definitely give that a try sometime!!

The technique doesn't have to be limited to snake skin inserts. Joe sent me a large box of several dozen inserts he'd done. Some were snake skin, but others were hammered brass, corncobs (this really looked good) abilone, etc. Once you know how to do it, your imagination can really take off. There are hundreds of items that would look good used in similar fashion.

I should also add that the photo really doesn't do any of the inserts justice. Joe is a real craftsman. He sent me various seats of polyester, acrylic and wood and all were stunning. You'll be seeing more of them in the RodMaker color photo gallery over the next few issues.

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Wonder if this could be done with fish skin? Like crappie or striped bass.... would probably look pretty cool as well.

Yes, most definitely. Just follow Joe's directions in the article.

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You can use almost any skin or other material to cover the brass tube underneath. I have tried cobra, python, rattler, lizard, frog, fish, beaver tail, ostrich, stingray, just to name a few. Rattler is an easy one to start with, and the article gives step by step instructions. Once you get the magazine if you have questions about a specific material just post them here. I will give you my experiences with it. I have been experimenting with this stuff for going on 2 1/2 years and encounted most of the problems. Don't forget the resin can be tinted to match your thread work or added as trim bands, hosels, winding checks etc. to your handles. The options are truly unlimited. I will post some examples on the photo page over the next few weeks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2005 12:12AM by Joe Emig.

I can't go out and do this tomorrow since I don't have a lathe, but am now convinced that I need to get one. Plus, it will help solve my problem of not liking to turn my own grips because of the dust in the same spot as I wrap my rods. Anyway... if you were going to do it with fish skin, where do you get the skin from? Taxidermist? The leopard sharks we used to catch in California would be beautiful for this, I think crappie, striped bass, trout, would be cool as well although I'm sure each has its own issues. Shark not having scales may not be too hard I wonder.

Very cool stuff and beautiful pics for the RodMaker cover. That new printing process Tom is using is worth its weight in gold. So is the new cover sheet. My cover sheet was tore up but my magazine was in mint condition.

Phil



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2005 12:24AM by Phil Richmond.

I use fish I catch and tan them. It is best to scale them first otherwise air gets trapped under the scales. I have done shark skin, and it does work well. I found that skins which have spots or shading that give some color contrast look the best.

Acetone is sometimes used to "soaked" materials that will hold air bubbles when submerged (encased) in epoxy. The artical I was reading was in reference to seashells, a starfish, and some other sea critters.

Maybe acetone will work to eliminate captured air bubbles on fish skin?

Your work is nice looking.

This work is similar to what Jessie Buky does with this foregrips. Was over in his shop not long ago and he has quite a few examples.

Lou

Lou the Rodmaker article has all the details about how to get any bubbles out and you don't need acetone. You do it with uncatalized resin. I think Jesse is using epoxy to cast his pieces? Joe's deal is with polyester and seems to me to be clearer and more glossy. I'd have to see them next to each other to really compare I guess.

Joe, great job on the article. Very well written and easy to follow. Anybody who wants to do this should get the magazine and give it a try. You covered all the bases and even answered my questions just as they were coming into my head! Well done and thanks for sharing something that you could have kept to yourself.

I cast my encapsulated grips/hozels out of Flexcoat which darkens over time but was the best I could come up with back in the 90's. I may start using this other stuff once I see the article. Jesse

My copy arrived in this mornings mail just a half hour ago. I'm blown away by the new 'look' of the magazine. This really puts it into a whole different league now.

Joe's article looks good. I'll read it tonight and see if it helps me find something else to spend my money on. I'm sure it will.