Crookedneck

great paint job and finish! Top Notch!

Thanks for the comments guys. This build was a lot of fun. Mike

I use the denatured alcohol myself. a bristle brush, maybe a light sanding if needed. If you want to fill the pits with wood filler you can, use Elmers Wood filler in the Golden Oak color. matches about as close as you are going to get. Good luck.

This is a build I did for a local boys and girls club raffle. I built it on a Rainshadow ISB822.5 I used an Alps aluminum reel seat and Alps winding checks. This is a sweet little rod, perfect for drop shotting. I wish I could keep it myself. Thanks for looking. Mike

The frog and blue gill are killer! the rest are cool too! Great job

There are alot of choices for thread. Any of the rod building sites will have a lot. I use Maderia polyneon alot, which isn't a rodbuilding thread. It has a lot of colors, but requires the use of color preserver, as it is coated with slicone and will play havock on your finish. Gudebrod is an excellent thread, but it becoming more difficult to get. Pacbay, American tackle, sulky, and FishHawk are all other brands. Honestly, I would start out using a rod building thread in size A if you are building bass rods. After you have been at it for a while you can experiment. Mike

nope

actually I would steer clear of that set up. The reason is you check out the drying motor you will notice that it does not have a chuck. And from what I have heard it isn't the easiest to make it usable. Just read the reviews. Check out this wrapper, the dryer comes with a friction chuck. And the wrapper is simple and cheap. This wrapper can be found on other sites. But the guys at Swampland will help you alot and charge actual shipping. Give Bill or Lance a call tell them what you want they will help you out and treat you right. Or do like I did and build your own wrapper and then get a rod dryer (picture shows my wrapper, kinda). American tackle makes a nice dryer too a little more $ though. http://www.swamplandtackle.com/products.asp?cat=51 Honestly I would save your $$ and use it on components for building. For tools razor blades, mixing cups, stir sticks, cheap brushes for epoxy, lot's of paper towel, denatured alchohol, small fly tying scissors, china pencils, masking tape. And a burnishing tool. Most of this stuff you can pick up at your local wally world or lumber yard. A must for you would be a good DVD & or book about rodbuilding. There are a lot of different sites that you can check out. Mudhole.com Jannsnet.com acidrod.com utmostenterpises.com swamplandtackle.com I have dealt with them all and have never had an issue with any of them. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. I would gladly help.

River Rat is giving you some sound advice. Spot on. I actually had some one such as you hit me up this weekend at my grandmothers 80th birthday party. I make custom rods. His resume was very simular to yours. Same age. A decent resume. I asked him a few questions. My final question was what do you know about the rods I make? Other than the fact that he was told I made rods he knew nothing. Had never even bothered to ask me about my rods. All he wanted was something for nothing. I asked him what he could do for me. His answer was that he could fish with my rods and give reviews on them and tell people they were great rods. Jokingly I asked him if he had ever fished with a fly rod out of a boat! I started talking about how I could make him a killer fly rod. Feather inlays, custom maple burl handles....ect...ect. He was taken by surprise. Looked like he swallowed a minnow. The point is he knew nothing about my rods. Any one in buissness, isn't going to stay in buissness if they just give things away to nice kids. Which I'm sure you are very nice by the way. Do some research, use some products, fish till your hands hurt, then write resume for that specific company. See where it lands you. And be prepared for alot of no's and even more no responses at all. Good Luck! Mike

Great swom bait Ben! Love the colors. Seems like green is a popular color this year for me too! Have you gotten it in the water yet? Great paint on both! how are you applying your paint? I would have to guess airbrush. Mike

Nice paint job! Killer bait. How is the action on it?

This is my first attempt at a snake skin inlay. The skin is a rattle snake skin inlayed in the split grip portion of this rod. I also did a feather inlay, the inlay is a Reeves pheasant, with grizzly hackle and a Eurasion bluejay feather on the back side (not visable in pic). This rod is built on a Rainshadow ISB843 7' Medium heavy blank. I haven't gotten the guides wrapped yet. Alot of epoxy work on the inlays. Thanks, Mike

I agree, you should be able to cut it off and recoat it. When building rods I do that if I have any imperfections that may come through the epoxy.. Mike

Thanks guys! here is a close up of the wrap between the split grips. Mike

P.S. pouring your finish onto foil will greatly decrease the bubbles no matter what finish you use. It spreads the finish out and I use a straw to blow the few remaining bubbles out. Make sure you pour the finish onto the shiney side of the foil. Mike

Killer bait! Great work! Reading your post I've got a couple of questions for you. 1) You have been using Flex coat. But it yellows?! More of a statement, really, I have been using flex coat light and high build for my rods. I have decided to change as I noticed it yellows. It yellows while still in the bottle actually. And there is nothing worse than spending hours on an intricate wrap only to have it turn yellow... 2) You are trying the U40? I have never tried it myself, Have you ever tried Thread Master finish? I haven't used it yet...But, it was recommended to me by another rod builder named Billy Vivona (if you haven't heard of him look him up, one of the best out there right now) I will be using it when my order gets in. If you are interested in how it works for me I would be glad to pass it on. Billy says it doesn't yellow, and has great leveling properties. Food for thought! Mike

I built this one for a friend. It is a MHX - MB843. I used Amtak guides, a Castaway exposed reel seat. I turned the cork myself. This is the third MB843 I have built for the same guy. He loves this blank. Thanks for looking. Mike

It can be done. With good results. You would have to used purchased ferules. And, any modification would void any manufactures warranty on the original blank. I myself won't do it and won't do it for customers. There are just to many other blank options out there that should fit the bill. Mike

some really plain fly rods

I've built on several MHX blanks. None of the swimbait rods. The only thing, about the MHX is they seem a little on the heavier power rating than suggested. Just my opionion though! Still a very good blank for your $. Check out Swampland tackle for a Castaway swimbait blank. I know they are very good. They are always sold out. But, I know that they just got a shipment in yesterday I believe. Their prices are usually pretty good too! And Bill and Lance are stand up guys. Most of my bass builds are on either MHX or Castaway. Mike

outstanding finish on these! Good job Mike

That handle turned our very good! Keep the pics coming.

Hey bud, PM me your address. I have a DVD I picked up when I first started (have to find it ). I'll send it to you if you want. My advice, is to build yourself your own wrapping jig. You can customize it how you want. The kits aren't a bad way to go for the $$. But they do limit you on the types of rod and the thread colors what not. The guys down @ Swampland are stand up guys. If you have any questions let me know. Mike

thanks for the comments guys! Mike

I built this on a Rainshadow ISB842. It is a 7' Medium power fast action blank. I put a split grip on it. I'm building this for a good fishing buddy of mine who is a Navy vet. I think he will dig it. The CKW I put on the split grip portion of the rod, I was attempting to resemble the stripes on Ole Glory in the wind. I think it turned out good. Thanks for looking