sharing taper: Orvis 5'5", 3 piece, 3/4 wt pack rod

[headwaters]

That's a gorgeous rod, Brian! And, so is Stan's by Jim Ifert.

[Flyman615]

Very interesting thread. Congrats to the OP and to those who have made their own clones!

FWIW, here's another Orvis "One of One" pack rod I acquired a few years ago. It's a 4-piece, impregnated, 7'3", and very similar to the Orvis Pack or Traveler models. Seems to like a WF-5-F line.

I also believe it to be a 'prototype' rod and is obviously made with all Orvis fittings and cane, but is also unmarked. Late model d/l slide band reel seat over tiger maple filler; Superfine profile grip.

Sorry, but I don't have measurements for it.


Scott

[Gnome]

Scott,

Want me to map your rod like I did Norcal1's??? Maybe I should offer a drafting service for rods?/ Need a rod mapped send it to me and I will do it for a small fee.

cheers

Jeff

[Flyman615]

Hi Jeff:

Thanks for the kind offer!
If I get any requests for measurements/mapping, I'll let you know.

Thanks again!

Scott

[Gnome]

Scott,

count me as the first ;-) would love to do that rod.

Jeff

[ARTHURK]

Very well done Jeff! Thanks for recording & sharing knowledge and inspiring me to do the same. I need a similar jig to measure my collection. Can you make me one?... for a good price of course

Arthur

[Arubey]

Just finished up my rendition of the 5'5" pack rod. My goal was to have it ready for this year's Colorado Rodmakers Reunion, and it's done with about 3 days to spare!

No casting impressions yet as I'm saving the first cast for the Gnome at CRR as a "thank you" for taking time to measure the rod. And Mike, if our paths ever cross you are welcome to cast and try the rod out on some water. Thanks for making the original rod available for measuring!

When I first saw this taper, the compactness of the final rod appealed to me and sparked an idea. I do a fair amount of biking, frequently on remote forest roads, and often will come across a stream I'd like to fish in the future. But the size of this rod is such that I'll be able to carry it on the bike and fish along the way. The next project is a rod tube that will allow the rod to be carried inside a bike frame, similar to the way a frame fit pump works for those who may be familiar with such things.

Anyway, here are a couple pics of the finished rod.









Best,
Andy

[norcal_1]

Wow, Andy....just WOW

Incredible workmanship

I hope it casts as well as it looks

I just love seeing others using Jeff's rod map to make their own

[Gnome]

Kudos from da gnome to Andy for building an extremely accurate and beautiful rod from the map, Well done Andy and it cast so close to the original that I was a bit surprised, that little rod-like the original will throw a mean loop, great Job and great rod and keep up the good work!!!!

Jeff

[mer]

Andy, interesting idea on the tube. Each rod section is about 22inch or so? Looking at a rod tube length of may 23inch? Don't know what frame size you ride, but you may wind up using the down tube instead of top or seat tube.
If you got kudos from Jeff, then you did a job.

[henkverhaar]

The next project is a rod tube that will allow the rod to be carried inside a bike frame, similar to the way a frame fit pump works for those who may be familiar with such things.

Ah, you mean inside the triangle - not inside an actual frame tube, right?

Interesting idea.

On vacation (central Norway usually - only dirt roads for miles), I usually carry a normal 2 pc rod by lashing a PVC tube to the top tube of my MTB.

[ibookje]

Darn nice!

[Arubey]

Thank you, everyone, for the kind words about my interpretation of the rod! It was a fun rod to make, and it's a very fun rod to cast. But again, the real thanks goes to norcal_1 and the Gnome for making the original rod available for measuring and for sharing this information!

The taper seemed to be a hit at CRR. Most found it to be a much more powerful rod than they expected. And almost everyone had quite a grin while casting the rod. Most people, myself included, found it to be a true 5wt. But it was a pleasure and quite amazing to see gnome cast (with ease) a couple times the amount of line I would ever expect a rod of this size to throw!

I would encourage anyone interested in this taper to give it a shot. It's certainly not a "do everything" rod, but it will do much more than I would have guessed.

Biking/bikepacking content:
Although quite small, the rod won't fit most bikes in the manner I intend to try. I hope to make a tube (not the one included in the pictures) which will allow the rod to be carried under the bike's top tube, utilizing the frame's pump peg. Instead of using a spring, like silca, zefal or other frame pumps, I'm leaning to a threaded collar which when turned will lengthen the tube and firmly hold it in place. Proportionally I have a long torso, and my frames have been built with a long top tube. Additionally, they use traditional (non-compact) geometry and standard diameter steel tubing. All of this combines to allow the rod to just fit (without ferrule plugs) inside the main triangle. I will definitely need to be careful to make the rod tube as compact as possible while making sure that when compressed it doesn't risk damaging the rod.
There are certainly easier ways to carry a fly rod on a bike, but I like the challenge of coming up with something hopefully somewhat elegant.

If there is interest I'll post photos in a new thread of the completed project incase anyone wants to do something similar.



Finally, just a pic of the Gnome after his first couple casts.

best, Andy

[henkverhaar]

I've finally finished my copy of the Norcal/Gnome Orvis prototype pack rod. I used the taper dimensions as posted in this thread, made it from non-impregnated cane, and built it with bamboo ferrules (Davide Fiorani's Tapered Bamboo Ferrule - currently, as I understand it, a proof of concept as published, creating a morse taper like tip-over-butt ferrule). With these build choices, mine is a solid 5-weight.

[jan96]

I've finally finished my copy of the Norcal/Gnome Orvis prototype pack rod. I used the taper dimensions as posted in this thread, made it from non-impregnated cane, and built it with bamboo ferrules (Davide Fiorani's Tapered Bamboo Ferrule - currently, as I understand it, a proof of concept as published, creating a morse taper like tip-over-butt ferrule). With these built choices, mine is a solid 5-weight.

Nice rod Henk! Do you have any problems with the Morse(a/2=1°30'') tapered bamboo ferrules? In length of two inches the increasing of "diameter" of the ferrule is circa 2,5mm... How they perform during fishing?

r

[henkverhaar]

Nice rod Henk! Do you have any problems with the Morse(a/2=1°30'') tapered bamboo ferrules? In length of two inches the increasing of "diameter" of the ferrule is circa 2,5mm... How they perform during fishing?

Thanks ;-). This is the fourth rod I've made with bamboo ferrules, the third with the tapered bamboo ferrule as proposed by Davide, and the first 3 piece with them. I've built two 2 piece rods in the beginning of this year, a 7'6" 4 weight and an 8' 5 weight, that I used almost exclusively during the past trout season on my local stream (in February of this year we relocated to the south of the country, close to the only viable trout stream in the Netherlands - close enough that I can get in an hour of fishing after work by bike...), as well as exclusively during our annual trip to mid-Norway in August/September. Where the 4 wt handled a 50cm-plus grayling with no problems, in addition to numerous smaller grayling (and some small trout...). The only think that I find is that l have to take them apart at the end of the day - leave them assembled for more than a couple of days, and the ferrules have a tendency to stick/bind. I normally keep the few rods that I use on a regular basis assembled in a rod rack in the living room, but these I need to 'destring' and then assemble without tightening the ferrule if I want to put them in te rack at full length.

[jan96]

Thank you Henk for the report on your bamboo ferruled rods. I reread Davide's article, there's one mm increasing of the taper in the length of two inches. Nothing to do with Morse cone.., but an interesting idea.. I prefer glued on - sleeve ferrules with increasing in taper 0,1mm/50mm, but maybe one day I'll try Davide's formula..

r

[henkverhaar]

Thank you Henk for the report on your bamboo ferruled rods. I reread Davide's article, there's one mm increasing of the taper in the length of two inches. Nothing to do with Morse cone..

No, not really, as far as actual dimensions go, but he does describe it as it being his inspiration.

Random trivia: the shank of a trumpet mouthpiece is a Morse taper #1...

[Tommasini]

This is my rendition. The original taper looked to me like a 6 or 7 weight. I changed the numbers and smoothed it out to my liking. I ended up with a true 4 wt. with Bailey Wood Micro Ferrules (#9 & #12) and a Snake skin spacer.

[norcal_1]

^ Nice job ... can you share the changes you made to the taper, so that others can tweak their taper #'s to get a lighter line result like yours if that's their goal?