We were all at this a few years back. A good tip is to put some electricians tape just below each of the sections where they join to act as a 'stop', because they can be a real bugger to pull apart when they get jammed.
Nice poles though; they're very light, very stiff, the short pole makes a great ground floor pole - the only downside is moving from A to B with a couple of sections in one hand, reel hose in the other, and then you have to open a gate or something.
I quite fancy making another, for a change from my SLX. Can anyone recommend a cheap fishing pole that'd give me about 18 foot of usable pole? I can't remember the common makes or lengths we used to us.