hey guys, I've been looking at fishing sites and came across a builder, from the posts I've seen he's come up with some pretty wild and creative builds. His latest creation utilizes an elk antler as a curved butt...I never seen anything like it...gives me many ideas...but am wondering how it would hold up under fishing conditions. to me its seems cool but not practical. what do ya'll think? any thoughts? how about posting different matierals used and how it worked out



Dave



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2011 01:56AM by David Teague.

lmao

Sort of like the baby alligator grips on another site..

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

LOL..never thought of that one...think its the same guy...before this goes any further...It is not my intention on bashing anyone.. just curious on the different things ya'll have tried on different parts of the rod and how they worked out



Dave



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2011 10:56PM by David Teague.

At the show Mark Crouse's class introduces some different building materials. One of them was the use of antlers for reel seats. I really enjoyed it. Don't know about the whole butt though.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

Ugh....

Yes, same builder......crocodile, alligator, rattle snake (fangs toward hand), marbling in blobs, lots of thread epoxy. Interesting, artistic stuff - not to my liking.

Dave, antler is a lot like wood it has a grain and if oriented correctly is very strong. However the weakest part of the build is where the antler is bored for the blank to be received, it creates a fulcrum and adds leverage at the point the blank and reel seat connect. If it's reinforced with a metal collar it would add strength and improve the connection, however this would be the point I would be concerned with.

The materials themselves are not suspect - they held up fine on the animals they came off of and through some pretty tough conditions. However, how a rod builder utilizes them and attaches them to the rod is a different story.

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

There are a couple of rods on the marke that use a bent grip to make for a more comfortable long term use of the rod. They have actually be well received and the best grip does help to relieve fatigue during long casting days on the water.
But, as Tom and others suggested, it is up to the builder to insure a secure connection between the end of the grip and the end of the blank. It can easily be done. It just has to be done correctly for a secure connection.

Roger

ahahha look at this! we had a discussion about this. its very funny.
scroll down a little bit, and then flip through the next pages.

[stripersonline.com]


By the way, i hope Tom and everyone else doesn't mind me putting this up. Its just that i saw this like 2 days ago and thought the same thing as David.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2011 01:49PM by Gabe Nakash.

Ok guys come back to the orignal thread... though funny...I am interested in ONLY hearing about things ya'll have tried on your rods..I've seen feather inlays...coins..wood inserts...wood butts, ivory skrimshaw and an now full antler curved butt...what else have ya'll tried and how did it work out??



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2011 03:06PM by David Teague.

look at the link i posted and start from the beginning to end. there are some interesting stuff.

Sorry Gabe...I thought it was a different post and you're right...some good looking grips in there...Billy Vivona...hats off to you brother....great stuff you posted...was cool to see how you progressed from when you started the grip madness to now.


Dave
URC rods

Well Now that you mention it !

I was out Salmon fishing two weeks ago, had a friend anchor next to us. We were talking rods at the time and he puled out this rod. Now me being interested in rods noticed right away it was a custom built rod. The real-seat was a casting setup in a single trigger Fuji design. What the builder did was incorporate a trigger attachment made of an antler horn. Very slick on how it was made and the trigger extension was part of what looked like the eye guard of the antler horn. Was built on a Loomis blank, said he picked it up at an Expo show here in Oregon a few years back.

Now My brothers is bugging me about this sort of stuff .....I said ...................Don't get you pants in an uproar fella! I'm Not cutting up our horns for trial and error to get that to work LOL .....lets stick to what were doing now! and will see !

Rick H.

rwheil@msn.com

Website
[www.facebook.com]
[home.comcast.net]

At some point your own common sense should come into play.