Hello
Nussrods
Great to hear you have got the time to get back to the rod making bench.
Your rod creations are some of the finest I've ever seen.
That Custom Roddy Boron rod you made that I purchased from you a few years back is outstanding.
The build quality and your attention to detail is 5 of 5 stars no doubt.
Hopefully you will share some of your secrets as time permits.

I see Anglers Roost among your projects,whats your take on the blanks ?

ColdPass
Many-times the stuff laying around turns into some of the most amazing rods we tinker up.
Maybe it's got to do with how we stretch our imagination, the extra thought that goes into melding the bits and pieces all together into something that works that makes them so special ?
The insert turning sounds very interesting,pine bark ? that's different !
The picture didn't post I'd love to see the process.

I reset my ferrule yesterday and the clicking is gone so now it's just a matter of finishing the Little Scrapper.
I'll do my best to get some photo's up today.

Off topic Photobucket
For some reason I've been having trouble downloading pictures lately.
I hit the photobucket link and it goes into this waiting mode that seems to take forever to load.
Yesterday I waited an hour and finally gave up.
No doubt it's probably on my end but it's a big pain in the neck none the less.

Thanks for sharing your projects I'm looking forward to seeing more !

Tight Lines And What's On Your Bench Loops
Andy M

Hello
Holly cow ! that's really cool looking !
Will you be applying a finish to that or go natural ?
If so what type of finish will you choose ?
Very nice !

Fortunately photobucket was very user friendly this morning.
Below are some photo's of my current Little Scrapper project.

This one's a Duel Material number with Fiberglass Butt and Mid sections and a Graphite Tip section.
The Tobacco glass sections were harvested from a NOS blank that the tip section had been trimmed off by the previous owner.
I picked up a few of dozen of these blanks a few years ago off eBay,the guy claimed the were from Horrocks Ibbotson.

The blanks are very full flexing,the average length is between 40-48",the tips had all been cut off so at best they may have been trimmed to scrap them.
Anyway they make great butts and mids depending on the trim location for 3 piece rods.

The Graphite tip as you can see has the guides still attached from it's previous application as a 9' 2 piece 3 weight, it was harvested from my scrap pile.
It too was part of an eBay purchase,I purchased a bundle of broken fly rods to salvage the hardware and supply me with repair material,unfortunately all the reel seats were up-lock.

In actuality and I just realized this just about everything going into this Little Scrapper came from the little to no interest bottom of the feeding lane of eBay.
The reel seat is NOS from a eBay lot of reel seats,the preformed grip from a lot of rod building supplies from eBay as well.
The guides for the most part excluding the stripping guide were harvested from the lot of broken rods.
I'd venture to say the total investment here is well under 20 bucks closer to 10.

The ferrules are NOS aluminum a favorite of mine, they just work so well for this project,the value added portion of the project $$.

I left the guides on the tip just to see how well they were spaced for my static deflection test,honestly they are not in the perfect position per my preference,however they are close enough so I'm keeping them where they are.
Actually I'd only move them closer to the tip a tad so it will be fine no doubt.
The old if it ain't broke don't fix it approach.

I'll tape the guides on and cast it a spell before I wrap it today but dang it's cold outside.

The tip section blank is a burgundy color with matching wraps so thread color selection was easy it will be burgundy to match the existing wraps.
The finish will be epoxy to keep everything copacetic.

That's it for now as things continue to percolate I'll post another installment.

Tight Lines And Dang It's Cold Loops
Andy M

Thank you Andy for the awesome vote of confidence. I try, and I was mentored for 20 years by a true master. I really do appreciate your kind words. This is weird, I responded earlier, but I can't for the life of me find it.

Angler's Roost glass blanks: My first reaction upon opening them, I bought 4, I think one of each offered, was to see what their return policy was. Of the 4 blanks, only 2 ferrule joints were acceptable. The others all bottomed out. But given the price point of the blank, I started whittling away at the females to fit and surprisingly the sections were actually very close to the correct length as well. I think the blanks are fast for glass, they will undoubtedly be a great first rod for devotees of carbon fiber as they transition to the more mellow feel of glass. The one I have on the bench is down the list, but when I finish it I will let you know what I think, if you like I will send it to you to mess with.

Weren't you interested in Reed glass? Let me know what you were thinking and I will see what I have. My concern is that all the blanks I have be they Lami or Reed are all one piece, shipping sucks. But if I had my choice, I would keep them one piece as the few I have built to date, are some of my favorites, I have a 7' one piece Lami 4 wt. that is pure pleasure.

Again thank you Andy,
Bruce, aka nussrods..

Hello
Your take on the A.R.E. blanks is interesting ,thanks for your generous offer of a blank loan,however I have already built out one of each of the blanks in preparation for last falls Northeast Glass Clave on the Battenkill.
Found the ferrules to be of issue as well,as a result I took different approaches to solve the issues,kinda a sample of what action plan worked best.







With the 6'6" and 7' I went with Sizematic ferrules,the ferrules actually worked out exceptionally well,they added a bit to the overall length however, the 6'6" ended up being a 6'9" or 10 and the 7' a 7'4".

The 7'6" ironically finished assembled to 7'4" as well, trimming the female ferrule to get a proper ware gap was the approach,a fiberglass ferrule support ring was added to the O.D. at the female ends as insurance.
With the 8' Rod it was the same trimming solution, however I opted for metal ferrule support rings made up from old chrome plated brass ferrules."ALA Whilpool"

As to the line weight question generally I found all the blanks capable of casting the line weight designation but more toward the lower end of the blanks range.
For example I scripted the 7' blank 3-5 weight lines,the 7'6" blank 4-6.
In my hand they both felt best smack dab in the middle.

I recently received another batch of blanks the ferrule fit was much improved,
At the price point my opinion is they are a good value,however I'm very tempted to
mix them up a little if you get my drift.

However that's another project still on the when I get around to it list

It will be interested is seeing how you finish yours out.

The little scrapper.
The sections are selected then trimmed "CUT" to get a certain feel,with this rod I'm
hoping to have a semi parabolic 4 weight capable of tight roll cast.
After a very brief casting session yesterday.
Finished up the thread work last night, today the epoxy thread finish will be applied.
Wish I could say I'll be fishing it Sunday but maybe some Sunday in the spring is more realistic.

Looking forward to seeing more of the Pine Bark Insert as the project unfolds !

Tight Lines And What's On Your Bench Loops ?
Andy M

Marty that's quite an eclectic gaggle of glass. should hold you til tomorrow lol.

I have a Phillipson powrkast 8' that I hope to begin refurbishing soon. Andy M repaired the tip section for me. Now it needs a good cleaning, new cork, reel seat, and guides rewrapped.

Almost done replacing a seat on my 8' Fisher rod. I had a few choices including one with a very nice cherry spacer turned by BobHa. I opted for a black and gold Featherlite seat since it was a better fit proportionally- more in scale. I will try to post a picture over the weekend.

Wow, and I thought I was doing good with four rods:
6'6" Klassic
8'6" Wright & McGill K4F kit rod rebuild
and 2 graphite builds.

Now that the prehistory of an unnamed river that flows between PA and Nj has been resolved, I'll have time to get some pictures. Nothing as creative as some of the stuff on this thread so far, but good solid builds.

John

Whoa. I forgot a really cool one - a Scott F80 2pc SF yellow blank.

Only three of those rods above are in stages of build. The rest are just in the shop to keep me busy, since the full-time job and two little girls isn't enough. Who am I kidding? They just look cool.

I'll get some photos up tonight of the Prairie Drifter and Norie-like, and an ARE 7' 3/4 I just finished and delivered. That was a fun one - built for a co-worker's 9-year-old son who came by during various stages of the build process and got to take part in some of it, too.

Great post Andy. The finish on that Scrapper is awesome. I've used polycrylic before as color preserver and it works well. I've always done 2-3 coats of Polycrylic followed by Spar top coat. Are you using Polycrylic as as a finish coat? Are three or four coats of Polycrylic alone - no base coat -- durable enough? Or is a base coat needed?

Andy, I've wondered too, if polycrylic could be used as an "all-in-one" color preserver and finish coat. It is very easy, and forgiving to use, as you say. My only concern is its durability. Sounds as if you are satisfied with your results.

I'm curious if others have used polycrylic, especially those who have used it as a top coat... what have your results been? Is it tough enough to use as a top coat?

Hello
It's been a few days so the Little Scrapper is now finished.
Between snow shoveling sessions the last few days, I managed to get the Little Scrapper all done, Even some progress on a few other projects,like the 7' 3/1 bamboo project that's been lavishing since last winter.

Getting back to the Polycrylic I'm pleased as punch with the material,over the last few years several rods have gone out the door with no complaints,that's what it's all about,so I'm a happy camper.

Some neat projects you got going there Doug !
Cannibalizing Guides off fish able built rods.

Ashamedly when I had the Bamboo Obsession 30 years ago I must confess I pulled guides of some really nice Factory Built Fiberglass Rods to use them on Bamboo Rods.
I always found the Garcia Guides to be the best for my needs.
At one point I had at least 40 fiberglass tomato stakes.
I could sure make some sweet little scrappers out of them bits toady.
Hind Site Is 20 X 20 as they say

The pictures should be self explanatory ,as always I'll do my best to answer any questions.

We are all looking forward to seeing what others are up to,I seem to be doing the most posting,after this post I'll wait to see what others are willing to share.

Tight Lines And What's On Your Bench Loops
Andy M






FINISHED







BAMBOO PROJECT

Struble

Hello
Sounds interesting I'd love to see some pictures.
What type of finish are you using ?

Those 3 wrap accents can be a bear,when I'm doing difficult novelty wraps that are prone to un - raveling I keep them in place this a way until the thread work is finished.

For rods being color preserved I use Color Preserver naturally,it holds everything in place while I finish up the rest of the wraps,Or if it's a no CP job I use Permagloss to keep everything put.

So picketpin52 whats the verdict Utility or Beauty ?

I thought I'd share a very interesting rod that came in for repairs, I hope everyone finds it interesting as well.
The rod is a Abercrombie & Fitch 2/1, 1 Ounce 4' Banty Fiberglass Spinning Rod.
The rod was very obviously made by Phillipson, It features the undeniable 12/64" Phillipson nickle silver ferrules,The same Aluminum reel seat bands as used on the Phillipson banded cork fly rod reel seats, Phillipson open spiral thread design with everything about the rod just showing it's roots.

As the pictures will tell the rods been fished,I gotta say this again I really love to see rods come in like this one,This rod has seen the water,lots of water,I'd rather see a classic rod that's been fished than one new in the tube that sat in a closet for 40 years.This rod has some stories no doubt.

Other than needing a complete tune up the tip is 3" short,the goal is not to make this rod look new again,it's got to much family history from what I'm told.

The tip was broken landing an 8 Pound Large Mouth Bass on 4lb test by the fellows Grandfather back in the 70's, the rod snapped off at the edge of the first guide down from the tip.
From what I'm told Grandpa was fishing for trout in a local state park pond that's stocked with only trout, he was fishing with a garden worm.

That sure beats a car door or ceiling fan at a cocktail party any day

The story is the broken tip never bothered Grandpa he continued to fish the rod as is until his departure from this life.

Any how my job is to get it back into shape without too much fuss.

Tight Lines And Grandpas Banty Loops
Andy M

Hello

Quote:

having removed the wood insert and thrown it in the fireplace

I'm not really certain but that sounds like a Sacrilege or something along those lines.

Tight Lines And Say It Ain't So Loops
Andy M