Had an older gentleman who has difficulty seeing ask me today to build him a multi-piece fly rod that has some form of alignment guides / markers near the ferrules. Was considering feather inlay (jungle cock or something similar that would align easily) but was wondering what other options fellow builders have employed. Thanks in advance for the advice and creativity!

Aaron

See alignment dots available from Decal Connection. Bob

After the first coat of finish epoxy on the female ferrule, mix up some flexcoat rodbuilder's epoxy cement (don't use the 5-minute stuff nor the thread finish). Once it's blended, add some settled pigment from a jar of testor's enamel model paint (don't use the acrylic stuff). You can use white or any color you like. Cut a little off the point of a toothpick and use that to dab a perfect round speck of cement/paint as your alignment dots. On the female ferrule, once the speck is cured, put your last epoxy coat right over top. On the male ferrule, with a scriber, gently scuff a little dot where the mark will go and just drop it in the appropriate spot. Depending on the pigment color you choose and your skill as a dot dabber, you can have a nice, subtle result, though I don't much like the look of alignment dots really, especially on the male end of a tip-over-butt ferrule...

Josh Markvan
www.markvanheirloom.com

A past issue of RodMaker had a full article on alignment markets with all sorts of ideas on things to use and ways to accomplish this. I should know which issue it was in, but I just can't keep up with all the various articles at this point. It's on the back issue page if you want to hunt for it.

The other ideas these fellows have just given you are certainly good ones.

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You can take some thread and run it parallel to the blank like you would if you were doing a weave. A darker color or maybe an orange. Use tape to hold it in place Then wind another lighter color over I, like you would a guide. Don’t use color preserver then when you epoxy it, the darker or brighter color will show through the winding. Providing an alignment point for him to see. You can adjust the colors to match what you are doing on the rest of the rod so it looks like part of the design. Opposed to dots that look like they were add on. .Do a couple of test wraps first to see which colors he can see best. If he has a vision problem, it might also be affecting his color vision.

Check out a fly shop for holographic mylar. It comes in spools, is very easy to see in poor light (picks up light), looks good as well. It is available in a wide range of colors. Just weave in a piece .250 or .300 and he will be all set.

Thanks--I like the suggestions thus far!