4 weeks of chaos! It's a race to the 22nd

[swirlchaser]

I have been commissioned again for yet another labor of love. My three little ones want "custom" rods and Gina has asked for a lighter, inshore rod for the Fluke season. In purple of course! 4 rods? and Fluke season opens May 22nd??? I haven't even poured my bucktail jigs yet for the season opener! Rather than have a bunch threads I figured I would keep all the chaos of the next few weeks in one place Now where do I start? I cut the EVA for Gina's grips, I hate contact cement so I'll get that out of the way first. Stay tuned

 

[swirlchaser]

Couldn't find the motivation to start the thread work so I decided to pour some lead, welcome to Marco's Tackle Emporium. It's easier to buy this stuff, but what fun would that be?


Finally found a use for the oven in my apartment

 

[swirlchaser]

I know, I know, this is a rod building thread so here's the first one.

6'6" 10-17lb spincaster for my princess Isabella

 

[fredaevans]

Serious 'Wow Factor' going on here with your rod builds.
:army:

 

[mcnerney]

That will be a beautiful rod once it is finished, as usual. As Fred stated, lots of WOW!

 

[brookfieldangler]

Absolutely stellar looking work!!

 

[swirlchaser]

Thanks guys. I let the kids pick out their own colors and patterns, I'm pretty impressed with their choices.

 

[swirlchaser]

OK, here's # 2. This is my lil buddy Tyler's rod. Being an artist he is very specific and I was worried about this one. He's a lot like me and would have had no problem telling me he didn't like it. Thankfully I got his nod of approval and I got some color preservative on it this morning before work.
This is two wraps in two days, my eyes are burning and my fingers hurt. I don't know how my buddies do 5-6 rods a week but I'm sure glad I don't make a living doing this (I'd be very poor). I'll be taking a few days off before I touch another thread.

 

[caseywise]

amazing!!!
brilliant work yet again:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

casey

 

[swirlchaser]

amazing!!!
brilliant work yet again:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

casey

Thanks Casey, two more to go and a set of grips to turn. I'm going to take the easy route with the guides on the kid's rods, I'll do a Henry Ford. You can have any color you want, as long as it's black

 

[Auntie Em]

Amazing! Beautiful! You're making me exhausted, just seeing the pictures!! Your "buddies" are so incredibly fortunate to have you!! <would you consider adopting me??>

 

[swirlchaser]

Amazing! Beautiful! You're making me exhausted, just seeing the pictures!! Your grandbuddies are so incredibly fortunate to have you!! <would you consider adopting me??>

LOL, thank you but I have 3 kids and Gina has 2 so we have 17,15,10,10, and a 9 year old. My plate is pretty full right now...

 

[fredaevans]

Thanks Casey, two more to go and a set of grips to turn. I'm going to take the easy route with the guides on the kid's rods, I'll do a Henry Ford. You can have any color you want, as long as it's black:D

Henry Ford would love your choice. But I've driven 'white' longer than I can even remember. Jeep on the drive way is white, and been there (well driving around) since 2001. There is some sort of electrical drain (over head lights?) that don't shut down properly and the hood up/bat charger on for a few hours. (A total pain where some one sits!!!) and off we go.

 

[swirlchaser]

Henry Ford would love your choice. But I've driven 'white' longer than I can even remember. Jeep on the drive way is white, and been there (well driving around) since 2001. There is some sort of electrical drain (over head lights?) that don't shut down properly and the hood up/bat charger on for a few hours. (A total pain where some one sits!!!) and off we go.

Disconnect the lights for a few days and see if it holds a charge.

 

[theboz]

Nice work as always Marco!Not to add to your stress but you need to hit those Shad again and the bucktails need hair and dont forget the Stripers !
Just kidding!
Been there and done that( I had 4 of my own who all wanted new rods for salt and fresh) Luckily I had my good friend Uncle Joe the rod builder who always helped. Now that hes gone I have three grandchildren so you know why I was at Cabelas today. More costly but less time consuming!

---------- Post added at 02:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:12 AM ----------

Like you said about your rod builder friends I dont know how some of these guys do 5 or 6 rods a week! Joe was a full time butcher and rewrapped all the rods for all the boats in Freeport plus built customs for a full list of customers including Yankee and Ranger players as well as guys like me. The man was a machine and still going strong at 80!
Would build anything except a fly rod. Made me a noodle stick one year and somehow I convinced him to make me a fly rod out of a similiar blank. Of all the rods he made for me and my family over the years I treasure that the most cause its the only one out of literally thousands that he ever made.
One piece 10 wt casts like a rocket just a pain to transport!

 

[swirlchaser]

There must be something about the name Joe and rodbuilding. This is my buddy Joey's drying cabinet, it will dry 18 rods at once

 

[sumojo]

That's so awesome great job.

 

[Auntie Em]

<would you consider adopting me??>

LOL, thank you but I have 3 kids and Gina has 2 so we have 17,15,10,10, and a 9 year old. My plate is pretty full right now...

Ya can't blame a gal for tryin' !!

 

[swirlchaser]

Wasn't ready to get back on the thread, so I spent a little time at the lathe getting a rough cut on the grips. I cut it down as one piece but it will eventually be a three piece, split grip setup.


Ready to go



The NERBS wizard is everywhere

 

[swirlchaser]

Slight hiccup in the plans here. Gina has decided she will get more use out of a light, freshwater spinning outfit since we're always taking the kids to the lake. The patterns on this grip may be too big to build a smaller split grip.