Would appreciate your opinions

[flybop]

I made some bodkins for Christmas gifts for a couple friends and they encouraged me to make some more to sell in the local shops. So, over the last few weeks I was playing around in my shop experimenting with different local wood that I picked up along the river.

My favorite ones were made out of cedar. I just finished a small batch to take to a couple shops in Bozeman to see if there is any interest in them. But, first I wanted to run some pics by you guys.
So, tell me what you think, both positive and negative.

Here are a few pics.





Thanks for any input.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

flybop - Saw the pics of those on the FFM board, and they're as beautiful here as they were there! I have visions of an entire set of tying tools crafted with handles like that. How cool would it be to tie with tools that have handles made from driftwood from a favorite stream? You just might be pioneering something new there.
Don't forget about the boys back East! A Penn's Creek set of tools would be awfully sweet. I wish you luck in your enterprise, but judging from the looks of the finished product, luck won't play a factor.........Ed

 

[jayL]

Beautiful.

How big are they?

 

[tabasco_joe]

Nice. Take it to the extremem and build a wooden strip fly rod?

 

[flybop]

Thanks for the input. Since they are made from raw stock and everyone is different, the size varies. I do try to keep them from around 4 to six inches. As I am getting them into shape I do hold each one to make sure that there is a sweet spot so that it will feel comfortable in hand.

 

[David]

Very, very nice...make sure you offer some with a curve for left handed people (ME in particular.)


Having been in retail as HR & Training for decades... make sure your collecting of the wood is legal. I'm sure you have checked into it, but I could see those being very poplular and things like source of material legalities aren't usually thought of until the issues (and fines) get quite large.

with different local wood that I picked up along the river

 

[flybop]

Thank you for bringing up the legal aspect of this. Montana has a high water mark acess law. So, when I am below the high water mark along the river I am ok.

Of course if you leave YNP with a stone in your shoe you can get busted. I would never, ever even try to get material in the Park. To completely avoid any legal issues I now am getting my wood from a friend's ranch. With five miles of river frontage there is more than enough from that source to keep me going.

Thank you everyone for you comments. I will have a bit more confidence in the bodkins when I take them to the shops tomorrow.