Quote: "Well, to tell the truth, we haven't gotten there on $ 3000 either. I have sort of gotten carried away a little on mine," on

I have been following this thread since it's inception and have been very interested to see whether or not you could actually pull it off. The quality of your work is exceptional and it truly would have been a feat to bring it in for less than $3000, but I can fully understand your desire to make this rod as good as its workmanship deserves.
Unfortunately, we may now never know whether or not you could have actually met your budget unless you can keep track of your cost overages and give a total of both what you are spending and what you would have spent if you hadn't "splurged." I think many of us would like to see this if it is possible.