Well, I did the strip thing on the Talisman and I gotta say it's looking pretty good. Love the color of the blank. It reminds me of a carrot just pulled from the garden. An earthy orange. The stripping process took not more than a couple hours with half the time spent waiting for the Citristrip to work its magic.

So far so good. Just a couple of questions that I am hoping someone can help with.

First, I cannot get the tip top guide off the rod. Tried submerging it in boiling water, but I may have been too impatient, concerned that leaving the tip in boiling water too long would damage the blank ... ?

Second, the oversleeve at the female ferrule is now sporting a "beard" -- see picture. I'm guessing that this is frayed fiberglass cloth that was laid up to form the oversleeve? I want to avoid fibers poking through the thread finish on the oversleeve. Do I need to "shave" it off; singe it off with a flame; do nothing and just wrap over it?


The two sections side by side -- butt section stripped; tip section before stripping shows the color of the painted blank.


The "bearded" oversleeve.

I got one rod off the bench (the graphite 9' 3wt), but my tadpoles are languishing on the ping pong table.

Hopefully I will find some time to get some guides taped on soon.

On a side note, my stock of guides is dwindling and I'm gonna have to restock. What snake guides are people using when they don't want to spend $2 on Snake Brand guides?

Carl

The Pac Bay, Alps/Forecast, or AMTAK wire snake guides are all good quality but imported, however at half the cost. Mike's guides (Snake Brand) are built in his shop in the US and I like to support him on all the rods I build.

'Cator
(Terry's Custom Rods)

Andy,

I am just looking for guides to go on my tadpoles and cheap blem blanks. It's hard to justify spending as much on guides as I spent on the blank.

I haven't used REC or Snake Brand guides. I will probably order some for a few of my upcoming rods.

For my graphite rods' I've been using PacBay Minima4's


or fuji alconite's



Time to get onto my glass builds.

Carl

very nice!-p-

I make them Carl, if you want one made let me know what you want and I will make one for you to try.
I had one at Coburn, Matt cast it but I think he was it it was a 10' 3wt cts. I like them on rods I nymph with.

Bob

It's a glass blank which I got from the far East.

Hello
Looks like you got enough work to keep you busy for awhile john.
Like that cross should turn out to be a nice rod the later rods fell short in many ways.
Was reading the history of Orvis about wes jordan how when south bend purchased cross he agreed to stay on, how he had struggles with the south bends creed of more and more rods and less and less quality.
It worked out great for Orvis in the end, interesting stuff. It's a good read.
Purchased some of those net craft blanks on the cheap haven't found the time to play with them yet maybe I'll paint one white
See the boron bug bit you tell us more
Tight lines and big doings loops
Andy M

jgestar

At least you have a place to sit while you ponder what to do with it all.

Beautiful work and a great looking blank. I notice a kind of "v" in the softer cork next to the denser burl. Is that intentional or did you have the same difficulty making a smooth transition between the two that I have?

Again, that's a great looking rod. Thanks for the pictures

Hello
Great looking space Tom I can see the potential of amazing stuff happening there!
Be sure to post pictures of the transition from storage to up and running.
Looks like the walls will need decorating I'll rack my brain to see what I can send along.

Welcome fatso
Interesting combination you got going on there!
I like the reel seat insert can you tell us more about it material who turned the blank etc?
Your work looks too good to be your first rod, I assume this is just your first glass rod, maybe you could post some pictures of your other creations?

I'm sure you guys may have seen the are graphite I have in the for sale pages, these graphite blanks from anglers roost are very good quality and make into some amazing rods for little money, so far I have worked with the 7', 7'6'', 7'9", 8', 11' and I'm working on another 10' 4 pc 2/3 weight for a friend.
I don't talk about them much because they are not fiberglass, some of the blanks are on the slow side and feel like glass especially when you bump up a line weight or two, keep your eye's open for more from johnny.
Below is another bamboo restoration on the bench I'm still researching the rod to learn what thread colors and guides the rod originally had hada hada.

Tight lines and what's on your bench loops
Andy M

That grip is like a piece of sculpture!

Andy, gotta love the Chubb (?) reel seat side rails on that Montague trade rod! Even if the rod is beyond recovery, that seat should be polished and displayed on a wall.