Fly Fishing Landing Net

I started by creating the jig I found when viewing a YouTube video, which I will link below. Then I let 1/16" strips of of 4/4 Curly Maple and 4/4 Purple Heart soak in a 2" pvc pipe filled with water. I let them soak for a 4-5 hours and pulled them out individually and started to wrap them in the form. My first couple of attempts caused the pieces to split, so I started going even slower when bending the pieces. A steam box most likely would have done a little better, however I did not have access to one, nor did I want to build one for this one project. Throughout the bending process I kept using the hose to re-wet the wood to make sure it didn't want to split.

I let the material fully dry for about another 4-5 hours before taking them out of the jig. I then applied slow cure epoxy from BSI to each layer and reinserted them back into the jig. I let it sit overnight and took the frame out of the jig the next morning so I could attach the handle. While I was waiting for the frame to cure in the jig, I made my handle using Roasted Maple and modeled it after a few nets I had seen from other woodworkers on Instagram such as NoLeafCloverCo.

Then I spaced out the holes evenly for the net I picked up of Amazon. I sanded the net up to 320 and applied Odie's Oil as my finish, which is waterproof about 72 hours after buffing in the finish. I then used micro paracord to lace the rubbing netting into the frame. I'm going to see how the Odie's Oil holds up after a few trips to the creek and might opt to refinish the piece with a semi-gloss spar urethane.

Finish: Odie's Oil