The Hörgren Kabuto Rods Build Update

Christian Hörgren sent along a dispatch yesterday of the progress of the brown glass Kabuto Rods 7653 build that he is working on for me.  I am very interested to see how this fly rod ends up looking in the end and of course how it casts and compares to the 7643 and 8053.

Christian wrote...  "I started working on your rod yesterday. I have been experimenting with different bluing agents to get the perfect color match on the hardware. I finally settled for a plain cap and ring in solid brass, tinted in a brown color with acid. I'm not finished with the skeleton design, I plan to use bamboo somewhere. Probably as a end plate inside the brass tubing. Not quite there yet...

The cork is glued and ready for the lathe. I have made a "ventilated transition" between the reel seat and the grip, which is a feature I have never seen anywhere, instead of a cork check. I will turn it as a flat half wells with the swell pushed towards the thumb. My all time favorite grip.

The test wraps tells me that I will use a slightly tinted, dark yellow silk thread for the wrappings, with tippings in dark amber. I will finish it with Threadmaster Lite, mixed with denaturated alcohol to make it bleed into the silk. The guides and the tiptop are all in bronze, to match the color of the blank and the brass skeleton. Vintage sepia colors meets rational, modernist design."

Christian...seriously digging the progress so far.