Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 22, 2012 Thought maybe you guys might enjoy following along on the build up of a rod I am building for myself as a new Steelhead stick. This rod is using a Prototype blank that was made especially for me so it's the only one of it's kind from this company. It is a 10ft 7wt 4pc Rainshadow blank. (all their 10' 7wt's are all 2pc from Rainshadow so I had them make this one special for me to test out). The plans for the grip is somewhat of a "mini spey" type grip. I am making the front grip about 10" long and the rear fighting butt around 4.5". I wont be casting two handed with it but I want the long front grip so that I can move my hand to different spots to make for a better balance point for when there's different amounts of line out from the tip (lighter in the reel). And then the longer rear butt for fighting big Steelhead. So here are the humble beginnings of the grip and butt. All exotic corks and black trim. The front grip is all epoxied up and the rings you see behind it on the table will soon be the fighting butt. Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aqueous1025 0 Report post Posted March 22, 2012 Definitely looking forward to your next post. It will be helpful to see one built as you go. :-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 22, 2012 Damn... busted! Ron I figured you guys wouldn't find out I was building yet another rod for myself if I posted here and not on RBF :lol: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThreeJsDad 0 Report post Posted March 22, 2012 How Timely, My brother and I were chatting last night about what we would build if we ever get to move back to Chrome country. I would build something similar to what you are doing. I would build a 10' 6wt switch because I love to spey cast. I might make the front grip a shade shorter but I would do the fighting butt very much like you have planned. Man would I beat up on the Steelies with a rod like that. Paul Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 22, 2012 In this picture I am working on reaming out the ID of the wood insert to fit exactly where it needs to be on the blank. Normally you would use some sort of arbors to take up the difference in size between the ID of the reel seat insert and the OD of the blank. Such as masking tape or dry wall mesh tape. And there is nothing wrong with doing it that way. But simply because I have time and am waiting for parts for other customers rods I am just taking my time and fitting the insert to the blank so that it is a snug fit without any arbors. The wood is Bethlehem olive wood. This is the fighting butt. I just finished shaping. All the shaping is done with a mesh drywall scraper and sandpaper. It is still just somewhat roughed in and still needs to be final sanded and smoothed out. You can see I went with more of a spey rear grip to the butt rather than just a tapered butt like most rods have. This in my opinion is a much more comfortable shape for when you are trying to angle the rod to work the Steelhead into the shore or net at the end of the fight and pushing down on the rear of the rod with your free hand. I also am using a transition ring which I tapered the fighting butt into between the butt and the threaded barrel to give it a smoother flow to the look where they meet. The entire grip and seat set up all mocked up. Final sanding and finishing of the set up I'll probably do this evening after a few other things are taken care of. Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 23, 2012 Next step is to open up the rear of the grip to accept the recessed front hood. All it takes is to open the hole up with a drill then use a dremel tool with a 3/8" sanding drum to open it to the correct size to fit the front hood. Opened up to fit, and then front recessed hood epoxied in... Since all rings have a 1/4" bore (hole) in them and I want the end of the fighting butt to be rounded and smooth then I have to fix the hole in it. Easy to do by epoxing in a round 1/4" rubberized plug out of the same material as the end of the butt. Leave half it sticking out so you can slice it flush with a razor. Sliced smooth and sanded.... Next is to ream the grips to fit the blank and then epoxy it to the blank. Dry fitting it forst to make sure your ready for epoxy. Now I have it all epoxied to the blank and installed for good. Also in these pics you can see that I did some extra gold thread work on the grip itself because I am coating this entire grip&butt with Marine grade Spar varnish so the thread work will be protected under 5 coats of finish. the above 3 pics are with only the first coat of Spar varnish. It will dry for 6 hours then I will buff the varnish with steel wool to smooth it, and then recoat it again. That process will be repeated about 5 times over the next 30 hours or so. Once the grip is completed with the varnish I will pick back up with the wrapping of the guides next probably in a day or two. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bucket 0 Report post Posted March 23, 2012 Wow ! That is already gorgeous. How much does something like that run? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 23, 2012 Wow ! That is already gorgeous. How much does something like that run? Thanks. I didn't have to pay for this blank since they made it for me, but if I did then between the blank and the exotic cork which is about $1.30 per half inch, I'd have about $150 "my cost" into it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 23, 2012 Fifth coat of Spar Varnish is now on it and drying in the drying cabinet to speed up the process. I've been hand rubbing/buffing out each coat in between application to smooth it out. I am thinking it will probably take one to two more coats to get it were I want it to be.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 24, 2012 After 8 coats of Marine Spar Varnish and hand rubbing out between each coat the grips are now pretty much done. I will still do one final finish coat over them after the rod is done just as a final smooth coat. I'm very pleased with the look of the grips. As you can see I have also started wrapping the rod now. I've chosen black, teal and metallic gold as the three main colors for the wraps. Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted March 24, 2012 Today I tackled the feather inlay design I have had in my head. It is somewhat of a double starburt of JC feathers overlapping some larger JC feathers in a fan patterns. 6 hours worth of work just into this lnlay. The start of the inlay...... Main inlays done...... Accents added to the main inlays and all done now...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goduster 0 Report post Posted March 24, 2012 That is definitely an over the top inlay Steve, I like it!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riffleriversteelheadslayer 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2012 leave it to Steve to come up with a feather version of a fireworks burst that is just as expensive Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtrout58 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2012 I hate blue wraps and I despise jungle cock inlays...yuk. That is one beautiful rod! Almost too pretty to fish. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
