Discovered during the fist dip of the day on a tip section that small indentations appeared near the ferrule. I removed the section and noticed the indentations were made by the 3-jaw chuck on my lathe during ferrule fitting and installation. I got these sanded down on all three tip sections. Also noticed these pressure marks on the butt sections as well, and got them sanded off.
I was going to use blued hardware on these two rods but because I do not have the quality I want from that process I have decided to stay with the shiny polished nickle-silver hardware look on both.
When I am satisfied that the depth and quality of blued hardware is where I want it, then I will make other fly rods with that hardware.
I used some new wave style corks I got directly out of Portugal on one of the rods and used traditional cork I got from a US supplier on the other one. I really like the look of the wave cork and will use it often. I applied some clear shrink wrap on both handles to keep them clean and undamaged during the finishing process.
