USMC Fishing Rod

I built this rod for a friend's son who is a Marine. It's a 6'6" spin rod built to tackle large bass down South where he is stationed.

Reel Recovery "Class Photos"

Once all the flyrods were collected, a few pictures were taken.

RR Rod Update

I finally finished my Reel Recovery donation:
It went out in the mail today.

I haven't been doing too much lately. I'm still in the planning stage of the Reel Recovery rod. Although, I should be able to order the components next week.

I have a benefactor. No, really. A fellow rod builder has been sending me patterns for pens that I've been using for seat inserts. Here's a Celtic

Knot I just finished. I'm looking forward to my next one.

I've been playing around with the idea of laminations. These are two of my prototype ideas. The woods are Cherry with thin Wenge strips. I also have some Rosewood that I plan on using in place of the Wenge on some future inserts.

I'm still planning out the Reel Recovery rod. I'm taking more time on this on than the others I've done. Each one that I build is more and more special to me. They have to be perfect!

Reel Recovery

The RBF is sponsoring a fund drive for http://www.reelrecovery.org/. Members will be building 14 flyrods (9' 5wt 4pc), tying 5000 flies, and collecting $2000 (to go towards reels, rod socks, and rod tubes). I have opted to build and donate a rod. Our deadline is April 1. This is another build that is getting me excited! The planning of rods like this one is, at least, half the fun! I will keep updating as I progress with this one. I turned down the Spalted Maple. This stuff is magnificent! I sanded this one down to 1000 grit and polished it with the backside of the paper. This may just end up on my donation rod (?).

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...