blood will spill

it's been a while since the last casualty in the rod shoppe

shoved my thumb with force into the sharp end of the froe

six strips rough planed

my arm is sore

and my fingertips nicked and bloody

that's a gel mat on the floor

I've got two - one at each bench

those sanuk shoes?

their soles are like gel pads

this is not my first nor last shout out for sanuk shoes

gruntwork con't

going from what we have on the left to the hovering equilateral triangle

right now I'm battling a beast of a strip

and it is far from the toughest of the lot

incredible power fibers in these strips

they should prolly be made into a five weight

rather than the intended 3wt

and I believe the strips were roughed out for a 7ft rod...

YIKES!

look at poor p-nutt's teef!

six of them were extracted as they say

recovery was effortless and painless

he had his anal glands expressed as well

pleasant thought that, eh?

better get back to it

node work is tedious bidness

we call this a schliske bamboo tramp stamp

butt section of the thomas 5wt and maple reel seat insert I'm considering using

it's easy to get distracted while pressing nodes

I made a handful of bodkins

planed the apexes off the rod sections

two rods ready for gluing

while I await delivery of glue

anyways there are more nodes to press

I am half way done though

the bottle is empty

nightcap

benchside views

thomas 5wt mentioned below

cattanach sir d pictured alongside

cooking cane

unfortunately, it's not all that often that I get to cook cane

fortunately, this morning I did just that

note the variable temp heat gun

and dual probe thermometers

insulated steel tube hung from pulleys and adjustable

gloves are necessary when you extract and flip then remove rod sections

they're right hot

rod is blonde thomas 3pc 8ft 5wt
and my suspicion is that this thing will be a cannon

sila-flex medallion rod

fiberglass rod built in costa mesa california

I need to get this out and play with it but it is a beautiful thing

a couple weeks ago my brother told me that dad stopped by his house and left me a rod

his wife's father's rod

I picked it up today

oh my

this thing looks like it has never been fished

ever

note the rubber o-rings on the ends of the male ferrules

kinda nifty

they're right fuggin' snug

bigass female ferrules

here's what wiki sez...

Medallion Rods, lightweight rods with Foulproof guides and tip-tops, “Armor plated” thread wrapped ferrules, brown spiral wraps with white trim, and a high grade, screw locking, anodized aluminum reelseat with two lock nuts. These rods were packaged with an aluminum case and cloth bag and sold for $60-$75. For the mid 50s, this was a very expensive fly rod - the comparable Phillipson Eponite rods were selling for $40-$50. Apparently, by 1956 the classic Silaflex guide wraps were in place.

happy thanksgiving

I celebrate with you my favorite holiday

happy thanksgiving one and all

stay safe and share the love

don't forget to thank the Lord for His blessings

the hard work is done
it's all gravy from here on out
*knock on wood*

that's gonna be an  8ft 5wt 3pc rod

thomas taper

surprised?

it's for yours truly

and will likely be the last rod I build for myself

in a long time

I've got more than enough rods

I guess I'm thankful for that

my favorite holiday is tomorrow

give thanks w/ a gracious heart

oh yeah - sparky says congratulations to ryan braun for winning the NL mvp

gruntwork con't

roughed out 18 strips today

felt good

my wrist is sore

and fingers cramped

my favorite week of the year began on wednesday...

with the airing of the president's cup in melbourne australia

yesterday I watched so much golf it was obscene

today will likely see more of the same

as a matter of fact I'm watching  some that I'd seen last night

soon though we'll reach the point I quit

disappointing to see my pick for #1 oklahoma state go down on the cyclones

this is starting to look like a fishing pole...

sweet peas are coming up in the backyard garden...

se 'em?

this turkey won't be eaten next week...

I think I'll be baking a few pies this week

every day is like a weekend

pay attention! no one's listening

finish planing a butt strip

12 strips - half of which are roughed half finished

note the size difference between a finished strip and a roughed strip

checking the fit

a fella stopped by the shoppe for a visit

he had a few interesting flies...

bread fly

right - new left - used

pretty ding donged clever methinks

oyster cracker fly

floats hook up due to a slip of mono and some split shot

hanging off the top side of the fly

he also had another bread imitation I wanted to see

I tie one from spun deer hair - perhaps there is a simpler solution

he had an ingenious corn fly tied of foam w/ a pocket for weight

I don't normally feature anyone else's flies here

(not even the crazy great mini hopper)

but big props to jason jones for thinking outside the box

w/ his fly design

BC

hog sloppin'

there's a crow needing shooting

crows'll eat the little ckicks

apparently the turkey is slated for a deep fryer in march

the pigs don't know their fate

nothing you haven't seen before

more rough planing

crunching numbers

bench notes and debris

I'm taking my time

slowing the fuck down and doing it right?

or just lazy

I am plenty lazy

well it's about time

I made some curls today

my poor little arms aren't used to that type of workout

anyways, rough planed three strips

no hurries

jrank a few beers

listened to the new jayhawks

and broke out an old hated tool

I thought I'd retired

happy birthday to me

'bout time, hunh?

cause node squishing is like that

boring

I'm done
see?

still boring