[para_adams]

My son will be graduating from college end of April and I've been thinking about a special graduation gift. He somehow got bit by the fly fishing bug, and thinks bamboo rods are great to cast too. Thankfully, my wife easily gave in when I told her I wanted to build a rod for his present. So far, here's the plan:

8' granger 8040 taper in a 3/2 configuration, blank to be made by Dennis Stone

Ammoniated treatment to give it a rich, medium-brown tone

Thread probably dark red with gold tips (like a Heddon #20)

Reel Seat??? 1) Gotta' be down locking. 2) I don't like slide ring seats. Just am not comfortable with them. 3) Want a vintage look, not Sage Rod modern. 4) Needs to have wood insert that blends well with the ammoniated bamboo color. My favorite seats are the threaded vintage seats used on Paynes and the like with simple wood, not the wildly figured woods so popular.

So how come I can't find these online? Where should I look? Any ideas are welcome. Ron

 

[Flyguy65]

PM sent

 

[Old406Kid]

http://www.genuinebellinger.com/store/reel-seats/reproduction-reel-seats/

 

[para_adams]

http://www.genuinebellinger.com/store/reel-seats/reproduction-reel-seats/

Those Bellinger reproduction seats are a definite possibility. Very cool. For my own rod I might not spend that much but for my son's grad gift its a possibility.
Ron

 

[Old406Kid]

Those Bellinger reproduction seats are a definite possibility. Very cool. For my own rod I might not spend that much but for my son's grad gift its a possibility.
Ron

I know downlocking was a priority but these are on the other end of the spectrum pricewise.
http://theanglersroost.com/products...kel-silver-reel-seat-with-exotic-burl-insert/

You might also take a look at REC, again on the high end.

 

[para_adams]

Thanks Old406Kid. Gotta be down locking to put that reel weight down as far as possible to balance the bamboo. But why are there thousands of great up-lockers and very few down-lockers. I guess I'm just in a small market niche.

 

[hbmcc]

You can have the real thing, NOS. Been sitting around in warehouses, and closets, for ... oh, the last 60 years. Has the real "Victory" stamp, too.

BTW, what cool gift! Mine was the parental unit writing off a loan for my first home. An "antique", er.. surplus research trailer. Flipped it a few hours later.

 

[Troutcreek]

Ron,
I'm a big fan of Bellinger hardware and reel seats. They seem to have a good balance between ascetics and light weight. I'm not exactly sure what hbmc (above) is referencing but in general I agree that you can locate original Wright McGill/Granger reels seats from salvaged glass or bamboo rods pretty reasonably. Granger reel seats look heavy but when you take them off and handle them they are incredibly light, and well made.
Good luck with a very cool project.
Ray

 

[para_adams]

Ron,
I'm a big fan of Bellinger hardware and reel seats. They seem to have a good balance between ascetics and light weight. I'm not exactly sure what hbmc (above) is referencing but in general I agree that you can locate original Wright McGill/Granger reels seats from salvaged glass or bamboo rods pretty reasonably. Granger reel seats look heavy but when you take them off and handle them they are incredibly light, and well made.
Good luck with a very cool project.
Ray

Ray, as usual you are right on target. The rod will be an 8040 granger taper and I have a W&M seat in excellent condition...even polished it up til it shined. But after thinking long and hard, I realized that putting the W&M seat on the rod would satisfy my personal preference to match the seat to the historical taper, but my son would probably care less about that match. And I want him to think this rod is the most beautiful in the world when we pulls it out of its rod sack after graduation in spring, so I ordered this Bellinger, with Koa just like the photo:

http://www.genuinebellinger.com/store/down-locking-threaded-barrel-690.html

Ron

 

[Tom House]

That is a very handsome seat. I've always been a fan of downlock pocketed butt caps.

TC

 

[phuck this]

Look at lemeke reel seats, he was the machines for stubble and makes the beautiful reelseats out there. I would use nothing else!

 

[para_adams]

Well, the blank arrived from Dennis Stone and the reel seat arrived from Bellinger after traveling back and forth from Oregon to here to Oregon to a different part of Oregon to here (they typo'd one digit off on our house number). Spent some time trying out a half dozen thread colors under straight varnish last night to decide which shade of red to dark red I'll choose (wraps were in the butt section where the cork and handle will be).

With possible significant snow forecast for later part of next week, if I do get a "snow day" I'll have a fun project to work on while heating up lots of hot coffee.

 

[hbmcc]

Looks like there is a "fish Oregon" message.

You need to OD on caffeine to wrap? Or, dying the thread? Have used tea before [another life]. They are an option for shifting color hue(?) tint(?). I don't think there is any fade with coffee or tea stains.

Thanks for keeping us in the Loop on your project, Ron.

 

[para_adams]

Hurray! After taking all winter my son's graduation gift is finally pretty much done. A little more fine steel wool and polishing and I'll call it good. The seat ended up a Bellinger with Koa insert. The blank was from Dennis Stone, a Granger 8040 clone. And a custom sewn rod bag by my wife. It's gonna' be a sweet casting rod:

 

[Mike Monsos]

That is stunning Ron! You have really outdone yourself this time. I'm sure this is something that will be a prized possession for your son.

Mike

 

[para_adams]

That is stunning Ron! You have really outdone yourself this time. I'm sure this is something that will be a prized possession for your son.

Mike

Thanks Mike. I tried to make it my best effort. But those double trim wraps drove me crazy, and the red wraps had to be non-color preserved while the trim wraps were color preserved. Worked out ok but way too much effort if it wasn't a special rod. Ron

 

[Flyguy65]

Very nice Ron! Your son will enjoy that Dad built rod for life! When do you present the rod to him? You'll have to take pictures of that and his first fish on it....now go fish shorty!!

 

[para_adams]

We plan to get him home for a week after graduation and I've got a Yakima float reserved. That 8' rod is a bit under gunned for the yak but we may hit the mothers day Caddis hatch and it might be fine for casting small xcaddis flies.

 

[Troutcreek]

Nice work Ron and a fine taper.

 

[Tom Bowden]

Ron, excellent work. I really like the description "Granger 8040 Taper." It's clear where the taper came from, but also clear that the rod wasn't made by Granger.

Tom