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Very nice Marty. Is that a purple pearl powder over black, or an iridescent purple? As long as it has been since a broke out the airbrush and paint, I may be way off on the guess. Eric

David, You have got some fine skills with the brush. The craw pattern is my favorite. Something 'bout a craw pattern that just drives the smallies crazy. Eric

I for one like what I see. What seat distance do you have on the casting rod? Did it balance? Eric

Marty, Now yer'getting down into my water depth. Make sure to deflate the swim bladder after each cast. Eric

Fishingbuds, The information I am referring to is off of Tom's Forum board. rodbuilding.org After you get there, do a search spinning rod setups and guide placement during test casting. Eric

Fishingbuds, Tom Kirkman was saying in a post on his forum, that the test they performed with the casting machine were similar to your findings. The ones that had more distance were noisier. This could be due to increased lure velocity. Meaning the line is having to be "tamed" by the guides faster as the line is moving faster also. Eddie, Turns out we have more in common than just these old mountains. Played guitar for more than 20 years myself. Gave it up back about 3 years ago to spend more time fishing. 8-) Hard to fish after playing until 2 in the morning. Eric

CP = Color Preserve Eric

As long as you keep it dust free and do not flex the blank I would think it would not matter if you went a few days without putting a finish coat on the threads. I have went as long as 10 days due work schedules without ill effects. I kept the blank in the original bag to keep it free of dust and such. If you put a coat of CP then wait as long as you want, just keep it clean. Just my 2 cents. Eric

Looks very nice. Eric

Seeing as that reel is a low profile, you could save a little weight by skipping the 12. Start with a 10 and 8 then go single foot 6s to the tip. I might even try to start with the 8 or go straight 6s. The rod I just finished has an old super free Curado feeding into a 6 straight to 4Js. No noticable loss of casting distance using 15 lb P-Line XXX. There are no two blanks that are going to be completely identical. You have the opportunity to build a rod that will be custom in every way. Order an extra size 10 guide, an extra 8, and a few extra 6s and try different guide set ups. Make test casts using each guide setup with different weights within the blanks range. Take measurements. Move the butt guide a little closer, or a little further, test cast again. Find which setup is best and go with it. Be sure to static test the blank to ensure the guides are correctly placed for stress distribution. Anytime you can save a weight and have a lighter rod, you will end up with a more sensitive rod. Most importantly, make it your rod. Eric

I don't think that anyone is upset, and I for one never meant to come across that way. The two post between Marty and myself were the two of us joking around with other. If it came across other than that, I apologize. Eric

As far as finding the "true" center after all shaping is complete, it is better to shape with a lathe. After the shaping is complete, you just place a drill bit into a Jacobs chuck and drill it center. Last year, I started to do what you are doing now, but lost interest due to lack of a lathe. Still meaning to buy one. You can do it without a lathe, but the center will not be 100% true. Use a caliper to get the width of the dowel prior to any shaping. Use a ruler to match the calipers measurement and draw a straight line across the diameter. Turn 90 degrees and repeat. The result will be a "X". Center of the X should be the center of the dowel. Eric

If my ears only hurt a little and I almost run out of breath while swimming to the bottom to retrieve my favorite crank. That's shallow, right? ;D ;D Eric

Those little "jaggies" were the little signs I was referring to. I have them on mine too. Free vinyl is good a good thing. It comes in many different colors, but I only use 3 or 4. Can't make everything too easy. ;D Marty, We still got our rattles!!!! :-X LOL Eric

Thanks Marty. I am going to have to get to building a new batch of cranks after my next rod. I actually need to start on some shallow cranks for the upcoming prespawn. You know the ones that only run 10-12 feet. ;D Going to be building a Purple Heart themed worm rod for my dad. Everything should be here next week. Al, As far as the micros go, the main reason for using them is reduction in weight. 10 BLAG 4Js weigh in at a whopping .5 grams. 10 LSG 3.5s weigh in at a heavy .41 grams. 1 BFAT 4.5 /(3.9) tip top weighs in at 1.5 grams It takes more than 30 3.5s 0r 30 4Js to equal the weight of the above listed tip top. Get an Idea of the weight savings? You use less thread while wrapping them, and less epoxy in sealing the wrap. You save alot of weight when all three of these come together. They do have some added bonuses just due to design. They are small. Smaller than you will believe untill you see them. You can pass a BLAG 4J through the eye of a BLNSG 6J. Since they are all together smaller, they are less likely to be damaged by a misplaced shoe while standing on the deck. They also do not tangle with other rods in the rod locker as easily. Less likely to have an eye knock off while pulling a rod from the locker as well. They are not right for every situation, nor every line. I lost casting distance when useing 20lb P-Line XXX with the 4 Js. That stuff just has too much memory. Eric (Edit due to forgotten sentence.)

Well hello Mike. Eric

I wipe all my lures down between coats of epoxy. Without seeing the lure, I would be afraid to say that another coat would fix the issue. Try it and see. Worst case is you will have a key chain with three coats of clear. Eric

Marty and I do not use drill bits. Since you have a few of his just keep studying them. Look closely. Soon you will see the little signs. Not my secret to give. :-X That would be like him telling my line tie placement and height on a deep plug. Eric

Are the cracks the all the way through all coats of epoxy? Are there any hook holes in the lure? A hook puncture all the way through the finish to the wood can cause swelling and cause the topcoat/epoxy to crack. Not enough flexibility in the topcoat to handle swelling from the wood beneath. (Especially with water temps being colder now in winter.) I doubt the length of the bill would cause a finish to crack the entire length of the lure. I have bills that are close to 3 inches long and 2 inches wide that have never cracked the finish. Eric

Fine job. For sure a fine job. Eric

The backs of drill bits. Different sizes for different size lures. And mine and Marty's way. :-X Eric

With the lures having "cracks" After the application of the first coat, it sounds as if the E-tex never made a proper bond to begin with. Eric

Cravin, Thank ya. The price was about $125 for the blank and components. I am not counting thread or epoxies as I had those on hand. Bowtech, I honestly feel that using the 6 butt guide did not cost me any distance on the cast or pitch. The blank is rated for 3/8 - 1 oz lure weights, and I can still pitch a 1/4 oz jig 35 feet. Lures that are within the blanks rated range cast very well. After the 6 butt guide, it is all 4Js to the first guide from the tip, including the bumper. No rub or drag during the transition. I set the butt guide off about 2-5 degrees, away from the spiral so the line comes straight on the top of the blank back to the reel. This was enough to keep the line from stacking to one side of the reel during the retrieve. The only drawback to micros are the tops. You can not find any with a 4 ring with a 6.5 tube. Size 6 rings are the smallest that I have found so far that have a tube to fit a 6.5. Some guys are splitting the tube to fit the tops up to a 6 tube. Total weight of the build is 4 3/8 oz. or 124 grams. Blank weight was listed at 2.900 oz. by St. Croix. Forgot to weigh the blank on my scales prior to beginning the build. Eric

Thank ya' kindly. Eric

Thanks. FishingBuds, Yeah that is my first spiral wrap that I completed. I made a couple of "practice wraps" on an old rod I stripped down to use as a practice tool. Bassectomy, The main benefits of a spiral wrap is added rod stability and overall weight reduction. When under load, the rod tip will twist to the lowest point. If the guide is already at the lowest point, then there is no twist. It also will allow for the use of fewer guides as you are not trying to keep the line "floating" above the blank while under load. Fewer guides mean less weight added to the blank. Less weight means faster blank recovery and more sensitivity. Eric