Tom,

Good idea for a post....nice to remind ourselves sometimes about what gives us our emotional ties to doing this.

I enjoy most of the aspects of rod building like everone else....but something came to me that no one else mentioned.

I love how my son lights up when I hand him a rod and ask "well what do you think" and then tell him that "this one is for you!" and to see him cast it and catch fish on it.

He is only six and it gives me great pride to share these experiences with him. He is a good little flyfisher...with so much to learn yet. On our last trip he landed a 9lb rainbow on a 4wt rod I built for him. I'm not sure if I will be able to keep up with him by the age of 12 if he keeps going with this sport. But I will enjoy trying !!

Pulling out fly rods in front of my buddies who are all using "store bought" rods, having folks walk up on the beach and admire the surf rods sitting in the tubes and then catching fish on all of them.

Getting that email and reading how the customer likes the rod and wants to put it on the wall and not fish it. or looking at a fish that some one caught on one of mine.

Then putting the check in the bank !!

My favorite parts in rod building have changed over the years. I did a diamond wrap on my very first one and it came out so well that I became heavily into thread art the first few years I was building. I got into shading and then other types of designs in closed wraps. Then I moved to weaving and stayed with that a few years. After I started finding other rod builders and seeing that they were also doing decorative thread art, I started looking for other things to do to rods I built. Anything to be a little different.

For many years I loved to make wooden reel seat inserts. Then I started making inserts out of other materials and branched into full handles and grips from materials other than the standard wood and cork. I still like to do this when I can think of something that might be a little different.

Currently when I have time to build a rod these days, my favorite part is in setting it up so that I have a really, really nice performing rod out on the water. I probably get more pleasure from the way the rod casts, balances, and feels than anything else these days. I can't imagine having to ever again fish with a commercially made rod, although I don't look down on those who do.

I have never enjoyed guide prep or simply wrapping guides, although I have shaped and wrapped thousands and thousands.


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

My favorite part is lining up 12 single foot Recoil guides with locking wraps on a 12 ft switch rod in low light . Gringing #1wire fly guides , and cleaning Threadmaster out of the carpet .............. LOL
I really like to build the handles with different color corks and EVA . I do not like wrapping all that much . Kinda' like TRavis , I think I have 8 or 10 rods with the handles done and guides taped on , but no wraps yet . John

Got Fish ?

Most enjoyable part for me is a customer who stops in & works with me on the design, chooses the blank, selects the guides, thread colors, takes the time to work on the label lettering, thinks about cork checkerboards, EVA rings and inlays. Then having them pick it up when it's done and admire it. Best moments: receiving an email from a girl friend/wife who bought a rod for her boyfriend/husband who was thrilled because it was what he really wanted. Best quote (from sight unseen rod prior to receipt) "This is perfect - just like I sat next to you in the shop" Worst feeling: Watching the "children" leave the shop in shipping tubes hoping UPS/FedEX/USPostal Service is going to deliver them in good shape. Least favorite parts of building a rod 1/ GUIDES (any / all aspects of prep) 2/ having someone say "oh just make it blue" (knowing in advance how many shades of blue/green etc. there are).

Im with Bill

I really enjoy all parts of rod building and can't wait till I get a lathe so I can turn my own handles!
But the proof is in the pudding! Nothing except the smile on a resipeants face getts the blood pumping
like the a nice fish hooked up on a rod I built! I cant draw a stick man on paper but when a nice cross
wrap come together I get a real blast! Like Tom and others, I really like doing new things and new materials.
Just begging weaves and am getting a real kick out of it!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Logging on to RBO!!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

As a budding "tweener" (not a newbee but not a polished builder yet) I very much enjoy reading a post on this forum and the extra comments and ideas it generates and then gleaning what I can figure out from it and trying it out. So often it cause a little more (sometimes a big) improvement in my building technique. Even more than that, I super enjoy a direct hint / tip in reply to an e-mail to one of the many gracious and humble polished builders that frequent this forum. I am going to Charlotte next week and one of the things I look forward to doing is simply meeting and saying thank you to a slug of you experienced builders. But back to the original question..... I really like doing the more advanced guide wraps (advanced for me) I can now do and I love it when a lamination, checkering, inlays come out in a custom handle. I don't have a lathe yet but I plan to after Charlotte. My hand is getting arthritus doing all that whittling and sanding. Thanks Steve

Good Morning Gentlemen.....
After thinking about the question, I would have to say my favorite part of rodbuilding, would have to be ,the wonderful people I have met along the journey of four years.....the friendships, the advice freely given, listening to suggestions......sharing photographs......sharing family events !!
I would also have to say, seeing that " ear to ear" grin, when presenting the customer with his new rod, is also priceless !!

ML......

Hearing back from the client, "Man, this sucker is super sensative. I could feel the fish mouth the lure and rest on the bottom." This just says to me, he got what he paid for. High quality blank, titanium guides, exposed blank reel seat, handle custom fitted to HIS hand, more sensative than anything he has ever held before. Not just a little bit better, but superior performance just not comparable to the norm. Add custom finishing, like colors coordinated to the colors of the reel, and proper assembly to insure durability. He paid twice the cost of a quality rack rod and couldn't be happier. His satisfaction is the bulk of the profit margin on the work.

Another part that is fun. Seeing my skills improving. I am just a step beyond novice and now an apprentice to this forum seeking the skills of a journeyman. I am to the point that in most cases, the butt caps and winding checks and handles and such I make on the lathe fit perfect, first time, no adjustments necessary. Last rod was the first for all guides wrapped once, no gaps, no bubbles, no splotches, no re-wraps. The whole rod was play by play down the field to the goal with no punting required. Another dozen or two rods and I expect to cut my time down up to half of my current rate and with better results from just rote practice.

Without this forum and RM, I doubt if I would ever have been able to get to this point. I have confidence that the product will be always better than any rack rod, both in performance and aesthetics. Profits EARNED by demonstrated SKILL. What a concept.

I'm with Michael Joyce on this question. When driving or taking the dogs for a walk, I like thinking about colour combinations and trying for something "different" in the next project. I hate those really small guide wraps.

Thankyou so much for all of your responces. I enjoyed them all. Tom