Larger pic for Billy V to show the details a little better.
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Burl and burnt cork with ivory trim. Struble U-24. Turned by Mike Barkley (Thanks again Mike!) Inlaid with a claddagh ring and 5 loose garnets. The ring was a size 7. You can see how much magnification a half inch of epoxy provides! Next time I'll get a much larger ring and use less epoxy. Rod is a 8'6", 6wt Batson RX6. I have to relearn how to photograph rods! This is the best s
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A new Castaway for a retired railway worker. Simple spiral with a 6 stripper, then 4's from bumper out to tip.
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Just came across George Forster's post about triggerless casting seats and thought I'd share this contraption I did a few months ago. I wanted to turn a fly rod of mine into a crappie rod. Couldn't decide on casting or spinning setup. Then thought, why not both? A dual purpose backup rod that will work with any reel. Trigger nub gives just enough grip while casting, and not enough of a bum
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One of the Swampland blanks with Recoils. These blanks turn into some really sweet feeling rods. Just need to make myself one soon now.... with much more bling (durn bass fishermen and black thread)
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Forecast 722 done white (combo of spray and permagloss tinted with titanium dioxide. Birch "bat" handle grip. Reelseat wrapped in white leather, stitched with metallic emb. floss and encapsulated. Inlaid earring on foregrip. 24 X 32 logo weave. Cardinal buttwrap. Mudhole "Fireball" guides. This was fun!
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Started off as a simple rebuild of a broken 5 wt. and took on a life of its own. Was fun to build, and so far seems to perform well in all areas. Just need to finalize guides now. Would have put it in Billy's contest but David's is far sleeker and sexier looking
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Decimal, millimeter and 64ths conversion chart. Made this up since I use a micrometer and got tired of doing math for parts. I keep a printed copy on the bench.
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St. Croix ice rod set gripped with Andy's cork. 360 grip inlays made with Threadmaster, flies, hooks and gold leaf flakes. Butt caps made with Threadmaster and gold leaf flakes.
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Glass 7' rod, no markings at all. Vintage is early 70's at the earliest. Any ideas?
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My 12 y.o. son's new rod. He chose all components and materials and designed the gripwork and threadwork himself (probably while he was at school). Mom and me had zero input on this. He just handed me a sheet last week with detailed sketches of what he wanted, down to the single thread inlays and grip measurements. I'm rather proud of his imagination!
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Cut down reel seat and silk wraps with Threadmaster. About as plain as they come. Makes for an excellent palming setup.
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Finally finished this beast. A cigar band seemed a fitting marker for some reason. Good practice for the next one!
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Basic restaurant condiment cup with PG will melt in a couple of minutes. While good for other finishes, don't use them with PG. Stick with glass, advertised epoxy mixing cups, or something different.
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Seems to be a common question and since I was doing it myself, took a few pics to hopefully give somebody some assistance. Also note last pics of color difference between the outside and inside of a wrap showing penetration with LS Supreme, no CP. Wraps are poly (blue) metallic (copper) and silk (green).
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Roughing to round, roughing to shape (note inletting done first this time hahahah), domed butt cap with embedded fly and gold leaf flakes and complete grip assy with pearl reel seat.
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Had my own reel seat made up but decided to use a factory pearl seat I had laying around instead, just for a bit of flash. After very carefully chiseling the recess to fit it, it bound up just a smidge when dry fitting... Apparently, a smidge is too much for cedar. It's glued and clamped now, but I don't think I'll be able to save it so it's back to planing out another one... shrug, sigh, dang i
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Top shows roughed shaped rear section, grip piece, and laminated piece that eventually becomes the tip section. Lower shows both sections and grip at this point. Final shaping, ferruling, reel seat and finishing yet to come. No power tools allowed.
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Wrapped 4 guides on two sticks with black nylon A. Applied FC CP. Used 4 tools to apply FC low build to one wrap each on both sticks. Tools were a cheap brush, a Cheez-It cracker, a half eaten Slim-Jim, and the nose and tail of a lab mouse (cat toy... no real lab mice were harmed during this test). Which tools applied finish to which wraps? Bonus Question!!! For extra credit, which stick was pla
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Ever wondered what to do with that extra finish when the rod is done? Tint it, add some stuff to it, pour into a candy mold and you have buttcaps. Make them smaller, drill out the center and you have winding checks (small one in center).
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Thread work on the DAV spinning rod. Brown thread in split grip and hook keeper will be marblized. (This is the rod that tried to drive me insane).
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Top is a failed weave with HT. Center and bottom are final for DAV rod.
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1/8" thick alum. stock from Lowe's, wood screws, and brass shims to make a slot to fit the saw blade without slop for 1/4" slices. Putting an extra plate piece down before ring gives 1/8" slices. Total cost was less than $5 and a half hours time.
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1 light coat of stain. L to R, Golden Oak, Red Oak, Red Mahogany, Jacobean, bare cork. Top is unfinished, bottom has several coats of Tru-oil type finish.
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Jann's graphite ice blank and Fuji BLGs using bumper spiral method. Cork finished with golden oak stain and 12 coats of permalyn (similar to tru-oil)
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Basic ice rod with St. Croix blank and guides.
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My wife did this using paint, sponges, small brushes and feathers, same way she does faux marble tabletops and stuff. Finished with Flex Coat.
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Basic guide prep. Maybe it will help someone out as a visual aid.
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A dozen random threads, wrapped with no real plan, concept or order. I think it's kind of hideous but I'll keep it, at least for a while.
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Weekend project. Using spare 8' x 9" lumber, make a workstation that doesn't take up much room. Between stud shelves provide storage. Folds up to leave walking room when not in use while protecting shelf contents, and top section folds down to enclose rod for mid-weave protection and also serve as drying box this winter (no direct heat in the room). I'll add some low profile halogen ligh
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