New Journals Finished

 I just finished up these journals, all handcarved, stamped, dyed and finished.  Each are "one-of-a-kind". $125 each. (add tax,shipping if you're not local)  You can get your loved one something made in China, or....

                                (SOLD)

 

 

(SOLD)

New Case for New Fly Rod

 Most of you know that I collect vintage fishing tackle and lures. One of those pieces was a "new in box" Shakespear fly reel, made of magnesium - I kept it on a shelf for display but I got to thinking, "that think might be fun to fish"!  So I began searching for a fiberglass fly rod - old school right? And I came across a fellow that makes fiberglass fly rods - he has an Etsy site but the ones he had for sale had darker colored hardware. After communicating with him, he was more than accommodating and made me a 7'6" 4 piece 4w rod to go with the reel. I ended up staying old school and lined it with Cortland 4w double taper floating fly line.

But now I needed a case!  I've made two leather wrapped tube and this would be my third one. I kept track of the hours spent on it and it was 22.5 hours. I am whittling down the time it takes by making and storing notes and diagrams and templates. Here's how it turned out:

Making of a Fly Rod Case

 With Winter down time I thought I'd try and make Fly Rod Case #2.  A few years ago I put together Fly Rod Case #1 and it came out pretty good, but as usual, there were a couple of areas for improvement. 

The first step was to cut out some leather. I took a sample piece of leather and wrapped it around my fly rod tube to get the proper width of the leather that I would cut, then cut it out: TIME = 4 hours

The next step was to mark out lines around the edges and then to trace the design on the leather that I wanted. I chose a floral design with a couple of Redfish. The rectangles will be where the strap and buckle hardware are attached.

I went ahead and cut out and made a bunch of buckle and D ring holders...

Then I used a swivel knife to cut out the pattern on the leather. By the way, the leather has been "cased" with water to allow the swivel knife to cut the leather like butter. TIME =2.5 hours

TOTAL TIME = 6.5 hours

Then I used a couple of different beveling tools to knock down all the edges and give the pattern some depth..

Multiple stamps were used to complete the design, then everything else was stamped with a background tool..

And finally, the finished tooled piece of leather. Stay tuned for dyeing and finishing of the leather!

TIME = 7.75 hours

TOTAL TIME = 14.25 hours

Punching holes for later stitching

Beginning the back ground dying - I'm using Forest Green

All finished with the back ground dying!

Dying the fish! After I dyed them, let them dry, I "blocked" them with a finish.

After the "block" was dry, I wiped an antique stain over the entire project.

All the staining is done. I'll put a finish over the entire thing, let it dry, then move on to putting the hardware on.

TIME = 4 hours

TOTAL TIME = 18.25 hours

Straps were stained and finished then riveted to the case. I also reinforced them with some stitching.

I glued the leather to the fly rod tube and tried lacing with the holes that I had punched earlier. It didn't work. So I had to take a rotary hole punch and make each hole bigger.

TIME = 4.5 hours

TOTAL TIME = 22.75 hours

The tube is about 32" long. I begin the lacing using a bent needle!. And more lacing! This is 1/8" wide lace.

TIME = 3.75 hours

TOTAL TIME = 26.5 hours

Sewing on the end cap

Made some straps and finished up the top cap and attached them both.

TIME: = 6.5 hours

TOTAL TIME:  33.0  hours

And here's the finished Rod case! Now I need to make the Reel case to finish up the project.

Cutting and punching the reel case pieces, then carving a design

Sewing a lining into the reel case

Lacing the reel case together

The finished Rod and Reel Case!