Craftversa.

[Snape]

Hi LS.
Well done. We look forward to seeing it in all its glory.
Love the avatar BTW. :thumb:

[Lucky Strike]

No problem, it will be good to share the experience.
I'd be interested to know about the source of the jasper silk that was used on the swimversa - looks stunning.
I recently did a swimversa in Garnet and it too looks great - see pic.
But I think the craftversa should be done with the red/black silk.

[Mark]

Lovely work LS :thumb:

[Lucky Strike]

It was done by Andrew J Davis - a fine rod maker and restorer.

[Haydn Clarke]

Ebay seller Barney Gallop for the red and black Jasper thread. I understand he has some now that is even better than the stuff Nobby, GOS and I used.

[Lucky Strike]

Many thanks for the info!

[Nobby]

Yes indeed, the correct Jasper is important with such a rare, rare rod I think. If 'Barney' hasn't got it in yet, he will have it soon and perhaps it will not finish quite so dark as the last batch, though that really wasn't so inaccurate I think, a lot of Milwards rods look as though they're in dark red and it's only when you get close and in good light you see it is red/black twist

Congratulations on your win, OK it'll take a bit of work and money, but what you have will be almost unique, and truth be told, if you ever had to sell.....I doubt you'd lose money.



By an amazing co-incidence, there's a bit of cine-film on this very forum of Bernard Venables own Craftversa on the Tench section and the Chub section. Not the black anodised reel clamps and that big, big butt ring, just like the Swimversa...which appears in the Roach section film.


I'd asked if anyone could guess what the rods were but I've given the game away now.


EDIT:

It's just occurred to me that I know of the whereabouts of a newly built tip section that might be right for the Craftversa....no seriously. I think the rod just might have been inspired by another..the length and action are the same, and I know where there is a tip section for the earlier rod at a lot less than £120. The length is 69 inches, now if you let me know what the size of your broken tip section is, across the flats, right by the ferrule whipping, we might get somewhere!
There's a good chance the tip might do.

By the end of the week I should be in a position to do a proper comparison, with flat to flat measurements every 4 inches to see if there is any compound taper, which I doubt is the case for either rod.

[Lucky Strike]

Hi
I've sent you a PM about the tip, I've also ordered two spools of red/black jasper from Barney Gallop.
I'll post some better pics of the rod once it arrives along with some measurements.

[Nobby]

reply and contact details sent.

[GloucesterOldSpot]

Own up then, who took the Craftversa? I fancied a punt but it was a bit rich for me, knowing that Chapman's would probably need at least a ton, quite possibly more, for a new tip section. That's well over two hundred before you've even stripped the rod. I'm sure it'll make it's new owner happy, mind, as it's rarer than a pile of horse dung with some hen's teeth stuffed in it.

While we're confessing, I'll own up to buying the Chapman Hunter that ended the other day. Not cheap at nearly £150.00 but the chap delivered it to me in person and I've been lucky as it's VERY tidy. In fact, it doesn't need any restoration save for two guides that have some slight tarnishing/rust. I'm tempted to leave them but I'll probably end up changing them anyhow.

I was watching the Craftversa as it's the first one I've ever seen on fleabay. If it had been ending when I was near a PC I might have pushed the sale price up a notch, but it's probably just as well! Hope it works out well for you LS.

The Hunter is indeed a lovely rod, though a heavy one. Curiously enough I was using mine yesterday, trotting on the tidal Arun; I had one of those moments I'm sure we all know where only a cane rod will do, even though commonsense said the 14' Daiwa Connoisseur would be far more suitable. By 3pm I was wishing I'd listened to myself! Nevertheless, I managed to survive until 5pm with one 3lb chub to show for it, whereupon I gave it up as a bad job as the northerly wind was really starting to bite and I'd lost all feeling in my right arm. The wind had made float control tricky all day, being downstream and across into my shoulder - not ideal conditions for trotting with a sliding porcupine quill in thirteen feet of water - so much mending of line was called for, and you don't need to be doing too much of that with a rod weighing a pound to start wondering if a carbon rod might not have been a better choice!