Penn State Rod

[Upnorth]

This is a dropshot rod made for a Penn State fan. I'm not much of a thread wrap guy, so I marbled the epoxy.

[basser89]

Hey Upnorth,

Nice work!!!

While I'm from PA and lived 45 minutes from Happy Valley, I'm a Michigan fan! Go Blue!  ;D

[Guest DavidGreen]

Upnorth,

Nice work, what did you use to color your finish. I have been working with testors, and tap pigments.

Here is one of mine on a split grip....

[Upnorth]

Thanks guys.  Good looking work ReelMech.  I use Tap pigments in the epoxy, just a tab on a toothpick.  I have heard of using Testors, but have not tried that yet.

[basspro48]

Great lookin' rods guys , hey reelmech, I was browsing through your custom rods web-site and I was wondering about the marbling on the rods, do you just do whatever the customer asks or is there a list of designs to choose from?

[Guest DavidGreen]

basspro48,

do you just do whatever the customer asks or is there a list of designs to choose from

Usually it is the customers requested colors. There is no set design pattern, the rod is turning when the colored finish is applied and the pattern is started. I do reverse the rotation on some and it will also change the effect, plus i'll add some heat and this will also change the effect. But each finished product is different.

[JimRippe]

Nice job on the marble guys. I use Testors for pigments.  I built this one last spring for myself.

[Guest DavidGreen]

JimRippe,

That is a great camo job. Wasn't that rod posted in the photos section on rodbuilding.org

I did get some testors in the camo colors but haven't tried it yet.

I'll bet you could almost lose that rod if it was laid down in the grasses.

[JimRippe]

ReelMech,  Sure is posted there with many others of creations.  How do you like the "Flame" marble?

[Guest DavidGreen]

JimRippe,

I really like the way the flame marble came out. You aren't going to believe this but my wife (owner of the Reel Mechanic) actually does all of the marbling on the rods. She did 2 others that turned out even better than the one she did for my rod (posted pic). I tried to get her into building while I did reel service but to no avail. She will only do the marbling.

[JimRippe]

ReelMech

There's nothing wrong with her doing the flames.   They look great!   Marbling is not for everybody.  Do you do any wraps?

[Guest DavidGreen]

JimRippe,

That is a sweet wrap, gotta have a few hours in that one... ;D

I mostly build split grip, no fore grip, bumper style casting rods, don't have the calm hands or the sharp eyes for butt wraps anymore and never did get into weaves. The only embellishments that I use on a rod is the marbling. The tournament anglers here aren't into b ling, seems the bad guys (tackle thieves) at the bigger tournaments they fish are quite savvy on what a custom rod looks like from a distance. All of the rods I build now are on the stealthy side.

[JimRippe]

ReelMech,

Wrapping guides bumper style is the way to go.  I did one for myself using the Amtack. Titan guides.  I cannot believe how light the guides are.  Are you going to the National Rod Building Show in Charlotte?  I went last year and it was great and I know this year is going to be better by a long shot.  Unfortunatly, I can't go this year.  Your correct, most tournament anglers don't care much about how a rod looks.  They just want it to do the specific job they need the rod for.

[Guest DavidGreen]

Jim,

Haven't been able to make the show yet but I hope someday. Yeah the tourney anglers in my area don't like the bling factor to much. Had one angler tell me that he missed the fish of a lifetime when he got caught staring at his fancy bling covered rod (he was admiring how it looked when the sun hit it)...

LOL  ;D

Just got done marbling a split conversion (split grip from a 9" full grip), did it with testor's silver and blue. I'll post it sometime today after I get the shots of it done.

Tight Wraps!

David  

Here is the rod I spoke of. It was a 9" full rear grip and 2.5" fore grip. The shots aren't as good as I would like but it is a new camera and we are still learning it.

[JimRippe]

That's a nice marble job.  I have sold rods and some of the customers will not even fish with them.  They tell me " it's to nice to fish with".

[flechero]

Thanks for sharing all of these rods... threads like this inspire me!  Makes me want to stay up all night and head to the garage... I am still truly just begining but so far, my homemade lathe and Andy Dear's exotic burl has me pretty fired up!  If some of my backordered guides would hurry up and get here, I might actually get to finish one of my own rods!!!!

Thanks guys!

[Guest DavidGreen]

Ahhhhh patience grasshopper.....  

What guides got back ordered?

I have learned a lesson with backorder's, I always ask if a product is currently in stock before making the order. If not, I find a distributor that does have what I want in stock at the time I want to order...

Tight Wraps!    

[flechero]

Actually a bunch of guides were backordered....  At least one guide in each set... and a few tip tops, in 6.5.  They said it was because Fuji was shut down for the holidays and everything is a week or two behind.  They thought it would all be replenished by sometime next week.  

I actually called on my last two orders to be sure everything was there and they said it was... then got a call a few hours later saying the computer showed 1 or 2, but they actually were out.  

It won't be a big deal later on, but for now I'm dying to get one finished!!