Started my first rod tonight

[PastorEd]

Wish me luck folks, I finally got up the nerve to start my H&H IM6 3wt. The real seat is in the basement drying at this very moment.
Even though I double and triple checked to make sure I have done everything correctly I am still half petrified that I have made a mistake. Got the spline wrong, mixed the epoxy wrong, didn't get the real seat lined up perfectly...
But I guess I got what I got now.

Just an aside...
If this stays this much fun, I am afraid I am going to be as addicted as Jack Hise... can I tell my wife it's his fault?

Thanks for listening...
Ed

PastorEd;
Yes you may. I'll take the blame.
I know your feeling of doing something wrong on the first one!!
A tip for aligining the guides. I have a 4 foot shop light over my bench. It reflects off the blank in a nice straight line. After the first guide I use to to line up the next guide.
P.S. My Christmas gifts went over great!!

[Rick Z]

I have four under my belt, and my wife will not let me blame anyone else.

Rick

[irondragon013]

I ordered my first blank and supplies a few days ago. Can't wait to start on it. Just wish the mail could move faster.

------------------
"Just when I've caught a nice trout and feeling very proud of my fly fishing ability, my feet fly out from under me and there I sit, wet, flustered and properly humiliated by the Fly Fishing gods."
Jimmy Moore, "Taken Down a Notch or Two"

[PastorEd]

Thanks Jack!
I doubt if my wife will buy it either, but it never hurts to try. I am already counting up the rods that I could build.

I put on the handle and the tip top at noon, and have spent the evening putting the guides on with elastic string. Sure wish I had a shop light to help. I can see where that would really make a difference.

Anyway, tommorrow I start wrapping.

Irondragon, did it come yet?


Ed

[irondragon013]

Still waiting. It will most likly arrive Sat. or Mon. The blank is a Forcast 2 piece 4wt.

[This message has been edited by irondragon013 (edited 30 December 2005).]

Pastor Ed;
I may be too late with this. I do my guides one at a time using Al Campbell's spacing chart. I have found that I always knock the other guides out of alignment while wraping! But then I have a hard time chewing gum and walking too!

[white43]

Pastor Ed, blame me. As a small town editor I get blamed for everything anyway. Now I'm caught up on my swaps I'm headed to finish up three rods I have in the cans. Today, though, it's ice fishing with a bunch of homemade ice flies. Just had to try 'em. JGW

[PastorEd]

Update:
I finished wrapping the guides this evening. So tommorow evening it is epoxy time. Thanks to everyone whose been so encouraging on and off the board.

And yes, Jack and JGW, I think that I will have lots to blaim you for in the near future. This is just way too much fun.

I can see a new rod for my dad, one for my 3 year old son. Oh maybe one of those cute little 1 or 2 weights everyone has been having so much fun with. A nice 9 or 10 weight for pike.

Ed (Grinning from ear to ear)

[white43]

Pastor Ed, I had two guys in today talking about building their dream cedar strip canoes. They each want to build one, and I'm sort of the local "expert" having built 11 of them with two in various stages of completion in the garage. As they left and I went back to work I realized that this rod wrapping is just as much fun and certainly less labor intensive. Have to admit how satisfying it feels, though, to be canoeing in a canoe I built, casting with a rod I wrapped, catching fish with flies I tied. Pretty cool. JGW