Another ROD for the pistol grip

Here is another rod for the pistol grip handle.

A St Croix SC3 extra fast rated at 4-10lb. The blank was shorten to make the overall length of 6'3" for this complete setup.

The aluminum ferrule is custom made to fit the blank.

Test fitting the blank to the handle.

The ferrule part was kinda plain so I decide to put a short length of weaving to it. Just plain silver and black thread weaving to create a slight bling at the joint right after the decal.

After several coating of epoxy and you will be able to see the effect of the silver thread.

The rod was fitted with Fuji Alconite micro guides.

The wrapping was coated with a thin layer of epoxy to minimize the overall weight of the rod.

Here are the extra sets of aluminium ferrules for another rod to be pimped.

This is one of the rods which is on the dryer.

Modern "Classic" Trigger reel seat

WELCOME to my first chapter of 2015.

2015 .. vintage style reel seats...

I brought this back all the way from Japan last year. These reel seats are produced by Glass Eye Works in Japan. 

There are several company who are still manufacturing this kind of reel seat, Glass Eye Works, Brightliver, Vagabond... just to name a few. 

This type of vintage reel seats are still in demand in the market although their segment are small.

To add some personal touch to those reel seat blanks, the grip for these reel seats are custom made from wood.

Commonly the handle will look something like that. Finger notches are carved to the grip for more comfortable handling.

To further enhance the personalization... additional carving can be done to the butt area of the wood grip like this....

Wicked!!!!

More photos of that in different angle below.

When the carving done, the wooden grip was given a coat of epoxy and left to dry.

These are the photos of the completed reel seats. Now I just need to build half of a rod for this reel seat.

The wood grips above was carved by a friend of mine up north, Anthony Ooi. 
I would like to thanked him for taking his time to customized the wooden grip for me and for taking up the challenge to carve the skull on the handle butt.


Here is another brand of the vintage reel seats...

... but this will be another story!