S Hovanec

What I've heard from other rod builders is they will only reimburse for the parts. Basically the builder eats the labor.....twice.

Hope it was insured.

Don't mean to laugh but I received a drop ship from St. Croix of what must have been a prototype 5pc Dropshot blank. Either that or FedEx was playing rugby with the box!

I have a 2pc SCV 7'6" MLXF in the build que to replace my 1pc SCIII of the same action and power. 2 reasons: 1. Its more powerful and 2. It's easier to travel with when my boat is not making the trip. I leave that rod home more times than not because of the length, even though I love it. Wish I would have got the 2pc back when I built it 7 years ago.

34M and D34M. The small ones.

These aren't your grandfather's 2pc rods. The ferrules aren't chrome plated brass anymore. There is a lot of engineering that goes in the design of a 2pc rod to ensure it will perform like the similar 1pc model. The only difference I've noticed between 1pc and 2pc blanks of the same action/power is the 2pc is a touch more powerful. I attribute that to the extra material in the ferrule.

I use Tru oil on my burl grips to darken them a bit. I apply it with a paper towel while the grip is turning on the lathe. Wipe it on and go back over with a dry paper towel to remove it. It differs from cork seal in that it is a product the can be built up in multiple layers to a deep, gloss finish. I also use it on my stabilized reel seat inserts. It will polish to a very high gloss. Once the bottle is opened, its shelf life is only about a year. It will first skin over in the bottle, while still being useable. Then after some time, it becomes too thick and it no longer will dry when applied. It just stays tacky.

I bought my 3 blue tops in May 2005 when my boat was delivered. They're still in there. I think I'd do it again!

These will be my next butt seats. https://www.bassboatseats.com/collections/bass-boat-seats/products/lean-pro-casting-sit-down-seats

Switched to braid + FC leader years ago. Will never go back to straight FC. Started out using Powerpro. Switched a couple rods to TuffLine this season. No real reason, just wanted to try something different.

Truth in advertising. Fish Vanish, lures Vanish, tourney checks Vanish!

If the label says Vanish, its all a bad batch.

I don't know any dealers that will dump a new boat in the water for you to test. First off, the motor isn't broke in, so how can you really test it out, just idle around? I would never buy a 'new' boat that has been floated or has any time on the meter. I'd go with the Alumacraft, but I have an oversion to Tracker and Merc. If you're worried about it being underpowered, see if they will upgrade to a bigger motor. If not, keep looking. Nothing worse than buying a new ride and getting bored with it quickly cause it's underpowered.

That's the extension. I hadn't installed it yet.

I need the existing knobs to use the internal sleeves to build the new grip on. Not all knobs can have the old grips stripped off and be ueeful. I tried an old green curado and now I need a new knob. The insert needs to be round and those old Shimanos arent.

I've always wanted to do a spiral checker like that, I'm just too lazy to cut all of those pieces!

Here ya go. Split Tennessee 5S610MLXF to be extended to 7'. I know it's not bandsaw related, I just didn't want to start a new thread for one pic.

I've done a few.

front grip inlay and fighting butt.

Lathe first. There's a lot you can do with that before you need to get a bandsaw! I was doing elliptical inlays in cork with my miter saw for years. Biggest reason for the bandsaw was EVA. the miter saw didn't like the EVA. My first elliptical using miter saw.

It is so!

and the experiment continues.

Counterfeit. And apparently it was enough of a problem that PowerPro has a warning on their website. http://www.powerpro.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/power_pro_v2/info/counterfeit_warning.html

Huh? Someone sells inserts? Tell me more.

No, it's a forest green St Croix SCV......that has been 4 years in planning! Lol