Has anyone ever molded there own parts using casting resin? If so what parts and with any success? I recently made a mold out of a butt cap and casted a clear plastic butt cap with a bird indian arrow head imbedded in the center I got on a trip this summer to the Cherokee Reservation in north carolina for a family vk. Don't know if i will ever use it but it looks cool. Don't know if it will yellow over time scratch easy or what else will happen to it. Thought however that this plastic resin could have some interesting applications for rod building. Perhaps a seethrough inlay in a butt section for a weave in the middle of a handle section rod repair or more ideas i have rolling around in my head. Any ideas?
Thank you in advance!
Billy

RodMaker Volume 8 #3 will tell you all you want to know, and then some. Joe Emig's article on casting rod parts with polyester resin was the impetus for much of this sort of thing in rod building today.

Polyester won't tend to yellow and scratches can be polished/buffed out to a great degree.

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

Billy,
This concept could have numerous applications. Take a look at Terry Henson's photo gallery. He has some bug inlays (one very incredible stonefly) that he has incorporated into some handles, etc. His work and photos have inspired me to try some inlays as well. I mounted a mini handle on a piece of scrap blank, cut out a concave area in one side of this handle, secured a tied fly in this cutout and then filled it with rod finish after carefully damming up the area with masking tape. I think Terry uses putty of some kind. This was a quick and fairly crude attempt, but it showed me what to do on a real rod which I'm working on now. This one is for me as I don't want my first real attempt to be on a paying customer's rod. I'm eager to refine the process and think of new and different applications. Feather inlays is another art form I'm playing with after seeing more of Terry's incredible talent.

Mark Boggs

Springfield, OR

grrrr
Here i thought i had a original idea to actually contribute and figures its already been done. lol anyhow ill try it and see i checked out the henson gallery and was impressed with Terry's work. It gave me some great ideas and incentive to do some more. Thanks for the pointer mark! And Tom guess you will be hearing from me soon as I will need another back issue