Adding wood handle to Tidewater 66 Rod, advice?

[matt_gone_fishin]

I personally would not use cherry unless you are talking about Brazilian Cherry, which is not actually a true cherry but is a very, very nice maroon colored wood. True [American] cherry is pretty, but it's a lot softer than some woods like white oak and a LOT softer than rosewoods.

Brazilian cherry is super hard, a lot more suitable for rods.

Being a woodturner and cabinet maker, I want to use something weird, water resistant, super hard, and actually, something very heavy. I prolly won't use brazilian cherrry but something different.

I think I've decided to do the butt out of lignumvitae (the wood that actually sinks in water it's so heavy) and make the front handle out of Pau Ferro (a type of rosewood).

Partly b/c they look very cool. Partly b/c they have the properties I'm looking for. Partly b/c that's the turning squares I have laying around.

If this rod comes out nice, I may redo my 7' Ugly Stick with something similar.


I got all the EVA foam off yesterday, first time I've ever stripped a rod/reel before. To my delight the fiberglass blank is a consistent size, just a hair under 5/8, so drilling the blanks and gluing them on should be a piece of cake.
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