Metal leafing is something that not many do for decoration on the rods. It's fast and easy to do and lots of different colors of the leafing available, too.

Marbling is likely the fastest and easiest method though, and can be combined with areas of feathers or metal leafing or...

Putter
Williston, ND

you could also try those decorative shrink wraps used on arrows, they come in a million patterns and would probably work under epoxy

i feel you on that dave its definately a lot better when you do something that no one else has done

Try a totem pole LOL: [www.rodbuilding.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2007 06:51PM by Steven Libby.

HAHAHAHAHA thats tight!

Snake or lizard skins have been done quite nicely. Cut, glue, cover with finish!
Love the totem pole Steven! Would make a cool kids rod!

Saw some cigarette snuffers recently that also looked promising.
Dragon heads, Hillbilly heads, Oak tree, biker types. These are made
of some type of ceramic and a hole is drilled completly thru them. Just
glue'em on. Cheezy for most but the right themed rod would work!

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

raymond glad you said something about snakes! my snake just shed and i think i will try to use it on my rod

We've developed some basic - not necessarily simple - butt treatments that seem to work pretty well with our less-expensive rods. For example, we have an American Flag tape, about 1/4 in wide, that we spiral around the blank. When you do it this way (we'll be building one at the show) you get a continuous series of flags, re/white on re/white, blue/stars on blue stars, but alternating. The tape came from a craft shop. There are other designs that can be used equally well, in addition to the Gudebrod tapes that can be used to build chevrons in progressive colors. The techniques are relatively quick to do but look like nothing on the commercial market, which is kind of the whole point. Bright colors alone make a difference, too.

Another style is a solid-color underwrap, and a very thin ("A"-thread) two-or three wrap spiral or x-wrap over it, in a contrasting color. For example, we use colors from the schools round here - purple and gold for ECU, the Carolina Blue and white for - well, you know (I can't bring myself to say it), red & white for NC State, green & gold for UNCW, etc. Some folks like a "barber-pole" wrap - just alternating colors, wrapped solid, with a small white or black tip wrap. Quick to do, especially motorized, but really nice under glass. We also use some metalflake in our wraps for color, glitter,and a very different look. We recently tried a confetti design - the confetti-style glitter embedded in the first coat of TM, and then a finish coat; it sold within two days of putting it on the rack, although the guide wraps were very simple and had no glitter.

A customer seing his name on a rod is a really neat moment.

Our store customers have asked us for "bright" rods - it seems all they get is black wraps, with some pre-wrapped tape for butt wraps, or some single-thread color threads in with the black. One very famous commercial builder advertises "custom" rods - they have the word in their name - which consists of a specific model but ordered wrapped in the customer's choice of trim colors - but the basic wraps are still black.

I still have some personal rods, after all these years, that are showcases of threadwork, for me, anyway. The "classic" chasing fish, with red or black eyes and shaded fins. The full-coverage circles, divided into four differently-colors quarter segments. Full-coverage chevrons along four axes. I tried just about one of every pattern in Clemens' books, and then I progressed to weaving. These are all fun to do , for me. I don't even notice the time they take. But when you're in a production situation, you have to pick what fits the price-point you're after. It doesn't mean you can't do stuff that's pretty spectacular, it just means you have to innovate a little.

Patience, yes. Or lacking that, just some different ideas. But the only way you know what works is to sit (or stand) there and put some thread on the stick, which unfortuantely involves time and - well, patience. I saw a complete X-wrap product that goes on like a Chinese Finger Trap. When it's finished it looks like every Chinese-made rod in every rack in every store up and down the coast. You want quick and easy? Pick another craft. Or just don't do any butt wraps at all.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2007 11:40PM by Russ Pollack.