does anyone know of any rod building classes in central Floridda?

Have you tried MudHole ? They are in Florida. [shop.mudhole.com]

There are 2 clubs in Florida, Suncoast & I cannot remember hte name of the other one. Curt Baker & Kel Cheatham pretty much run teh show on these.

I do not know what you're willing to invest, but the last weekend in February of 2006, The National Rod Builders Show will take place in Charlotte NC. Included at no extra charge is a basic rod building seminar that will teach you about all you'd need to know to build your own. In addition, you'd be surrounded by the greatest collection of rod building blanks, components and tools ever assembled under one roof anywhere in the world, along with about 20 addtiional seminars on more advanced rod building techniques. If you can spare the time and the few hours drive, you'd find it well worth your weekend's time.

Take a look here:

home.earthlink.net/~nationalrodshow

..........

I have no doubt the class at the big National Show will be excellent. But I wanted to offer another alternative. Because you can't always be sure of the competence of the person teaching the class, why not invest in a book or video where the person or author is well known for accuracy? The flex coat video called 'how we do it' is a great basic rod building class on DVD! Many books such as Tom's can easily walk you through the process.

This is not at all a slam on Jim Upton who I see will be doing the rod building seminar at the National. I understand he is one of the top rod builders working today and it would be to your advantage to attend if you can. But if not, do consider one of the better DVDs or books.

Lori,

Ken Preston alsos has a very good DVD on "How to build saltwater fly rods" or some such title. While oriented towards towards salt fly rods, the basic principals are the same for most any rod.

As mentioned above, there are a number of excellent DVD's & video's all of which are helpful. Be sure to get Tom Kirkman's book. It will get you on the right foot and answer most any question you have..

The Charlotte Show is indeed where you can learn the most in a short period of time. Jim Upton's course on rod building would help you a lot. Also he'll be available through out the Show to answer any questions you might have.

Stan

If you look up at the row of buttons on the top of the message board you'll see one that says 'directory'. Click on that and then go to the Florida listings. Find somebody in your area and shoot them an e-mail and ask for their help. Most times you'll hit somebody who will be more than glad to show you the ropes. This can be even better than a class. Give it a try and see what happens. The reason people list on the page there is to help people like yourself. Take advantage of it!

Thanks for all the feedback.....Lori :-)