Rod Group Blog

August 1, 2009
Our meeting was held at Doug Tripmiers house in Dresser, WI. He provided a nice spread of brats and all the fixins.

Doug demonstrated how to use transfer film using a hot pen. He called it ruler writing as he uses a ruler to keep a straight line on the rod and then finishes off the lettering when he is done. Interesting process to say the least. This prompted a good conversation about inscribing rods and the many different ways of doing so.

After a great lunch and the usual conversation about rods and the business in general we went to Doug's lathe shop where he demonstrated how he grinds and polishes his guide feet. It was mentioned that you should not forget to grind down the sides of the guides as well so the thread doesn't jump the outside tips and make it difficult to make a close wrap.

Over to the lathe we went and after a good discussion about different woods, turning tools and the need to keep them sharp all the time, we got Don Pace to give us a demonstration on a reel seat that Doug had started on. It was amazing how easy he made it look. Don H. also had great input on methods and the need to set the tool bar correctly.

I plan on using the blog page to update those folks who couldn't make it on what took place and it will become more detailed as we go along.

The next meeting sounds like we will have a booth at a local county festival near Don Pace's house where we can all sell our rods and give live demonstrations on rod building in general. This will be a great chance to build a complete rod and raffle it off to one of our group. Of course it will only be able to get to the stage of having CP on it, it could be really neat.

September 14, 2009

Our meeting was held at the Athens Township annual picnic at the Athens Town Hall. We had an entire building dedicated to our group and to the Custom Rod Builders Guild. The Guild sponsored a rodbuilding class for some local kids. The class was taught by Al Hutchinson and his wife who made the trip from central Wisconsin just to teach the class. It was an outstanding success with Al's expertise the class was totally complete by 2:30 in the afternoon which started at between 8am and 9am. Thanks to Al and his wife for being there. For a small town picnic there was a pretty good turnout with lots of families and best of all, free food.

Don Pace demonstrated lathe work in a different building and spent a lot of time answering questions. I also spent time answering a lot of questions while I was demonstrating a diamond wrap. Bob Hasbrook was another source for many questions for the locals (young and old) who really seemed excited to see how to build rods, handles, butt wraps and watching the kids build their rods. Who knows we might just have got one or two of them excited enough to give it a try on their own and join our local group. I would have been great to see more of our group there, but then we are getting into prime fishing time and we all know what that means.

There was some discussion about trying to get some more local clubs going, such as one up north and one down south of the cities so people wouldn't have to travel so far to have these get togethers. So if there are some of our group who travel a good distance let me know and maybe I can help in some way if you want to start your own group.

The display rods drew tons of lookers all with tons of questions, especially about Bob's handles which he had also brought just handles to show as well. Rightfully so as we all know how beautiful Bob's work is. As a matter of fact Bob has volunteered to demonstrate how to build a wood handle from A to Z at our next meeting. The meeting will be held either at my house as my garage is clean enough to accommodate everyone or at another location in Mendota Heights. More information will follow.

I have compiled a list of all our members, so if you are not getting notified of our meetings you need to contact me with your email at rodsbyvern@mywdo.com an I will get you on the list.

I'm already thinking about the holidays which are coming up fast and one thought would be to have a December meeting at a local pub with food and drink and just shoot the breeze over a nice lunch. Something we can talk about anyway, I think it would be a good time and still be beneficial as my bet is rodbuilding would come up in the conversation somewhere.

October 5, 2009

I normally wait until the next meeting to enter information here, however, I have been receiving a good amount of "hate" mail from one particular organization which for now will remain nameless. I have severed all my memberships to all rodbuilding organizations with the hopes this will stop any further such mail. It is really unfortunate that adults cant keep one common goal in mind and that being teaching kids and anyone else the craft of rodbuilding. There is always someone who wants it their way or no way at all. That is not conducive to my goal and I will no longer tolerate it from any organization. Power struggles happen frequently in any organization, however, when it gets in the way of the mission statement of the organization, it renders the mission statement useless.

We have our little group of rod builders and are always willing to accept anyone who might be interested. We have no by laws, we are not incorporated, we are a democracy where the majority rules. We decide at the meeting when and where the next meeting will be and what the topic will center around, its that simple folks, so come on and join us and learn a rewarding craft that can be passed on for many generations.
Please excuse any spelling errors, my spell checker is not working properly.

October 21, 2009

The meeting started with Bob setting up all his equipment and jigs. And there were a lot of jigs.(More on that later) Bob had some handles already set up for lathe work. All the veneers were located where he needed them. The object was to create an elliptical pattern. The set up seemed simple enough and the handle was awesome when it was done. Then we went down to the shop and he started showing us the jigs we would need in order to create the eclipse. He explained what each one was for and how it worked and walked us through what the steps would be. He also came armed with some very instructive handouts explaining each step as you went along. They contained instructions for building some of the jigs he uses along with tons of more information.

It is difficult to summarize all that went on in words as the entire meeting was a visual event and you had to be there to understand it. For me to try to explain it would be an injustice, therefore, I wont. I will provide handouts to those who were not here and would like a copy. Overall, the meeting was a huge success and extremely informative. Thanks to Bob for putting on such a great demonstration.

I want to clarify my comments on October 5. If you are a member of any organization or group, it doesn't matter. Bottom line is everyone is welcome organization or not. I just didn't want those of us who belong to other clubs or organizations to think they are not welcome. They are as is anyone who wants to join us.

It was decided that we should by pass a meeting in November as it is hunting season as well as Thanksgiving, so we thought that one in mid December would be fine. The best date I can see in December is December 12 as it is right in the middle of all the holidays and hopefully we could get a chance to attend. Gary Wicks has offered to hold the meeting at his shop. The subject of reel repair was discussed but no solid subject was decided upon. As things progress I will be sending out my usual reminders and will include the subject information

If anyone has a subject or is willing to provide a meeting place please contact me so I can send out a mass mailing and get some discussion going on what we should tackle next.. I now have a complete list of all members and if you would like your name on or off of it please let me know. Hopefully no one will want to be removed.

As winter is a busy time of year for all of us, at least I hope so, there could be some great idea's for meetings, such as Ice Rod Building. Personally, I cant stand making ice rods but would be happy to see how some folks do it. Maybe they have an easier way to deal with the small guides and blanks. It would be nice if the economy would get better and winter was busy building allot of rods, ice rods and regular rods. You would think people might be thinking fishing rods for Christmas gifts but as of yet I have not received any requests at all.

Anyway, send me your thoughts about the date in December and idea's for the subject. Gary is a wizard at reel repair so that might be one good idea. Just send your thoughts to me at rodsbyvern@mywdo.com . I think I need to emphasize that I'm not the "president" or dictator of this group, I simply pass on the information I get at previous meetings and disseminate information so please send all the idea's you can think about as far as how we want to proceed with our meetings and subject matter.

October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween everyone, I hope you and the little ones have a safe and fun day. I decided to make an entry for the month of November as we are not having a meeting this month. I have a feeling it would be tough to get anyone out of their deer stands or away from the Thanksgiving day dinner table.

Now is the time to start thinking about building those ice rods if you haven't already. There are some years you cant keep up with the demand. Lets just hope for early ice and late ice out and we should do well. We are going to discuss ice rod building at the December 19th meeting at Gary Wicks Shop. We thought it would be a good subject to cover. He will also be talking reel repair for a while.

I wish all of you a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving and we will see you next month.

November 10, 2009

Sad, sad news to report today, Jenny at Wild River Distributing has been laid off from her job after 20 years. It will be sad not to hear her voice when you call in for parts and ask all those questions we always have. An email was sent out to all Wild River Customers that they are moving their warehouse and office to their home and will no longer be able to take any walk in customers. If you would like a copy of the email let me know and I will be glad to send it on to you. I think I join all of us in our thoughts for Jenny and hope she will find a new job soon. 20 years is a long time to be with one company, and from personal experience it is mentally and sometimes physically debilitating to have something like that happen. Knowing Jenny she will bounce right back but there are some folks not as strong as her who actually suffer from PTSD after something like that.

I wish only the best for Wally and Susie in the future and hope they can bounce back from this terrible economy we are in and maybe see a new storefront again some day. Wild River was my main supplier as its only about 1/2 hour from my shop and I could always just walk in with a rod blank and walk out with a complete set up to match the rod. Now Ill have to make sure I know exactly what I need before I start on rod. Anyway, all the best to them, I'm glad we will still be able to order from them. It could be worse.

November 11,2009

Another rod builder called me today and we discussed to some length how bad it is to see Jenny gone from Wild River as she knew the inventory and basically the entire businesses so well. All you had to do was look at her and it seemed like she knew what you wanted. She will be sadly missed. I don't know about anyone else but if that place would have been put on the market I would have some way to buy it, bad times or not. But you cant blame Susie and Wally for not wanting to continue trying to keep the thing afloat.

By now I'm sure at least some of the hunters on board have gotten their deer or two by now, if not I wish them luck in the rest of the season. Good luck to all the Wisconsin hunters.

On another note, it appears that our name is pretty much official at "River Rats Rod Building Club" (RRRBC) however we can still discuss it further on December 19 if there are objections. I have received 7 responses so far agreeing with that name so, if you dent agree, send me an email.

I have never considered my self a marketing type person but I do think I have good common sense and great customer service. At this point with the economy the way it is, you cant wait for the businesses to come to you, you have to go after the business just like you just started your businesses brand new. Pick up the phone start calling your customers, tell em howdy just thought Id give you a call to see if you need anything or could you use a couple of these 10 dollar blanks we just got in, anything to talk to them and make them think they need something. Customer service is the keystone to any businesses and without exceptional service, you might as well hand over the keys, Ill take your businesses off your hands. Sometimes it is nothing more than a smile and a thank you from the heart or extreme such as in calling them and offering to deliver their parts they need to them if they are close. Give them incentive to want to buy from you, throw in a coupon with their next order. Hold a raffle once a month for those customers who spent more than $150.00 that month, nothing big, just something to make them say "hey, look what I just got for nothing". (There, I just gave a few folks some free idea's). My point is the customer IS always right, its there money, you want it, you better treat them right. Have a great week folks.

November 12, 2009

Got to be a cold one for all those hunters out there today. There is a pretty stiff wind blowing. Today I'm working on a fly rod for my father in repayment for building all my rod building jigs for my classes. He did a great job after he got the pattern. I still need to get 4 more from him so I can expand my classes a little. I only teach 8 at a time right now but should be able to handle 12 by myself using the method I do. Classes are the most Important part of rod building. If we dent pass the craft on to the young ones and new builders it would be a dying craft. I dent think there is a builder out there that would like to see that happen. Look through the rest of my site and you can tell I put the emphasis on teaching. Unfortunately my forum has seen little to know traffic so I may dedicate the site to the River Rats Club. I could have a number of pages from pictures to new idea's and what was learned at the last meeting. I will have to discuss this at the December 19th meeting and see if I can get a few donations to keep it up and running. The cost is fairly minimal, however its difficult for me to continue both sites. So If you want to donate to the cause and make a site for our club, drop me an email at rodsbyvern@mywdo.com and Ill be glad to take your donation. Thanks in advance for anyone doing so.

The website could also contain any information such as handouts from previous meetings so all of us could benefit including those folks who missed the meeting. The possibilities would be endless and the club would be responsible for the content, I would just maintain it at no cost. It would mean a few bucks throughout the year to get enough together for the website and as I said I would maintain it for free. The club would decide how the site would look and what the contents would be. I think this would be a great idea as long as I already have the extra site. It would be www.rodsbyvern.net and we could change the name of it as well to the RRRBC with no problem. Let me know what you think, I am online every day at some point in time and I have a Facebook page as well (Vern Metcalf Jr) so you can always get in touch with me most everyday. Have a good day tomorrow.

December 19,2009

First a quick reminder contrary to rumors: WILD RIVER DISTRIBUTING IS NOT OUT OF BUSINESS, The only thing different is that they no longer carry St. Croix Products. So please remember this next time you put an order together.

On another note: Don Pace NO REPAIRS REELS! He bought the business from Gary Wicks who stated he will now only repair reels for friends and family, so if you need a reel repaired call Don Pace.

Everyone broght different kinds of reels to repair at this workshop making Gary's job a busy one running back and forth between people with different reels and telling the next step in what they needed to do. His knowledge is extensive considering all the different brands of reels out there. The most difficult ones seem to be spinning reels as there are more working parts. He stressed that once you get to the inside operating system of the reel to not take it apart. It is extremelly difficult to put back together and you must have a manual to do it. Even then he said that it is next to impossible. So, If you decided to tune up your own reel this spring do not remove the inner assembly, simply wipe all the parts you remove free of all old grease and oil. Then start putting the reel back together and use very little oil or grease. To much grease will only attract more dirt. Wally even made the comparison that if you over oil you firearms when cleaning them they only become dust magnets. When you do start to work on your reel work in a paper plate or some tray with edges and work on a white towel. This way if you drop any parts you will be able to find them on the towel. Imagine trying to find a part or screw the size of the ones they use in eyeglasses on the floor. As well most parts are made of plastic, aluminum or stainless steel so a magnet will not pick it up.

As with most of these meetings the food was great, Gary's wife laid out a great deli platter along with homemade Christmas cookies and all the rest that goes with it. Our thanks to her for doing that. Seems I always to forget the spouse's when I write and thank them for their part in our meetings so here is a huge thank you to all the spouses who throughout the year have served us with some fantastic food.

We did not schedule our next meeting so Im not sure where it will be or when it will be. I would be interested in starting to learn and share how to do certain butt wraps. Or rod repair would be another area we have yet to cover extensivly. Anyone can repair a rod with a broken tip, however how to repair a rod broken in the middle is another case. It could be an interesting class. I will send out a mass email when I think we might be able to schedule the next meeting and ask for dates and idea's. My thoughts are that where we held this meeting so late in the month we should skip January, besides, there is ice fishing to get done. Any objections, please let me know, otherwise I will start looking at dates in February and asking for ideas.

Anyway, it was an interesting meeting with alot learned by all as usual. So come spring when we cant do anything, get Don to tune up your reels for you. He has all the manuals for alot of different reels so will have no trouble repairing or tuning up your summer or winter reels.

December 22, 2009

I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Holidays, be safe with the snow storm comming. May you enjoy this bessed season with family and friends.

On the River Rats Rod Building Club page on Facebook I have suggested February 20th for our next meeting and also suggested we have a demonstration on butt wraps. Please email me with your thoughts. Also we will need a volunteer to host the meeting. If we cant find a host I will be glad to hold it at my shop again. So email me asap after the holidays are over and let me know what you think.

January 7, 2010

We are up and running on Face Book under the group name River Rats Rod Building Club. We already have 14 people registered, the more we get the better. If everyone in the group joins it will be another spot to learn about upcoming meetings and plans. Please add any idea's, comments or suggestions to the WALL or start a discussion about any building subject under the DISCUSSION tab. If you have any concerns about how things are done this is also the spot to get it out in the open. Face Book is also a spot to gain new members to our club, as well as meet other rod builders. I noticed the NERBS have already opened a FB page as well, Batson Enterprises has done the same. It seems to be the up and comming way of dispensing information. Check it out and while you are there, dont forget to register. See you all on the 20th of Feb., at Gander Mountain, I wonder if we were to set a schedule for the year if they would give us a discount,,that would be great!!

January 23

I had to cancel the rod building class for the Boy Scouts at Gander Mountain in Forest Lake due to weather only to find out they had predictated freezing rain, and all it did was get foggy and rain. Seems you just cant rely on the weather man or the NOAA for weather. Either way it was better to cancel than take the chance that they were right and it was freezing rain. I cant take the chance of anyone having an accident to build rods. The new class is scheduled for March 13 and 14. Please feel free to stop by and observe or even pitch in and help.

Iam still waiting for a volunteer for the Feb. 20 meeting at Gander Mt. We need somene willing to demonstrate any type of butt wrap. Otherwise we can just demonstrate the different ways of laying out butt wraps. Iam sure that everyone has there own ways and secrets to share. I will bring some rod building jigs, so plan on bringing a piece of rod blank and some thread if you would like to share your ideas. Looking forward to learning. Lunch should be easy as there are numerous places to eat in Forest Lake, or we can just order pizza. Please contact me with any ideas youi may have. Thanks, guys.

February 20, 2010

We met at Gander Mountain in the classroom. Tim Stearns brought his entire weaving set up to demonstrate a 360 degree weave of teddy bears which was the highlight of the meeting. We need to thank Tim for providing such a great demonstration that is very labor intensive. It was a great learning experience, not only the actual weaving but the actual set up using a Wonder Weaver. I learned that if you are into weaving, ti is definetly worth the money to invest in a Wonder Weaver as it is so much easier to keep track of your threads. Tim was actuaally able to complete the first bear in the amount of time we were there. The entire demonstration was extremely informative and interesting to watch. I quickly demonstrated how to lay out and do a simple diamond wrap. Tom Walters daughter Holly was there and actually finished packing the threads on the wrap for me. She will turn out to be a great rod builder as she was extremely interested in making sure the wrap was correct. Its great to see such a young lady with what is an obvioius interest, not to mention a talent for the craft. I almost forgot to do the diamond wrap as I was busy watching Tim. We had a great turnout with 10 builders showing up for almost the entire day. I think it was pretty unanimous that Gander is the right place for us to use if we dont actually need to be in someone's shop to provide demonstrations.

It is going to start to be more difficult to schedule meetings as spring and summer approach, however it is great to see that the interest in our meetings remains high and hopefully soon to see them grow in attendance. It is difficult for everyone to set a schedule to have all of us together. However, it seems that no matter what the subject we always seem to get good turnouts.

At our next meeting I will be demonstrating how to set up your own website thatnks got Doug Tripamers idea. I will need someone to provide a laptop with preferably Windows XP on it as that is the version Iam used to using and I dont want to waste alot of time trying to navigate a new version. I will be using Go Daddy as the starting point and then proceed with the various tools they provide in order to not only create, but to have your site posted on Google. There seems to be great interest in learning how to do this as alot of builders would like their own site but for various reasons have not done it.

I am planning on setting a date in late March of early April for our next meeting depending on when we can reserve the classroom at Gander again.

I want to thank everyone who showed up for again sharing very valuable information about numerous subjects. Each and every builder has information that other builders may or may not know wether they realize it or not. Even in the casual side conversations that come up are very instructive. So thank you all for attending and sharing. I will send out a group email as soon as I can pin down a solid date for our next meeting.

Thanks, guys and gals, and please feel free to bring along anyone no matter what the age as part of our goal is to bring in new builders and further our craft. I will be posting new pictures of the meeting in the next week so stayed tuned for more.

Talk to you after our next meeting.

I will be having back surgery in the next month or two so I have held off scheduling our next meeting. They have to replace my entire Spinal Cord Stimulator. I will be totallly out of commision for two days and after that will have very strict restrictions on lifting, etc. Therefore I will need help moving anything in and out of the classroom. Tom Walters will also be having surgery in March which will also put him out of commision for a few weeks. I would really like for him to be there so again, iam holding off on scheduling the next meeting. I will be in touch via email asap after I know for sure what is going on and when we can get together again. Iam looking forward to doing the web site demonstration. I will be calling Gander Mountain next week to see what we need to connect to the internet. Ill keep you up to date as time allows. Thanks, Guys.

March 10, 2010

Just a quick reminder that the next meeting is scheduled for March 27 at Gander Mountain in Forest Lake. As always, if you need directions or have questions just let me know. I will be demonstrating how to build your own website.

Good news: Tom Walters heart surgery was a success and he is now recoverying. Please join me in wishing him a speedy recovery. Besides, I really need him at the meeting......lol. Please post a note on Facebook or send him an email to let him know we are thinking about him.

IMPORTANT: As of July 1, 2010 there will be a nominal fee to have your business card or advertisment posted on the site, this includes having your rod pictures posted free of charge. The page I will be adding on March 27 will be dedicated to rod pictures you would like me to post on the site. The fee is necessary for me to upkeep and pay for the site. I will discuss this in detail on March 27 and send out an email after that meeting. Your donations will be greatly apprecialted.

We should be headed into the busy time of the year, hopefully the economy has recovered enough to get those customers ready to start spending some money. I know personally that I have built donation rods, but it would be nice to get an actual order for once. Its been a rough year for everyone Im sure. Hopefully things will pick up soon for all of us.

I will be teaching a class this weekend, March 13 and 14 at Gander in Forest Lake. If you would like, feel free to stop in.

See you on the 27th.

April 27, 2010

The meeting was once again held at Gander Mt in Foreset Lake. The subject of the meeting was how to set up your own website. A huge thank you to Tom Walters for providing a laptop with the most up to date technology. Very impressive computer, we did run into problems getting things set up to display on the large screen as Gander only has a VGA connection and that did not fit the computer. So Doug Tripamer and myself had to run to Radio Shack and pick up and adapter called a DVI to VGA connector. I say this just so we can remember that if we need to use the computer equipment at Gander again, we can remember what is needed.

Unfortunatley, the demonstration started out pretty good however went south pretty quick. I was not tatally prepared to show all the information that is needed to set up a website and I ended up jumping from subject to subject without explanation. There were a lot of questions, partially because of this. I apologize to the entire group for not being as prepared as I should have. Alot of the information is second nature to me so I just assumed that others would know what I was talking about, I was wrong.....I did however offer my assistance on a one to one basis if anyone wants to come to my shop. Its easier to start from scratch and show someone than it is to work with a site that is already set up. So, if anyone is interested in setting up their own site from scratch and actually purchasing the site, I will gladly assist them without charge.

We did not discuss when our next meeting would be or the subjecto of the meeting, therefore, I need suggestions from anyone in the group. I know fishing season is upon us and it might be difficult to set meeting dates however, I would like to continue to have meetings throughout the summer as it is the best time to work in peoples shops that are in garages or other places not normally heated. I will publish the next meeting information on the News and Events page as soon as we get something set up.

May 12, 2010

We do not have a meeting scheduled for May and I think it will probably wait until June as I just had surgery and I wont be up to getting things set up in time. I am thinking that it would be a good idea to have a demonstration on working with EVA grips as this is one subject that has yet to be covered. I dont know if we wouild be able to do such a demo at Gaander Mt or if we would need a volunteer to work in their shop. I will send out an email today and try to get some input from some of the guys and see what they think. Hopefully be talking to you all in June.

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