Hello everyone,

In earlier posts, I mentioned how I'm trying to learn about the rod building craft to help my 14 year old son, who has taken an interest in building custom rods. This has led me to asking some questions here, and I have received many helpful and beneficial responses from the nice people on the forum. I also have looked for helpful information from other sites on the internet as well.

Recently, I came across an interview Tom Kirkman did nearly 8 years ago, about being the publisher of a small, independent magazine. In it, I learned what I believe to be the best tip about custom rod building ever.

"In all the years I've been publishing RodMaker, I can't think of single instance where we found or were put onto something new in rod building via the internet. We've always been a year ahead of the internet. In fact, most of the newest and latest stuff that rod builders are so excited about were born in the pages of RodMaker and then trickled down to the internet from there. Our subscribers get the jump on the non-subscribers in this regard. And even when the material does work its way onto the internet, it often lacks the detail and quality that it had in the original magazine form. On my companion internet forum, www.rodbuilding.org, it's not hard to instantly recognize those who subscribe and those who don't - the ones asking the questions are usually non-subscribers and the ones providing good answers are folks who subscribe to the magazine. " -- Tom Kirkman

So... I've subscribed! I hope, that when the time is right, my son will continue the subscription on his own because of a continued passion for the subject and industry. Also, perhaps the volume and frequency of my questions here might decrease.

I think another message should be pinned at the top of this forum titled, "If you are a new rod maker, looking for advice on where to start or helpful tips, READ THIS FIRST!" And then paste that article, in its entirety, as the message. Not only should it help the subscriber numbers of the magazine and potentially add more "rod builders" to the industry which could, long-term, add to the number of new ideas/improvements to the field, but it should also help other "beginners" like me get to the information they seek quickly while reducing potentially "needless" posts on the board. :)

Thanks to everyone who has provided sincere thought and insight to my earlier posts. Perhaps my son and I will be able to provide good information / answers to the forum soon.

Best,
Gib

Good post! This forum is good as it gets, and is one of the few places where everyone is civil and helpful without inappropriate language. Take a look at the table of contents from the past issues of the magazine there are a lot of very good articles, and these back issues can be purchased individually. I have only been a member of the forum for about two years and have learned a lot in such a short time, I have also bought a number of the past issues and found them to be quite useful.
Norm

Gib,
Nicely stated! While there are others within this site who are also very knowledgeable and willing to share (such as the previous poster), we all need to tip our hats to Tom Kirkman. Yes, he is obviously knowledgeable and willing to share, but additionally lives and breathes rod building beyond this website or the magazine which is why both are the best anyone could ever expect.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Second that. Thanks Tom! This forum boasts a great knowledge base with very gracious and courteous contributors.