HEre are the current topics that will be covered in depth at this Saturdays' Staten ISland NERBs gathering. TEHre is still space for anyone who isinterested.

Advanced Dec Wrap techniques - I will be sharing my secrets on taking a pattern that takes most people 6+ hours, and getting it wrapped in 2-3 hours. RAthr than bore people with words, I will have a wrap half completed and show exactly what I do - packing, laying threads, tension, spacing >> I am guaranteeing that anyone who attends this gathering and trusts me and does what I say to do, will reduce their time spent on a wrap by at least 33% (I did the math, even though I can't spell, lol), and will have a much easier time getting the wraps completed.

How to Grip Inlay A to Z - I will pull out my stash of secret info form my archives, and beleive me there is a LOT of it. I will show how to construct a grip, and have a ton ideas which will hopefully open up people's imagination to try some of these techniques on their rods. I've only shared my archives with 3 people, and tehy've been blown away by the amount of research I've done, and how much cool stuff I have laying around. THere is a chance that I will construct a grip and raffle it off at teh gathering.

IF anyone is interested in attending, let me know, along with what other topics you would like to hear about.

I was lucky enough to spend a day in Billy's shop over the summer and I walked away a much better builder than I was when I walked in. The shop is well set up and I was bowled over by Billy's willingness to share his wealth of knowledge selecting the proper blank, guide layout , assembly, thread art and the black art of grip inlays. I've been building since '89 and I thought I knew a fair amount about the art of rod building but I walked away with my head spinning. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks or at least Billy can. If you have the time, I would highly recommend attending as many NERB's gatherings as you can make and I would highly recommed the 10/10 gathering in Billy's shop, this one shouldn't be missed! Anyone interested in grip art is in for a treat. Billy's "Grip Secrets" will rock your world. The research, trial and error and innovation that he has put into developing his grip art is incredible. Ton's of information and he's so willing to share.........

It's always nice to know people appreciate the info shared at these events, as well as a random stopover - everyone who has stopped over knows how a 10 minute pick up turns into a 3 hour "WOW, I dind't know that" session, lol. The grip stuff that I showed to Ken I've been apprehensive about sharing with too many people, I'm afraid that the info overload will scare them off Dec GRips. Fortunately there is a nice group of guys showing up on Saturday who have all done some sort of grip inlay work, and I think they will really benefit from teh info I'm preparing to share with them.