I use a small high intensity lamp to provide some extra light while wrapping. I leaned forward to take a better look at my work and touched my forehead to the lamp's hot metal shroud- instant blister accompanied by several *&%$#'s. I wasn't scarred with the scarlet letter "A" but for about a week I was identifiable as an "RB"!

Having cats in the same area I was applying epoxy.

Larry Berkovsky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Chucked my 5’ long reamer to my drill press so
> it extended almost to the floor. Got on my knees
> and started reaming a rod handle. Leaned over and
> the reamer grabbed on lock of hair from the top of
> my headed and just like that I had an instant bald
> spot.
Very Funny

I started building Lamiglas rods years ago, with my buddy . He has this freshwater rod in his hand and shows us how great these Lamiglas rods are. He bends the tip right to the butt. See they don’t break. Turns around and goes go put it in the closet and shuts the door on the tip top. Well, he said they break when you close the door on them .

I can remember the first rod that I made in the early 80s, I must have spent a week trying to decide on the best 3 color combo, and once I found the colors that I wanted and started to put the epoxy on the wrappings, I got to watch all my work go up in a puff of black lighter smoke duo to much heat on the epoxy.

Glenn McMurrian

I don't know if this is funny but completely true. It was 1990 and I was in the 8th grade. Roger Seiders came into my Industrial Arts class to teach us all to build fishing rods. It was an ultra lite spinning rod. I spent weeks making a custom handle with cork rings and wrapping the rod with black and silver thread. I finished the rod with Flex Coat Highbuild and took it to my Grandparents' house in the Panhandle of Texas. I didn't have a spinning reel so my Grandpa took me to Walmart in Pampa, Tx to get one. I remember it said "cast a country mile." I did not know what that meant. Anyway, I was stringing it up the next day to tie on a lure to throw but I didn't make it that far. I leaned the rod on the couch and attempted to step over it to get the lure. My foot tangled in the line and the rod snapped in two faster than I could even know what was happening. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Still don't.

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

Recently had a close call. Pays to double check your work. I had taken an Alps fly seat apart to keep the soft rings that cushion the nuts from getting damaged as I heated the seat to remove it from a broken rod. Then I put it back together and installed it on the new rod. About half an hour later I thought I'd better check on it after installing the seat and the fighting butt. Careful inspection showed I had installed the ring that engages the reel foot 180 degrees off. So the slot for one end of the reel foot was "on top" and the slot on the sliding ring was "on bottom." It would be impossible to mount a reel or to fix it if the epoxy on the fighting butt had fully cured.

I could still get the butt off, take the seat apart, and put it back together correctly, and reinstall the fighting butt. All is well. But close call.