One of the pleasures I get from building fly rods is the process of turning down the wood for the inserts, trim rings, and accent pieces. Maybe it has something to do with wood shavings flying everywhere or maybe it's the surprise of the look of the final product (buckeye burl is a great example of the finished product being completely unpredictable). My problem is that I can't seem to locate a supplier of appropriately sized, stabilized, burl blanks. At the moment I'm trying to locate some afzelia burl that's about 1" (round or square) and 6" long. Does anybody know of a steady supplier for exotic stabilized woods?
Thanks
Steve

Steven; I just sent you an e-mail.
jbh

Give these a shot...

[www.anexotichardwood.com]
[www.woodworkerssource.net]

Both stock much more than is listed on their sites. You might try sending both email.


Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

My question is why do you need stabilized wood? Three or four coats of thin CA will provide as much protection as you need, save you a lot money and open up a whole new world of woods you can use. CA is easily polished too. It is a very common finish for high end pool cues. Just don't buy the CA at a big box store.

"My question is why do you need stabilized wood?" from Gerry,
There is a 100 reasons to buy stabilized wood, the main reason is less chance of warp or splitting.

Only if you are paranoid about it or go around with the insert immersed in water all the time.

I would probably take a wild guess and say that probably the VAST majority of wood inserts and grips are made with non-stabilized wood. Properly finished wood should never be a problem on a rod. There are probably 10's of 1,000's of very old wooden handled boat rods that have withstood many years of abuse on fresh and saltwater charter boats and are still functioning well. I agree that stabilized wood is very hardy and attractive but also very heavy and expensive. I use both and like both but I'd like to hear the 100 reasons with a little more specifics.

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!