My first LKenney rod. herd so many good things about his fly rods i decided to give one a try. going to see if i can find some open water this afternoon just to get a feel for the blank and start training our dog to go fishing
it's also the first time i tried Thread Master low build. i heated it with a hair dryer but probably for to long. i couldn't see the bubbles last night when i was applying it but in the photos you can see every detail. i can understand why some guys use a bodkin to apply epoxy especially where the the thread meets the blank. ill probably go back to polyacrylic and spar. it takes more time on the drying rack but is much easier to work with.
anyway, another brown blank and i can't seem to get away from brown and tan thread.
anxious to get this one wet.

Very nice!

Very nice!

Sometimes we are our own worst critic. From what I could see from your pics, the finish is incredibly smooth, evenly applied and would meet my standard any day. Good job.

Yes, that looks like a beautiful build! Nice work! And I think you will love the Kenney rod, I love my 8'3" 5wt!

Nice job on a really good looking blank...........Aurelio

Great work as others have said. I think the finish looks really nice.

classy color scheme!

As far as how it casts and fishes...

It would be hard to find a better dry fly rod for smallish to medium small streams. Can't say enough good things about any of LK's rods. They are as good as it gets.

Color is wonderful!

This is a beautiful build, nice work! How do you like it on the water?

You have everything else down pat... Try epoxy one more time, after applying the epoxy blow on it thru a straw, the bubbles just vanish - wish that worked with spar.

I like the threadwork on the ferrules. I will give you the best hint on threadmaster light. As long as the room is above 70 degrees I don't worry about heating, but an incandcent light on the epoxy and work seems to add just enough heat (and help my eyesight).

Two or three thin coats will do better than on thick coat. The first coat soaks in and you wick it off. maybe leaving the barest coating. If there is any drip, wick it off. Then a second coat goes on to cover any exposed thread. Again, this is as thin as possible. I do see a few sections where the thread doesn't look completely covered. With epoxy, you really want to get the thread completely covered. Unlike varnish, you really can't just add another coat later.

If it were me, I would strip it down, rewrap and do it again. I know it's not what you want to hear, but this is after having done too many rods that didn't come out as I would have liked. Macro photography is brutal, it shows the slightest blemish. The will fish fine and you can always strip it down later, but if you catch it in the first week or so, the epoxy comes off easier and denatured alcohol will get most of it off the blank.

Your color choice and thread are really nice. I like the retro look.