More Rod Building!

[lowwall]

I have had a busy winter so far this year, the worse the economy seems to get the more work I have to do. Doing more with less is the motto these days, I feel lucky to be on the right side of this equation.
Had big rod building ambitions for the winter, not that I need more rods of course. The two core projects are a Pack Rod and a 9ft -5 weight cannon, I have two 6 wght cannons but I don't have 5 wght and it is keeping me up at night. Both rods are multi piece and both with extra tips . These rods are being built specifically for hike in streams and ponds, (Probably would not work at all for drive up rivers and streams of course )
The Pack Rod:
To support the East Coast Economy I chose one of Great Bay Rods new Saxon Blanks, 6’6” 4 wght, These are very nice Glass blanks with Spicket Ferules. This is my Third Great Bay Rod, they are super nice! Check out the catalog in the pro forum. I will have to email Dave and complain though; they now have a 11ft 4 wght! You know I can’t live without that! There is a seam on beaver brook that I know of where that would come in handy, show the worm dunkers how it is done before the clean the place out.
I went with an extra tip but the chances of breaking a glass rod are pretty slim according to Wet_Fly_action. For guides went all out and went Recoil top to bottom! , Turned the grip to my liking, And my Favorite American Tackle Reel seat. I plan on turning my own wood ones next year. For durability you can’t beat machined aluminum though. I am 90% done with this rod, Still need to do a little more epoxy work on a couple of guides, the numbered tips and name area etc.
http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/GreatBayRods/Catalog2009/
The Cannon
To spread it around a bit I went to the west coast for this blank, I choose one of beulah guide series blanks with extra tip. I own a beulah switch rod and it is really a nice casting rod , not a good SR rod unless you are swinging. But for pure joy of casting it can’t be beat. The only beef with these rods is the don’t seem to like normal fly lines, They have their own line of fly lines and seem to design their rods around them. We will see how this performs in 2 months ! For guides went all out again Ceramic & Titanium!, The corrosion resistance of the titanium is needed for wading around berry brook for monster salter browns. Went again with the Aluminum reel seat , could have went titanium but even I am not that crazy.
http://www.beulahflyrods.com/products.html#1
Grips, been experimenting with different grip styles, I am thinking the cigar grip would be best for fresh water as you can easily move your hand around to accommodate casting or lobing indi’s and high sticking.
Here is some Pictures of the Process! Fun Stuff

[TGIF]

Very nice!!!! Turning into quite a gear head

TGIF

[wet_fly_action]

Looking good. I can think of a few places where that 6'6" rod can be put to good use.

[lowwall]

1) Why not glue the cork to the cork pieces to the rod piece by piece and turn the butt section and form the handle shape after the cork sets up?

You can do it this way but I don't like risking Blank damage. When I fit the handle it is like a glove, no winding check required!

2) I once made a rod from an Orvis kit. The cork was pre shaped and I had difficulty with a rat tail file fitting the cork.

When using a prefit handle I used to use Drywall tape or Making tape to take up the Gap as a bushing. Now a days I use Gorilla Glue. Need to mask the ends but it expands and fills the gap.

2) I see you are using a woven cloth of some type for the reel seat. Is there simply no way to fit the cork and reel seat to the blank with precise fitting?

Some Bamboo Rods are turned to fit the seat; all others are done this way. They now have graphite bushing to take up the gap (Never used them). I have taken apart factory rods and found that the factory used masking tape!