Research

I have not been doing much on the project recently. I have been finishing up another rod (a 7'9" 5 wt.) and have been busy with other things, too.

Nevertheless, I felt that progress, even slow progress, should not be impeded. To that end I spent some time searching the rodmaker's archives for posts that Ted had made while active on the listserv. I actually gleaned quite a bit from these posts. Some of the posts were amusining banter, while others provided insight.

I found it interesting that some of the things that I have been toying with recently are similar to what he had done in the past. One example that comes immediately to mind are my recent experiments with shellac on silk wraps. I have gotten a lot of great advice (including "don't use it!"--a valid assessment), help, and even some material to experiment with (thank you David). I still have to speak to a couple of people and try a great many more things with shellac on wraps, but I have learned quite a lot.

Mostly consisting of how much more I have to learn. There is no substitute for experience. There are no shortcuts to quality.

I diligently work towards both, learning volumes with each new rod.

My apparent digression is actually a springboard to what I found between the lines of Ted's posts. About halfway through my readings I realized that Ted never stopped experimenting with new techniques or processes. He certainly had many "tried and true" methods that he shared with others, but he also explored other avenues within the craft.

On one hand I hope that I always maintain that level of interest, creativity, and open-mindedness.

On the other, I would finish rods a whole lot faster if I would stop goofing around with different techniques and just build the things.

But that's the experience part. Hopefully that's the part that will pay dividends down the road. The part that will allow me to make informed decisions as to why I do something the way I do. The part that will enable me to say "yes, I tried 'x, y and z', but they didn't work out for me."

Sometimes research isn't just looking up others' information. Sometimes it is getting your hands dirty and trying something out yourself. At least it is for me.