Angler's Roost Bamboo Blanks

JeffG · Post by **JeffG** » 02/19/13 01:16

Just curious if anyone has built a rod using one of the many Angler's roost bamboo blanks. And if yes how did it go? Which one or ones were built. I suspect the bulk of you are Makers not builders here and produce your own blanks but... Curious just the same knowing these blanks are out there, how many Paul Young's T &T's etc... are on ebay or wherever right now having been made from one of these blanks. Not to suggest they are inferior in any way, I am certainly not implying that. I have no knowledge of them at all. As I said earlier I am just curious if anyone has any experience with these blanks. Price wise they seemed pretty cheap or too good to be true as in I could not make a blank for that price if I wanted more than $2 to $3 an hour for labor.

Jeff

canerodscom · Post by **canerodscom** » 02/19/13 08:28

A fellow asked the Guild for help completing a similar blank and I agreed to help him. The blank is on the way here. Supposedly the blank is built to a Payne 100 taper. I have agreed to evaluate the blank and if it's okay install ferrules and return it to its owner. If the group would like, I'll give a thorough review once it arrives.

Harry

wb4tjh · Post by **wb4tjh** » 02/19/13 08:57

Harry, I look foward to hearing your opinion of their blanks. Your's is one opinion that we all can bank on.

bamboo · Post by **bamboo** » 02/19/13 10:02

I built up an 8 footer two piece 5WT. about three years ago. Not one of their "named" blanks. Two tip sections. From what I could see the bamboo strips were put together very well. I used quality components from various suppliers . Got my ferrule set from Golden Witch , Grip,guides & reel seat from others.All hardware is N/S. I had never done anything like this before & did it as a winter project. Just for the heck of it. Well I have fished the rod for three seasons .Works well for me. For small money, I got an education & a fun rod to fish with. Also Johnny at Anglers Roost was good to deal with. Attached is a pic of the rod.

bamboo....mike

[IMG]

JeffG · Post by **JeffG** » 02/19/13 10:34

Very nice, I really like the reel seat insert. It complements the rod well. Great job!

Jeff

RyanAK · Post by **RyanAK** » 02/19/13 13:41

"I could not make a blank for that price if I wanted more than $2 to $3 an hour for labor."

Jeff... just remember that there are places where this is a good wage. Food for thought.

R

JeffG · Post by **JeffG** » 02/19/13 14:20

I could go back to afghanistan, it is closer to the tonkin and I could live like a king there until a drone took me out ha ha ha

RyanAK · Post by **RyanAK** » 02/19/13 15:04

True enough Jeff... wasn't suggesting THAT... more along the lines of the cost may be a clue as to the blank's origin. Ha.

R

JeffG · Post by **JeffG** » 02/19/13 17:44

Yea that is what I thought when I saw the prices, but I also thought with some of the router style milling machines someone may have the strips planed much closer to actual tapered dimentions speeding up the process.
I could picture a pair of routers and a sled cranking out perfectly tapered... well tapered anyway strips all set for the garrison binder.

Jeff

May hafta be my next invention ha ha or hire a bunch of sweat shop workers not sure which.

CTobias · Post by **CTobias** » 02/19/13 19:07

JeffG wrote:I could go back to afghanistan, it is closer to the tonkin and I could live like a king there until a drone took me out ha ha ha

Not enough trout in Afghanistan for me to go back.

JeffG · Post by **JeffG** » 02/19/13 19:21

Ain't that the truth, and the only river I saw running convoys was comming so fast out of the mountain I would have ended up in Pakistan before I got a hookset

jeff

CTobias · Post by **CTobias** » 02/19/13 20:27

Not my pictures, but they are from a member on the forum. Some Afghan trout.

Lee Slikkers · Post by **Lee Slikkers** » 02/19/13 21:28

That's awesome!

Kaboom · Post by **Kaboom** » 02/19/13 23:29

Tenkera fishing I see.....

Brad

JeffG · Post by **JeffG** » 02/19/13 23:46

The rich part of the country with trees and grass and stuff ha ha, I didn't get to vacation there much, I was in Helmand province with the Marines. They always pick the crappy spots, Leatherneck and Dwyer were not booming tourist destinations. I did see a little of this terrain up north east of Bagram airbase though over by Jalalabad. Mountains were not as green though more like the snow covered ones in the background.

TroutmanSE · Post by **TroutmanSE** » 02/20/13 00:36

Had a nice little moment while pulling security at a small stream bed during the salvaging of a husky.
Risers, softly sipping down something off the surface.
Still wondering what was hatching... and what was eating them.

wb4tjh · Post by **wb4tjh** » 02/21/13 18:13

Those pix of the Afghan trout fishing are interesting. But these days, it would be my luck to pull out a trout wearing an explosive suicide vest......dangerous place to fish.

JeffG · Post by **JeffG** » 02/21/13 19:06

Just have to set the hook harder, if the fish doesn't explode you can reel it in.

Jeff

canerodscom · Post by **canerodscom** » 02/22/13 19:47

Received the aforementioned blank today, and will be returning it on Monday. The blank is NOT from Angler's Roost, but instead Olde English Fly Shop in Florida. Supposedly modeled after a Payne 100, the blank is considerably off sized. The tip measures .057", the butt .275". The big end of the tips measures .187", the small end of the butt measures .165" -- needless to say it will be tough to make ferrules work with the serious reverse taper in the middle of the rod. One would need a size 12 ferrule on the tips and a size 11 on the butt.

The rod is very darkly flamed, more even than most PHY rods. The nodes are sanded flat and about 1.75" long. The butt and one tip has 2x2x2 node spacing. The other tips spacing is different, with a node under the tiptop.

One tip is crooked by about 1/2", the other by just over 1". The butt is fairly straight.

There are dozens of places where the glue was not completely sanded off of the blank and the cross hatching of the binding threads is still visible. There are only two small glue lines visible, each about 3/8" and just below a node.

All in all, the blank is poor quality. I am returning it to the fellow who purchased it. He will return it to the retailer.

Just my $.02,

Harry

CTobias · Post by **CTobias** » 02/22/13 20:01

Thanks for the heads up. I guess you get what you pay for these days ehh?

Sucks that you have to go through the hassle of shipping it back and waiting for a refund.

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