Well that was a first (now finished rod pics)

[JasonGotaProblem]

On a scale of 1 to 10 - how much did it hurt? And how'd you pull it out? tweezers?

I have nerve damage that my doctor described as "severe" and this is one of the rare times that it was beneficial. Because it still hurt a lot.

It had made the right turn and went deep instead of going between layers of skin. So the real pain was the next few days from the tendons or whatever tissue it damaged. For comparison: About 8 months ago I put a dirty 3/32" drill bit almost all the way thru my index finger. This splinter was way worse.

People talk about "blood, sweat, and tears" in a project. Well I already bled a lot for this one. Some of which was inadvertently applied to the surface. As I think about that, I think I wanna go with a red theme on this one.

[oldmanjoe]

 Blood stains are hard to get rid of , so are you going to mix up some more to finish what you started     

[Shark Hunter]

When I was a kid my dad's hands would swell up from bits of shrapnel that would work their way out. Leftovers from being shot down a couple times.

I Salute your Father Larry.
It's men like him why we are the land of the free and home of the brave!

[JasonGotaProblem]

So this finally got finished. I decided to go super utilitarian on this one. It kept getting knocked over, scratched, and just generally banged up in my garage before it was even built. And while being built. I took it as a sign not to get too decorative.

I went with a Fuji seat and KW guides, a 20,16,12, and the rest size 10 rings. 8 + tip total. I did double under wraps on the first guide to buy a few mm more height.

I'm probably gonna leave it at my parents house on the east coast. A 9' one piece rod is tricky to transport with family in the car. So it might as well stay close to where I do my surf fishing.