Understanding the rod by Streamer

[fishnbanjo]

Welcome to the Cracker Barrel, Week 11. Last time cane head completed part 2 of a 2 part series on impregnated vs. varnished rods and I hope it helped many who often wondered what the differences were and that Ken helped you understand that impregnation didn't dampen the action of a rod or in any way allow the use of inferior cane since the tapers were engineered with the effect of the impregnation in mind, i.e. to take advantage of the process and not have it interfere with the taper but have its properties a part of it. I'd also like to add that the Horrocks & Ibbotson Co., who made so many different models at prices beginning at $.80, also had a couple of impregnated bamboo models which were varnished as well and the Canada Creek immediately comes to mind. This action on their part would have been more marketing in nature as it was early-on in the process of impregnation and the fly fishing population had not embraced impregnation pretty much like it had not embraced the introduction of Tonkin Cane when it was introduced and makers like Eustis Edwards flamed the blanks to appear to be Calcutta which is what the people accepted. Once again I'd like to extend my thanks to Ken for his series especially since I know his work schedule has been hectic at best so it was a huge imposition that he rose to the occasion for. In order to make sense of our presentations and to offer many of the wonderful suggestions we've received, both from your posting and via email, we'll try to follow as logical a chronology of topics possible so they make sense. I'll be perfectly honest and say I didn't think we'd still be doing this much beyond Week 4 let alone knowing I'm already working on Week 12's topic. This week our presentation has to do with tapers and what they mean to the fly fisher. There are many types and their actions are as individual as the folks that use them. The rich aroma of Hazelnuts tells me the coffee is ready so let me give the stove a stoke, whoa, I better clean out the ash pan today, and pour myself a cup and we'll get on with this weeks Cracker Barrel with thanks to Streamer for presenting it. We all know that fly rods are tapered - what sort of taper is best remains subjective - but why? The following is written in simple terms as it applies to bamboo, and assumes that the raw material is consistent in density. A fly rod is a lever, but a lever that works quite the opposite of most levers we use as tools. Instead of intensifying and improving the efficiency of our action (the brief arm movement of a cast), this lever is designed to dissipate the energy we apply with our arm over a long distance, actually working the 'advantage' of the lever against our arm. Because the leverage force applied to the rod increases from tip to butt, in order for the material of the rod to be stressed somewhat "evenly" under load, it must be stronger (thicker) where it is stressed most (the butt) and thinner where it is stressed the least (the tip) - thus tapered. A minimal rod must be designed with at least a straight taper to withstand the stress it experiences at each point along the blank during casting and fighting fish. A fly rod is also a spring. This spring is designed to absorb the shock of the change in direction of the cast as well as allowing the lever to bend, ideally flattening the arc (radius) of the cast so that the tip of the rod pulls the line through the air in a straight line. It is also used to store the energy of the cast - to a greater or lesser degree - to unload at the completion of the cast. Early on in the development of bamboo fly rods, tapers were translated from wood rods, what had been used in the past and designed without intensive stress and load calculations. They tended to be soft in action, springy, deep bending and suitable for the flies of the time. With the invention of the dry fly, tapers were made with the quickness to snap water from wet line and flies, and soon casting competition influenced the design of more powerful levers made to cast long distances. Stiffer rods with light tips allowed both fishing closely and sufficient power for casting long distance. But many of these rods were less than ideal for mid-range control and comfort. During what is considered the "Golden Age" of bamboo while innovators EW Edwards, FE Thomas and Jim Payne tempered bamboo to improve the material itself, specialist rods made by Payne, Dickerson and others became favorite for quick casts at rising fish or powerful, deep-bending springs favored for comfortable distance casts. Charles Ritz effectively marketed his design (the result of a broken rod) called 'Parabolic' that bent deeply into the butt of the rod. Payne, Paul Young (and others) developed a line of parabolic action rods, using variations of modified deep working tapers to suit a wider rage of circumstances. Garrison applied mathematics to determine a direct relationship between the load on a given rod at any point and its tension and compression limits, creating a scientific approach to an evenly bending taper he called progressive. Also called semi parabolic, these rods utilized the whole blank evenly as both lever and spring. Most bamboo rods are designed with complex tapers that give them certain casting characteristics. Rods that bend deeply function more as a spring and are considered slow actioned and require more careful timing as well as a long casting stroke. Rods with a heavier steep taper are considered fast actioned and function more as a lever, gaining power from a quicker casting stroke. Of course how and how much the lever deforms under load, the way the spring bends and how it stores and releases energy, affects the cast in many ways, most having to do with the appropriate timing and application of power. Starting with a straight - or constant - taper, subtle changes in thickness of the rods taper dictate where and how much the rod bends during casting. Adding material to a part of the rod adds stiffness, increasing leverage, and the opposite induces flex/spring. The complex/compound taper controls not only how the load is applied to the rod but where it is stored for the cast - thus how it unloads at the end of the cast. Due to the process involved in planing a bamboo rod, the taper can be carefully manipulated and changed (usually in increments of 5 inches for most planing forms - infinitely for most bevelers and mills) all the way down the blank. Spring absorbs load and lever transmits it farther down the blank. Some individuals prefer casting a rod that is mainly spring while others prefer casting a rod that is mainly lever - and different conditions also call for different types of rods. A complex taper can be carefully designed and made so its spring and lever tendencies are concentrated anywhere within the blank and an action can be quite personalized to the caster and the circumstances. Taper characteristics can be analyzed without casting. Classic rod recipes (taper specifications) are used as ideas, starting points of design as well as final blueprints for modern bamboo rods. Contemporary stress curve diagrams use taper dimensions to display the characteristics of individual tapers by graphing the load applied to the rod blank during casting. These stress curves are valuable for comparing taper characteristics and developing a 'taste' for particular tapers that apply to an individuals needs and technique. For a look at some stress curves see:
http://www.uwm.edu/~stetzer/Tapers/hexrod-archive.html Compare the Payne 214 Parabolic to the Payne 101 and see how the stress increases toward the butt section (to the right) of the Parabolic as compared to the stress concentrated in the tip of the 101. We are all individuals - physically quite different with different casting habits: fast - slow - good - bad - different - ours. If anyone suggested that there is only one way to cast a fly rod and one taper that is the best, I offer that reality debunks that suggestion. Rod preference is quite personal and the broadness of the current market is evidence that taper preferences are very real. Various taper formulas allow us to refine our preferences in action for a casting situation, and find or create rods that are "just right" for us. I'd like to thank Streamer for his presentation for this weeks Cracker Barrel and hope you'd learned a little of the mystique of the taper and the action. What I'm working on for next time is a bit of a challenge as some of the rods I am trying to compare actions and tapers to I can only report from notes, information from the various books I have and the different charts like Streamer added the link to in his presentation but in some cases I have personal experience in that I either own, or owned, the models at one time. I'll see how it shapes up as the week progresses and hopefully it will work out. Well the old coffee pot is definitely empty, as Bob Corsetti says, and I got to clean out that ash pan if I want to have a fire next time so while I let the stove cool I'll pack my new pipe with some of my favorite tobacco and await your responses and questions, until next time, ciao.