Posted on July 12 2012
The life of a school teacher and rod builder means a summer off to spend with family, take a trip or two, and work on a couple fly rod build projects as interest or time allows. Matt Leiderman of Leiderman Rods recently posted a couple Hardy inspired builds and rebuilds on the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum which I thought would be great to share here as well.
Matt wrote... "One of the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum members sent me his eight foot three piece six weight Hardy Jet for a bit of freshening up. The original wraps were done with very coarse thread (and not all that neatly done) but more importantly, the ferrule fit was getting sloppy. The spigots were worn down to a point where there was no longer a gap.
I removed the original wraps and fully intended to strip the rod down but the wrap varnish proved quite tricky to remove. The safest bet was to fix the ferrules by trimming them 1/4" or so and adding a ferrule ring to prevent any further loosening. Under one of the ferrule wraps I found that the blank was beginning to split slightly as well. I simply replaced the wraps in place and revarnished, trying my best to blend the new into the old.
The original rod had gold tipped burgundy but we decided to go with a more mustardy olive main wrap and finer burgundy tipping. Thanks to fellow builder Rich Margiotta for helping me find the perfect color."
"So... about the same time I had a Hardy Fibalite blank arrive from another forum member that needed to be finished out. I debated about the finishing of this rod for weeks then took a good look at the Hardy I refinished and thought that would be a perfect inspiration for the Fibalite blank.
The Fibalite is a bit lighter (7' 4wt) so I scaled everything down and use a coarse diagonal knurl on the polished aluminum hardware. The wraps were a vintage golden silk tipped burgundy. They were color preserved and a vintage agate was pulled from the parts bin. It came together nicely and certainly has an English feel to it."
I spoke to Matt Leiderman this week and his has several Kabuto Rods and Steffen Brothers blanks which are not called for yet. If you'd like to inquire on a possible build please contact Matt by email at matthewleiderman@yahoo.com.
Check out the Leiderman Rods website for more information and follow the latest shop news on the Facebook page.
Matt wrote... "One of the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum members sent me his eight foot three piece six weight Hardy Jet for a bit of freshening up. The original wraps were done with very coarse thread (and not all that neatly done) but more importantly, the ferrule fit was getting sloppy. The spigots were worn down to a point where there was no longer a gap.
I removed the original wraps and fully intended to strip the rod down but the wrap varnish proved quite tricky to remove. The safest bet was to fix the ferrules by trimming them 1/4" or so and adding a ferrule ring to prevent any further loosening. Under one of the ferrule wraps I found that the blank was beginning to split slightly as well. I simply replaced the wraps in place and revarnished, trying my best to blend the new into the old.
The original rod had gold tipped burgundy but we decided to go with a more mustardy olive main wrap and finer burgundy tipping. Thanks to fellow builder Rich Margiotta for helping me find the perfect color."
"So... about the same time I had a Hardy Fibalite blank arrive from another forum member that needed to be finished out. I debated about the finishing of this rod for weeks then took a good look at the Hardy I refinished and thought that would be a perfect inspiration for the Fibalite blank.
The Fibalite is a bit lighter (7' 4wt) so I scaled everything down and use a coarse diagonal knurl on the polished aluminum hardware. The wraps were a vintage golden silk tipped burgundy. They were color preserved and a vintage agate was pulled from the parts bin. It came together nicely and certainly has an English feel to it."
I spoke to Matt Leiderman this week and his has several Kabuto Rods and Steffen Brothers blanks which are not called for yet. If you'd like to inquire on a possible build please contact Matt by email at matthewleiderman@yahoo.com.
Check out the Leiderman Rods website for more information and follow the latest shop news on the Facebook page.
