Happy Holidaze!!

Well the drawing for the camo rod was last night. A member of the American Legion, where I am also a member, won it. We raised a total of $365 to help the family. That will be delivered next week. On a different note, I recieved the spalted maple turning blanks yesterday.

It's some pretty sweet looking wood! It's very light-weight and seems like it would be brittle. I'll have to be careful turning it. More sanding, less cutting.

I joined another swap on the RBF (Rod Building Forum). This one is for reelseat insert turning blanks (1"x1"x5"). We're swapping two blanks: one light and one dark. Yesterday someone brought me a nice piece of teak. It's a fairly light piece so now I need a dark wood.

Last week I saved this log from certain death in a fireplace. If you can't tell from the picture, it's loaded with burls. I'm looking forward to cutting into it! I LOVE burls!!! This is lighter than the teak, so maybe the teak is my dark wood (?). I've got 'til Feb 1st, so we'll see what I come up with.

One of the other members of RBF suggested a new rod swap. A rebuild swap. Everyone gets an old fiberglass (garage sale) rod and rebuilds it. It could be a fairly inexpensive build. Have fun with a $5 rod. There's just too much going on right now to think about it. After the Holidays things will (should) be back to normal. Only time will tell...

Ongoing business

Well, the Lady Amhearst reel seat insert will be going out in the mail tomorrow. I've got some Spalted Maple turning blanks coming either today or tomorrow. For that, I'm trading some beatiful African Olivewood. The Camo rod raffle slowed way down. I was really hoping for a better response. But....what can you do. Maybe next time I'll build a fly rod (?).

At this time, the camo rod raffle is still on-going. I'm hoping it picks up in the last week....

The rod "Inspiration" was delivered and received. Cheri, the new owner, was thrilled. She knew nothing about this rod when she arrived in OR. It was only discovered when she arrived at the Winnabago in which she would be living for a week. From what I was told...she cried..... My job here is done. That could only mean good things! I am so glad to have been a part of making Cheri's trip a memorable one. The only thing that could have made this better(er), if I could have handed the rod to her personally. This is why I am starting "Inspirations". Feelings like this can't be duplicated. Although....I'll keep trying!!

These are the two reel seat inserts I turned. The top one is African Blackwood, and has tourquoise inlayed in it. The bottom one is a piece of Rosewood, and has a Lady Amherst feather along with some grizzly hackle set in it. If I choose to swap the feather inlayed seat, the bag with extras goes with it so the recipient may do the same inlay on the fishing rod he/she builds with it.
I'm leaning towards the LA feather inlay.

What's goin' on...

I've finished the Camo rod and tickets are for sale! It's been doing pretty well so far. Over a month left, though. Plenty of time to bring in some donations! I've got a couple things going on right now. 1) I'm in a reel seat swap with the forum I'm a member of. http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/index.php?? I can post pictures tomorrow. 2) I'm also in an ultra light spin rod swap. I am the swapmaster on this one. It's due mid-March, in time for Trout season here in NY. I'm still working on ideas for this. That's about it for now.

Happy Veterans' Day!

I thought I would start by posting a few pictures of some fishing rods I'v built for various people for various reasons.

This first rod was built to raffle off to help support the American Legion Post 1683 here in NY. It raised over $300.

This next one is my favorite. This is where the name "Inspirations" came from. This is a 9' Salmon/Steelhead rod built for a woman with special circumstances. She lives in Wisconsin and is going to Oregon in December for a week of Steelheading. At this time, she knows nothing of this rod.

The four leaf clover inlay in the grip is just a little good luck charm, not only for fishing, but for her as well!

This is one I'm finishing up now. It is for a raffle to benefit a local family's medical bills. A death in the family after a long illness left this man with bills exceding $10,000. I can only hope this rod will raise enough money to help!