S Hovanec

All I need are some bits. Gonna hit up Harbor Freight tonight for their cheapie set. It'll be good enough for wood and acrylic. I bought the live center the day I got the lathe.

Hot water and dawn.

I wasn't gonna open it til I had a bench to set it on. Well, you see how long that lasted! I just moved the powerwrapper off of my wrapping bench and threw it up there.....for now. Got the packing grease cleaned off and just finished the break-in procedure. Now I need to acquire some cutting tools and give it a real spin!

I don't know about that! It takes me that long to get the guides aligned sometimes. You'd swear Ray Charles wraps some of my rods!!

I also stopped at a Lund dealer on saturday while we were out that way. Wanted to see what body parts I needed to sell to get my next boat! He's gonna call me back tomorrow.

It won't be much different than what I already do, it will just make some functions easier. Turning wood reel seat inserts will go from 15-20 minutes down to 2 minutes or so.

This is the one that could have been.....

The 31st is their last day. Get out there and see what they have. The showroom is sparse, but they have lots in the warehouse.

Nope. Especially since Grizzly is closing down their PA operation. Made a trip there on Saturday. Everything was 20% off. They had a 13x40 in the scratch and dent section marked down from $4300 to $1500. I was $1100 and a truck and trailer short or it would have been mine! Lol

Like I said above, if the rod manufacturer can't get it right, how can you expect the fishing public to get it right.

Pros mix them up? hell, some rod manufacturers can't even get it right. I have had many rods in the shop over the years that were heavy action and medium action......printed right there on the rod.It is my biggest pet peeve when I see or hear someone misuse action for power. It's my 'nails on the chalkboard' moment!

Let them claim all they want. Those guides looked like nothing more than Minimas of a different color. I repaired a Villain that had every guide grooved to some extent. Metal ringed guides, especially the tip, have no place on any rods I build.

I plan on starting to sell them.

Addition. Plan on turning stabilized wood and acryllic reel seat inserts. I've done wood ones on the wood lathe, but the metal lathe can knock them out in no time flat! Like 2 minutes instead of 15-20!!

The LAG and TLSG do bend easy. The KLAG and TKLSG are a different story. The KB guides are even more Stout.

Hmmm. Wonder what could be in that box in my trunk? It may or may not be one of these!!!

http://boatpropellers.iboats.com/Mercury-Outboard-Propellers/?pitch=8.00&chart=216&engine_id=673&cart_id=129397116

I weigh some when they come in sometimes. When you get into the 4mm guides, there isn't a real difference between SS and Ti frames. You need to weigh on lots if 10 to get them to register on the scale.

More models. There are more gear and spool options on the Japanese models.

An 8p prop will get you a couple hundred more RPMs. It may give you enough to get you on plane. My Honda 20 came with a 10p 4 blade aluminium and it was a dog. I got a 8p 3 blade SS and it made a big difference. That was on a 16' Sea Nymoh deep V tiller.

Look at the Japanese sites. The JDM FK can be had for <$155 shipped.

Ti/Alconite may be that comprise. I want to do a rod with them, but haven't yet. I believe Alconite is lighter that SiC.

The biggest downside to a CI4 IMO is its weight. Because it is so light, it can and will make almost every rod feel tip heavy. I have had my CI4 2500 on 2 rods in the 3oz range, and they both felt tip heavy. The St Croix SCV weighs 3.15oz and the NFC IM is 2.85oz.

They may work great, but I have a real hard time putting $4 worth of guides on a $170 blank! Kinda like putting hubcaps on a Ferari. I don't even like using Alconite on SCIV or SCV. If you're going high end, go high end.

I spooled up with 15# XP on a couple DS and tube rods thus year. I like it. Its quieter through the guides than PowerPro.