Custom rod building begins with the blank. Johnson uses St. Croix and Fenwick blanks. He orders them by the dozen and they arrive at his home packed in heavy cardboard tubes.

Fat fenders are now popular raw material for hot rods and customs. Back in 2007, Rod & Custom editors Kevin Lee and Jim Aust shared some great tips and tricks on how to build a fat fender hot rod.

It didn't take long for Chad and Greg at Blundell Speed to build the Metal Machine. This is what it looks like ready to be mounted to the floor and wall and put to work. Chad plans to drop a shelf ...

Maine Fly Company builds off-the-shelf and custom fly rods by hand in Maine, USA. Here's a look at how they do it.

Pat Magdaleno moved from MMA fighter and charter captain to building his Mags Custom Rods from scratch.