What diameter was the neck of the wine bottle? You sure got that right about cork prices. 30 years ago, I was buying corks by the thousand (35mm, sanded) and never saw less than $0.25 each.
The handle needed to meet what we call the Kestrel Constant = the tips of your second and third fingers should just barely touch the fat ball part of your thumb.
I'd used 1" corks so a little belt sanding was done as 7/8" is just right for me. Actually, I alternated the corks with 3/8" black foam neoprene rings.
Sanded, that handle deformed in a nearly anatomical form to fit my fingers. I can feel the rod butt flex under my hand.
The Fenwick blank is brown. I wanted to do yellow/black guide wraps. The little orthodontic rubber bands on the guide feet allowed me to rotate the blank to find the stiffer spine.
I borrowed a jig to hold the rod pieces while wrapping = went quite quickly. Just snip off the rubber bands, one at a time.
If I felt motivated to build another rod, it would be a graphite 8'6" for maybe #6 at most.
The handle needed to meet what we call the Kestrel Constant = the tips of your second and third fingers should just barely touch the fat ball part of your thumb.
I'd used 1" corks so a little belt sanding was done as 7/8" is just right for me. Actually, I alternated the corks with 3/8" black foam neoprene rings.
Sanded, that handle deformed in a nearly anatomical form to fit my fingers. I can feel the rod butt flex under my hand.
The Fenwick blank is brown. I wanted to do yellow/black guide wraps. The little orthodontic rubber bands on the guide feet allowed me to rotate the blank to find the stiffer spine.
I borrowed a jig to hold the rod pieces while wrapping = went quite quickly. Just snip off the rubber bands, one at a time.
If I felt motivated to build another rod, it would be a graphite 8'6" for maybe #6 at most.
