Saw where Tom recommened using Helmsman spar urethane for top coating the carbon skinned grips. His photo put up last week sure looked slick so I picked some up at the Home Depot and set to work. Every time I coated the grip it looked beautiful until after it dried. Then the gloss was gone and the grip was shiny but very dull. So I would sand the grip back down, prep it and coat it again. Same result. Beautiful when wet, dull when dry. I went through this process three times and was about to call a foul on this process when I happened to look at the label on the can- "Clear Satin."

Duh.

I ordred a bunch of size 10 and 12 guides for a couple of projects I was workign on concurrently. Got to the last rod, adn noticed I ran out of teh guides I wanted to use (10's), but had extras of the 12's. Upon closeer inspection, one of the other rods I built I used the size 10 guides on. At least I understood why the underwraps were so long on those (I really didn't even notice I used the wrong guides until the size 12 didn't fit on the underwraps I did, because I did them for the size 10's).

duh2

The other day, I was driving back from my suppliers shop with the windows open and when I got on the highway and closed the windows, I learned the blank had shifted and was hanging out of the window. Ooops.... Miraculously, the trim areas were all foam and flexed around it.

-jb

It's a lucky day for me ....... always has been ........... today I made a deal for a hanging weight loom and it was shipped today ........... and a guy agreed to trade me an Iwata HP-C airbrush that I've wanted for an airbrush air compressor that I got for a song ............

Saturday the 14th is usually my bad luck day ......

Putting last coat of finish on rod. My dog is always around-now sleeping on bed where I'm working. All done put rod in dyer clean brush and go down stairs. Dog still sleeping on bed. He has long tail hair-when he wakes up and jumps off bed his tail goes right through the finish of one of the guides. I don't check the rod for 2 hrs-boy that guide looks funny. Dog hair all over . Sanded it pretty good it will be fine. I'ts my rod but I wasn't happy -I still love my dog-Bill

Carrying a bunch of one peice 10 ft surf blanks, "back in the day " on a make shift roof rack...traveling down I 495 doing 70mph. one slipped /slid out off the rack. The butt landed on the pavement and gent;ly dragged the rest of the blank off the roof of the truck...the blank landed PERFECTLY on the roadway surface. In my rearveiw mirrow I saw the blank travelling torpedo style on the surface of the pavement!!!!!!! I started breaking right toward the breakdown lane...(I BRAKE FOR BLANKS) The blank never caught an edge and slid to a perfect stop on the side of the road with finnish scuffs alone. I refinished the blank with a dusted "perigee" style green finish....................Pac Bay 1088, that travelled at 70 MPH on asphalt, missle style....It has to be a word record!!!

I had built a rod for a friend of mines son for x-mas. They were going to be leaving for Canada yesterday. So I got a call on Monday that the reel seat was loose. When he brought it to me he also said the foregrip was loose. After closer examination the handle was loose to. Here when I took it apart I never put an ounce of epoxy on anything. I must have dry fitted it and then went and built the rest of the rod. Good thing it was for a close friend of mine - who won't let me live it down. Any ways "STUFF" happens ! LOL

Aaron Anderson
Beaver Rods