Reel Seat Day!

Reel seats say a lot about a rod. I really enjoy making them. However, it takes a lot of work and there is a lot of waste if you want great ones. Today I started with 10 wood blanks and after turning them down I am left with eight. I have applied the first coat of varnish. After sanding and applying several more coats of varnish I will probably have to throw out several more. There are pits and ugly spots that come natural to the wood that make for bad spots in the wood insert.

I have started doing more varnishing because the wood that is available stabilized is very limited. In fact I have started experimenting with stabilizing my own wood and I hope to be able to offer this as an option soon.