Nice!

Hello
Very nice now all you need is the Mylar to go with it
The spool top row center is a very rare spool and should be saved for something very special.

Over the last month since my Strokes I've been concentrating on clearing my benches,actually gave away quite allot of my rod making materials,mostly all the stuff for my Salty Dog Work as I call it,let a bunch of salt water blanks and all the hardware,guides,thread and goodies to go with them go to a new home.
Some of the stuff came from Cape Cod Rods my good friend Walt McVety's rod business,A Great deal of really nice classic heavy threads.
The Lucky Recipient is one of the fellas that took my rod making class 3 times,He's been making mostly Salt Water Rods for the last 8 years now,always said when the time came I'd pass the torch.
Passed on about twice as much stuff as the Old Yankee dropped off on my door step 40 years ago.

FYI Got my new glasses Wednesday and started work on the Herters thread work,my wife says the quality stinks,she picked the work apart,you see my work has always been flawless right from the git,part of my new learning curve is I've had to spend considerable time now with a burnishing tool and other such devices that I seldom if ever used to get things in place,Working with Mylar added to my new challenges,Maybe I should have chosen something easier to start with,I'm pretty certain when I get to doing more normal thread work things will go much smoother,I'm Hoping So Anyhow
For right now I'm kinda disappointed my self in my performance,All things considered however I'll just count my blessings for now that I can still tinker on my fishing poles.

Unfortunately We left off by trading insults of sorts,I apologize for my digression,I'm a little Testy of late,the seemingly tag teamed disrespectful comments got my blood boiling, I will promise that I'll continue to keep to myself my opinions about what absolute garbage I think most of the new stuff I see these days actually is, as long as the new comers show respect for the Classic Aspects Of Fiberglass Fly Rodding,Rod Making & Traditions Of Fly Fishing.

I'll share some photo's of the Herters rod work ,Someone eluded that working with Mylar was basically a simple task,straight forward,When Someone says something they have never done is straight forward that's basically a recipe for disaster.
Naturally The First Step is determining guide placement,where the guides will be mounted on the rod blank.
As I mentioned earlier Mylar must be laid out,before you apply any Mylar you must first come up with a thread design that incorporates the Mylar into it.
Wrap lengths,styles,colors,color changes,shading,accent wraps,etc.

I use a pencil or china marker to mark the blank where the Mylar will be placed,many of the old timers used a needle and scratched lines in the blank where the Thread Wraps or Mylar should start and stop.
My preference is to keep the Mylar to a Minimum as a Accent,just enough to add that Classy Classic Retro Kustom Look.
This rod the Mylar covered allot of real estate,you work with what you are given.

Wrapping over Mylar requires patience,thread reacts oddly on slippery surfaces,wrapping over Mylar is like wrapping over ice,the thread does not want to stay where you put it.
Another challenge is the Mylar likes to bulge up between the thread wraps,your wraps must lay tightly next to each other,you can not pack thread easily over Mylar either.
Basically you need to get it right the first time.

The Thread Wrap transitions from blank to Mylar and from Mylar to blank need to be handled the same way you would going from blank to guide foot,however with the guide foot you only are dealing with the tip of the guide foot,with Mylar it's the full circumference of the blank.
Often it's best to plan on a trim wrap to cover these transitions.

Mylar can be found in lots of very cool colors,I actually had to purchase Mylar for this rod ,the first time in 30 years,the stuff I had all came from Herters.
Anyhow all the colors were amazing,Reds,Yellows,Greens,Blues,Copper,Nickle,Chrome,Gold,Black,White.
Honestly I was shocked with all the possibilities all these never known to me options presented.
Ebay is loaded with the stuff.
You need to make sure what your purchasing is chemical resistant,solvent friendly,and has UV protection.

Well that about sums it up,as the project unfolds I'll add more installments.
If you have any questions about how I Apply My Mylar feel free to send me a PM.
Tight Lines And Mutually Respectful Loops
Andy M


MY Nearly Cleared Bench

The Mylar




The Lay Out



The Thread Work

The New Light Wire Guides.


Before

tried working with mylar once, didn't end well.. tricky stuff.
I do have a couple of mylar-enhanced rods, original wraps, so I'm never touching those ;-) just clean and refinish..

Hey Thanks Fellas.
The Mylar is tricky stuff to work with no doubt.
It's worth the hassle though to get that Kool Retro Look.

Yes Pat it has a glue backing and really sticks,there is no way to avoid seams,the trick is to plan it out so the seams are hidden under a wraps

If I was a young person just getting started in rod making I'd be all over the really Kool Mylar I found on the Bay.
The colors really give countless options for making rods that have some Classic Kool while using new materials.
You know New Mylar Enhanced Designs Taking advantage of materials not available back in the day,not your Grandfathers Mylar Branded Classics.
Just Saying, wonder how one of those New Wave Tooty Fruity Lime Green Blanks would look with some of that Green Mylar ? add the spool of Classic Green Twist above and wow you got a new trend setter ???
Thanks Again All For Your Kindness !!
Tight Lines Klassic Kool Fiberglass Loops
Andy M

I always thought of using gold leaf to add some accent to a butt or signature wrap, just to add a touch of class. Seeing this, I think I might pick up some gold colored mylar and try it. Maybe you guys are starting a trend!

And maybe a spiral wrap to go with the spiral thread and mylar . Unfortunately that spool seems to have some UV damage on at least the outer layer of thread. I might have to re-spool it to see how much usable thread I actually have there. I think this thread is pretty cool, it's to bad that there really isn't a replacement available.



No harm no foul Andy, I think we all took it in jest and no one meant any disrespect to anyone else.

That's actually one of the things that I love about the rod building scene - the variety of design expressed by different builders. From the minimalist bamboo rod with clear wraps to the offshore rod with a foot of decorative butt wrap and weaves, we can all learn tips and techniques from each other.

Hello
Managed to get out on the Farmington River over the last few days,We took the Gray Ghost out for it's Maiden Camping Trip.
The Lady Fisher and I both brought some very nice fish to hand on Sunday afternoon,The river was stained,the flow was good considering the recent rain and running at 48*F,Lots of Aquatic Insects Present ,The Lady Fisher was wielding her 8'9" 5 Weight Boron/Glass Composite,The dozen or so Fish Landed Fell Victim to size 20 Blue Winged Olives both Dun and Emergers.

My experiences weren't as good as the Lady Fishers, I had considerable trouble getting accustom to my new challenges,My casting was really off as was my ability to safely wade,when I finally managed to get my self into a good vantage point,after a few casts I had the worst birds nest I've seen since I was 12.

Naturally all my spare leaders were back at the Van so I had to do my best to reconstruct the leader I had.
After about an hour of leader reconstruction I got my fly over a fish and had one on briefly.
Wow what an accomplishment
Soon after I actually caught 3 fish one right after another or so it seemed.
I lost my fly to a forth fish and that sorta ended my lucky spell,besides my feet were so numb I figured I better get out of the water while I still could.

Found a comfortable log stream side and enjoyed watching my Amazing Wife in her full glory,it's truly an art form when an angler is at the top of Her or His game.
She was turning over 16' leaders and catching fish like nobody's business,we had several anglers in close proximity,the Lady Fisher was the only one catching.
I was grinning from ear to ear, I'm sure proud of the Accomplished Fly Fisher Lady Fisher has become.

After a time I got back in the water and nailed a few fish close to the bank, fishing down stream on my way out.
Fished my 7'6" J Kennedy Fisher 4 Weight one of my favorite rods, A Rod of my hand Made in 1972.
This was actually only the 3rd time I've fished this old favorite since replacing the Cork Grip and Reel Seat.

Getting back to the Herters Remake,I'm not having an easy time of it with the thread work due to my recent challenges.
The headaches are worse than ever since April 5th,the new glasses are little help.
The rods nagging at me just the same like an old fish wife,after working so hard to get all those undone projects completed,many that were not mine to begin with I might add,it stinks not feeling well enough to get back to this sweet project.
I'll get going soon just the same.

So it seems we have a lull in activity fellas,don't let my slow as molasses progress rub off on you.
Somebody's got to have something percolating on their benches.

Tight Lines And Whats On Your Bench Loops
Andy M






As we were breaking camp I noticed something moving across the road in the campsite,as I looked closer it was a pair of Black Bears,when I went for the camera they boogied,it was cool they were less than 100' Away.

Hello
Thanks I'm not throwing in the towel yet !!!
Tight Lines And Still Kicking Loops
Andy M

Nice work Tom. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the blank.

I've been working on restoring a couple of South Bend bamboo rods for a friend of mine. I have them stripped down and am going pour a few coats of spar (tutorial video coming soon) in the next day or two.

Been playing around with some Mylar on a neighbors rod I'm restoring. Trickier than you might think to get a square line. Not really a look I am fond of, but its been fun to experiment with the material.

Good to hear from you Andy! Some fall fishing on the Housatonic and Farmington would be nice.
Shiny Mylar Loops!
John

Quiet around here. I'm finally working on my PLG build, and I decided to refinish my Berkley Buccaneer 5pc pack spin/fly rod--a rod that's really grown on me over the last few months. Got the blank stripped down and varnished so far. It'll get new fly rod components. I'm also looking for another 5+ piece blank if anyone has any suggestions.