The molting Diamondback Project

[MJL]

Many of you know about my love of carp fishing and some of you send PM’s asking when my next adventure is going to be. Thanks for your enthusiasm in the subject. There however was a time when I spent just as many hours on the banks of my local tribs floating roe downstream, tossing mepps spinners upstream and swinging big gaudy flies past logjams. Steelhead have taken a back seat in my life mainly because of school. My first semester in university was the last time I really put serious time on the rivers. I earned great marks that semester but come second, I really started feeling the strain and that was it – I made the choice to concentrate on my studies. Plus the 1.5hr commute from the Humber (my after-class haunt) to back home sucked during rush hour with a 13’ float rod in the subway and bus. For the last 3.5 yrs I missed out on some great runs of steel because exams and assignments happened to coincide with spring thaw and the autumn rains. For the last 3yrs, the trout opener was the only time I managed to really get out for steel.

 

Just before my sabbatical from steelhead, I purchased a mid-section and tip-section of an old 13'6" Diamondback float rod blank from another angler. I had the intention to turn it into a drift rod for bottom bouncing or for tossing spinners. The blank had obviously seen better days. It suffered from a bad case of pier rash with a lot of its paint missing and its clear coat scratched in many places. Some of the paint was stripped off when the original owner took the guides off. Yet, it still had a beautiful action. 3 months later, I found an unfinished butt section of the same model blank on the internet. I bought it. The decal was slightly blemished and the owner sold it to me cheap. In total I paid around $65 for all 3 pieces.

 

For 3 years the blank leaned in the corner of my bedroom gathering dust waiting to be built. In that time I totally forgot about it – I also didn’t have much time in between school and carp season to actually build it. It wasn’t until I attended this year’s fishing & boat show did I remember I had it - I was in the Natural Sports booth fondling a custom Sage float rod when the light hit me. When I got home, I examined the blank and did what any rational person would do…I picked up a dull x-acto knife and scraped most of the paint off tip and mid section – Hence the “molting” part. Off to the store for some new guides and some thread.

 

After completing my homework and assignments, I spent an hour or two (or three) each night working on it. In total I spent around 45-50hrs on the build between mid-February and late March

 

A few pics I took during the build

 

My parents let me set this thing up in the living room for a month. I had a few problems with dust landing on the wet epoxy. That’s a heater just behind it to maintain optimal epoxy curing temps of 70+ degrees F.

 

 

I had to ‘snake’ the rod through a piano bench, a chair and 2 sets of bar stools but it worked well.

 

Turning motor

 

Here are a few pics of the finished rod:

 

The finished rod – George at Angling Specialties turned out a beautiful cork handle for me on the lathe

 

A beautiful wooden reel-seat I found in my rod-building drawer – Both stylish and functional.

 

In the sun, the rosewood glows bright orange

 

You can see the difference between the old paint job (Butt section -left) and the plain graphite (mid & tip: centre and right)

 

I left some paint at the ferrules and covered whatever scratches with a couple coats of epoxy.

 

The Butt section – Also with the “molting theme”

 

Personalization on the other side

 

In all the years I built rods, I’ve never come across a project with so many problems. It was as if they were the work of higher beings. Some of those being:

- Weird dust landing into wet epoxy while I was in the washroom

- Bubbles in epoxy caused by working in a cold room

- Fish-eyes in epoxy caused by an unknown airborne oil or silicone source

- Having rod sections coming undone while turning on the motor and having partially hardened epoxy sag on guide wraps

- Having brushes fall apart while applying epoxy and the hairs burying themselves inside the finish

All of which in each case I decided to strip the affected guides off and rebuild.

 

This will probably be my last build for a while. In the later stages of the build (namely the gluing and assembly of the handle and some epoxy work on the butt section) I had to have George at Angling Specialties do it for me. Over the last year and a bit, I’ve developed an allergy to epoxy and this last build had me with rashes and hives all over my arms and neck. I’ve never seen it so bad. It took 4-5 days till they partially cleared up…It’s not something I want to push further in the future. I’m a little sad to be giving up rod building for the foreseeable future (or at least till I can find a hazmat suit to wear or a suitable substitute to epoxy) BUT owning rods custom built by masters of the trade like George and Tom Cheng from Angling Specialties, John Collina, Randy from Natural Sports and Spiel doesn’t seem like a bad thing. It’s not the most beautiful custom rod out there…Actually my friends kid me saying I have a weird sense of taste but I love the way it turned out. 11 more days till I’m done school and graduate. Dying to take her out for a spin.

 

Hope this has inspired some of you to take a second thought at your old tackle.

 

Back to taxation and economics homework I go

[kickingfrog]

Lots of work and obstacles, as well as very understanding parents. Rod building is something I hope to try sometime, I think I'll stick to shorter rods however. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Edited April 5, 2008 by kickingfrog

[camillj]

Well done .. congrats on sticking with it ... be careful with the allergy though .. the body is a wierd thing and you really need to pay attention when it starts trying to tell ya stuff

 

Hopefully you'll get many years of pleasure out of it .. sounds like you earned it !

[ccmtcanada]

Wow MJL....all that adversity, but look at the final product! I'm seriously impressed!

 

Allergy, taking up space in the house for a month....

 

You wanna make me one now? LOL

[mepps]

Real nice work MJL! Thats dedication!

[Pinch]

Very impressive, you've done a great job and have every right to feel proud of what you've accomplished!

[Victor]

wow! i bet u can't wait to christen it

 

hang in there, 10 more days ...

[Tarzan's Jane]

Talk about Determination and Perserverance...too bad about the allergy. Well done.

[MJL]

Thanks for your comments guys

 

I'd love to remain close to the hobby that I love even if I can't do it all. If anyone's ever in the Scarborough area and wants to learn the basics of rod-building (like how to tie guides on a rod), let me know and I'll gladly spend a few hours showing you the basics.

 

Thanks again guys

[brickNblock]

Wow Bud........

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!

I wish I could get away with saying..."Wisht I had the the time........."

Ive simply too much other things on the go.....

School......Work........

Finishing my shed and office.

Starting/Completeing the addition on my house this year.

Lure making..

and most of all.........Getting used to the new boat and

F I S H I N G........

I truly enjoyed reading your story and soaked in your dedication to the end of finished product.

WayToGo........

Cant wait for your first report when in use....

bNb

[Spiel]

....That's beautiful! I know the kind of satisfaction you feel from making a functional fishing rod from others cast offs. You've done an excellent job. I really like the way you left some of the origional colour on the blank at the ferrules, very clever. Now get out there and enjoy it.

[wallyboss]

you have one thing that I don't have PATIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Moosebunk]

Fantastic man. What a great job for your efforts.