Well....I was absolutely floored yesterday

Started by Jon Vadney, June 19, 2015, 12:35:38 AM

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coastal_dan

Mind blowing..."somewhere between 60-100 hours..."  And it shows!  Certainly well deserved, thanks for always answering our questions and sharing your work!
Dan from Philadelphia...

Where Land Ends Life Begins...

Reel 224

John: What a beautiful weave that is definitely some of the greatest rod art Ive seen, as far as the tat goes AWESOME!! I have several including one on my back but nothing like your work. Great stuff. 
"I don't know the key to success,but the key to failure is trying to please everyone."

thorhammer

That weave is outstanding, as is the tat! I've been building rods over twenty years and am still learning and trying new things...Jon has been very helpful and responsive to me when I have a question, as has Bryan.

Kudos!

Reel 224

#18
Yes that is true John is very helpful to those of us that are rod builders, as is Bryan,Keith,Fred,Sal on reels and rods This is a happy home for fishing reel and rod enthusiast. ;D

Lest we not forget the creator ALAN TANI!!
"I don't know the key to success,but the key to failure is trying to please everyone."


Marcq

#20
Quote from: Jon Vadney on June 19, 2015, 12:35:38 AM
Wow... ok so when I began rod building about 15 years ago, there wasn't much information out there.  There were of course the Clemens' book, and some pretty "meh" videos around, but the available information was scarce to say the least.  I then happened onto Doc Ski's rod building intro video.  The techniques I learned from that video really helped me to understand how to build rods, not just assemble them.  For those of you who don't know who Doc Ski is, here's a quick breakdown of the man:  He's been building rods since the 60's, he was a military medic (his real name is James Lebanowski, hence 'Doc Ski'), he pretty much pioneered weaving as we know it on fishing rods, and has countless innovations that we as rod builders benefit from (using masking tape as bushings, weaving jigs, guide preparation, etc etc).
Doc has always been about sharing information.  As soon as youtube became popular and prevalent, he has been posting VERY in depth how-to videos on there showing the layperson how to spruce up their fishing rods.  Think "The Alan Tani of rods".  As I become more skilled and eventually turned this hobby into a profession, I followed in the footsteps of Doc when it comes to helping people.  I don't claim to be the best at anything, and there are CERTAINLY people out there who are more skilled, but if I know the answer to a question I will take the time to help the person who is asking.  I don't like the idea of hiding techniques.  How are we supposed to grow Rod Building as a hobby if no one is willing to help out the beginners? But I digress...Doc I guess noticed that I try to go out of my way to answer questions and what-not and made a weave for me as a gift.  As some of you know from the thread in the Ohana subforum, I'm really into tattoos.  I have about 1/2 of my body covered and that percentage continues to grow (don't worry....no hand, neck, or face tattoos, those are my rules :)  )  All of my work is part of one overall piece of artwork, all done by one artist.  Doc took the artwork that is on my back and turned it into a weave on a small piece of a rod blank (it'll be hanging on my wall in my shop).  I'm still kind of in shock that he did this for me.  He has more or less been my rod-building idol since I got into it, and imo, is the best rod builder there ever was.

Here's a link to my back tattoo that the weave was made off of (The tattoo has a woman in it topless, so I'm linking it instead of posting it in the forum)  http://imgur.com/c306AL2

Here's what doc said about the weave, and the pics of that:

QuoteI knew it wouldnt be a walk in the park. In weaving the more vertical a line is the more thread is moved to create it. Some of you will know what I went through on this one. Some days I could only put a couple hours in on it because each turn sometimes required moving 50 to 80 threads. This is not the type of weave you want to rush through. It was every bit the challenge I feared it would be. Many of you will know exactly where the original artwork came from, some may scratch your heads for a while. The owner needs to send me his address. I will just be sending the weave on a scrap piece of blank and he can figure out what to do with it. Here are the stats. It can be either a 5 or 6 layer weave depending on the background, it is 160x192 threads. Somewhere between 60 and 100 hours of work. Used mostly Madeira and some Bullards threads. Finished the tie off part with a variation of the JTOB using two threads in opposing directions.
Like I said good things come to good people and you have been that good steward for our craft. I guess it is this old timers way of saying thank you and you help me realize my craft and love are in good hands. I wonder what took longer to do the weave or the tat. I know which was more painful  LOL.



Jon!! looks nice but I don't understand the pic ??? Looks separated or something, like it's not lined up!

Marc..

alantani

Quote from: Jon Vadney on June 19, 2015, 09:28:43 PM
Thanks guys :)

best rod builder in northern california, one of the best on the west coast, and he lives 15 minutes away!   ;D
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!