Fly Rod Build (Updated)

The components that I ordered to build this fly rod came in late last week and I was able to start on it Thursday night.
The blank that I am using is a TFO Professional series 9' 4wt, reel seat is a triangular uplocking seat by American Tackle, guides are 316ss by Pac Bay.

The grip is to be custom made out of pieces of different colored cork that will be glued together and shaped on a lathe.

Here is the grip after the lathe work and sanding.

Once the cork was bored out to fit on the blank it was attached with epoxy and the reel seat added and ligned up.

After much consideration and a few phone calls to some of my friends who fly fish I decided to do a custom inlay with Rattlesnake skin to give it a different twist. After all, I am in Texas.

The bottom section is complete and the three other sections of the blank are drying. I will post up a finished rod later.
Thanks for reading and following, feel free to ask any questions.
Robert