My kids bought me a blank for Fathers Day--a Riffle 'glass 7' 3 wt (I got to pick it out). Because my kids are adults and pretty understanding they
let me start on the rod the day *before* Fathers Day (they weren't aware that I had already turned the grip on Friday 
).
So Saturday morning I shortened the reel seat insert and glued the seat and grip in place. Saturday evening, while my two daughters and son in law pulled out an old VCR and watched a $1.99 used bookstore copy of Wrath of Khan, I happily wrapped guides. After a very nice Fathers Day dinner yesterday I cleared the table and started applying finish. By midnight I had two coats on and am letting that cure before I decide if I need a third.
I haven't tried a line on the rod yet but will do that later today. So far I'm pretty pleased with it. The wraps are Candy Apple Red, Pac Bay single foot guides, cherry burl reel seat insert in a nickel silver downlocking slide ring seat. I ran out of cork rings so I made an emergency run over to the local tackle store--Barlow's Tackle--and picked up a grip for $14. It started out as a reverse half-wells but I quickly turned it into a modified cigar. The cork is surprisingly good quality considering the price.
I used the Klass Kote that Don gave me for the wraps. It has an extremely long pot life and is much nicer to work with than Flex Coat. The only issue I had was I had used a black enamel paint pen for the inscription and even though it had dried for 24 hours the Klass Kote totally liquified the paint--something that Flex Coat doesn't do. I quickly grabbed some thinner and was able to get all the inscription off without screwing up the surrounding wraps. That's why you see nice bordering wraps but no inscription
The "measure wrap" at 16" to keep me honest
).
So Saturday morning I shortened the reel seat insert and glued the seat and grip in place. Saturday evening, while my two daughters and son in law pulled out an old VCR and watched a $1.99 used bookstore copy of Wrath of Khan, I happily wrapped guides. After a very nice Fathers Day dinner yesterday I cleared the table and started applying finish. By midnight I had two coats on and am letting that cure before I decide if I need a third.
I haven't tried a line on the rod yet but will do that later today. So far I'm pretty pleased with it. The wraps are Candy Apple Red, Pac Bay single foot guides, cherry burl reel seat insert in a nickel silver downlocking slide ring seat. I ran out of cork rings so I made an emergency run over to the local tackle store--Barlow's Tackle--and picked up a grip for $14. It started out as a reverse half-wells but I quickly turned it into a modified cigar. The cork is surprisingly good quality considering the price.
I used the Klass Kote that Don gave me for the wraps. It has an extremely long pot life and is much nicer to work with than Flex Coat. The only issue I had was I had used a black enamel paint pen for the inscription and even though it had dried for 24 hours the Klass Kote totally liquified the paint--something that Flex Coat doesn't do. I quickly grabbed some thinner and was able to get all the inscription off without screwing up the surrounding wraps. That's why you see nice bordering wraps but no inscription
The "measure wrap" at 16" to keep me honest
