R. James - rod taper?
Moderator: pvansch1
R. James - rod taper?
#1Looking for numbers from a R. James rod. Mr. James was a rod maker from Shilbottle, Alnwick and I recently came across an old article about him in the April 1988, Fly Fishing Magazine. The article spoke about an 8' 5# rod. If anyone has this rod or taper, please contact me.
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Re: R. James - rod taper?
#2About 25+ or so years ago I had some conversations with Mr James. I subsequently bought four rods from him 6'9" to 8'.
The rods were all different actions/tapers and I kept one the 6'9" #5.
He did a lot of repairs for Hardy's and I am sure was influenced by their tapers.
My best guess as to what you are looking for should start with the CC de France. He made several tapers that Hardy no longer made, and I think they were his best sellers.
You are the only the second person that has ever mentioned Bob James's name or rods that I know of. The other being a English/Canadian member of this board, and we had a conversation about Bob at Canadian Cane last year. He has a lot more Hardy/Alnwich knowledge than I do, maybe he will chime in.
Peter
The rods were all different actions/tapers and I kept one the 6'9" #5.
He did a lot of repairs for Hardy's and I am sure was influenced by their tapers.
My best guess as to what you are looking for should start with the CC de France. He made several tapers that Hardy no longer made, and I think they were his best sellers.
You are the only the second person that has ever mentioned Bob James's name or rods that I know of. The other being a English/Canadian member of this board, and we had a conversation about Bob at Canadian Cane last year. He has a lot more Hardy/Alnwich knowledge than I do, maybe he will chime in.
Peter
Re: R. James - rod taper?
#3That must be me..
I know a little about Richard 'Dickie' James as I too heard of him (from a tiny ad. in Trout & Salmon MagazineUK) then ordered a rod, on behalf of a neighbour of mine, it was before I made rods of my own. His rods were not fancy boutique rods, they were honest to goodness fishing affairs, and he made a multitude of them, from salmon spey rods to spinning rods. His prices were very good as well. I have a long and detailed handwritten letter explaining how he made them, his own history and price list.
Richard James made his rods using wooden 'blocks' or 'formers' as he called them, each one different and specific to the rod that was being made. he wrote that he had over 300 of them covering 50 patterns, some dating back to 1882. He was very proud of his blocks, as a result of using these 'templates' he did not use adjustable forms and did not have tapers to adjust them to. He also used large wooden hand planes.
I will dig out more specific information and pictures of Richard James which he himself sent me.
He did proudly claim that under the UK Trade Descriptions Act he was the only rod builder permitted to call his rods 'hand made'.
You could even order a matching wooden hinged box (as I did) to contain his rod. Again quite basic, but full of the character of the quite elderly gent that he was, now over twenty years ago.
The last I heard of him was reading the editorial in Trout & Salmon (UK) written by Sandy Leventon, back in the very early 90's, which mentioned that Mr James's workshop in Alnwick, had been intentionally set on fire by arsonists. Most of his precious rod 'blocks' had been destroyed and the magazine was asking for donations to help Mr James get back on his feet again. Nowadays with 'crowd sourcing' funding maybe more help would have been heading his way.
As it was I have not read or heard of him since. I am sure by now he has cast off his own 'mortal coil', as he was an elderly chap those years ago as I said.
It is strange that there seems to be no reference of him on line, I Googled up his name only to reveal a question that I posed (on another forum) mentioning him..His rods do not seem to surface either.
By the way, he made all of Hardys bamboo blanks at one stage till the work became too much for him.
Malcolm
I know a little about Richard 'Dickie' James as I too heard of him (from a tiny ad. in Trout & Salmon MagazineUK) then ordered a rod, on behalf of a neighbour of mine, it was before I made rods of my own. His rods were not fancy boutique rods, they were honest to goodness fishing affairs, and he made a multitude of them, from salmon spey rods to spinning rods. His prices were very good as well. I have a long and detailed handwritten letter explaining how he made them, his own history and price list.
Richard James made his rods using wooden 'blocks' or 'formers' as he called them, each one different and specific to the rod that was being made. he wrote that he had over 300 of them covering 50 patterns, some dating back to 1882. He was very proud of his blocks, as a result of using these 'templates' he did not use adjustable forms and did not have tapers to adjust them to. He also used large wooden hand planes.
I will dig out more specific information and pictures of Richard James which he himself sent me.
He did proudly claim that under the UK Trade Descriptions Act he was the only rod builder permitted to call his rods 'hand made'.
You could even order a matching wooden hinged box (as I did) to contain his rod. Again quite basic, but full of the character of the quite elderly gent that he was, now over twenty years ago.
The last I heard of him was reading the editorial in Trout & Salmon (UK) written by Sandy Leventon, back in the very early 90's, which mentioned that Mr James's workshop in Alnwick, had been intentionally set on fire by arsonists. Most of his precious rod 'blocks' had been destroyed and the magazine was asking for donations to help Mr James get back on his feet again. Nowadays with 'crowd sourcing' funding maybe more help would have been heading his way.
As it was I have not read or heard of him since. I am sure by now he has cast off his own 'mortal coil', as he was an elderly chap those years ago as I said.
It is strange that there seems to be no reference of him on line, I Googled up his name only to reveal a question that I posed (on another forum) mentioning him..His rods do not seem to surface either.
By the way, he made all of Hardys bamboo blanks at one stage till the work became too much for him.
Malcolm
Re: R. James - rod taper?
#4I just joined this forum as I have stumbled across a hand made rod by R.James. I actually found it about 20 years ago along with four or five other rods. So last night i was visiting my mum for her birthday and whilst in my old bedroom looking for a warm jacket to put on i found the rod (again) in a cupboard. Its called "The Perfection Rod" and was built Jan 9th 1989. I think it says its 91/2 feet long. I suppose one of the main things i wanted to find out was if R. James is still alive but reading your posts i guess not. Secondly i figured i should find out if the person who it was built for is still around. And finally if there is anyone out there that can repair such a rod. It has some paint blobs on it and the central spigot is stuck. i think my brother who would have moved into my bedroom when i left home must have put the rod together, and when trying to take it apart again the spigot has jammed. resulting in the spigot coming off the bottom section so the whole thing is now stuck and attached to the top section. I could attempt these repairs myself if anyone has advice?
Re: R. James - rod taper?
#5I can't help with rod taper or with the repair, but I do know that Richard James has died. I believe I have his obituary. I have to check. I do have an article about him, and a rod list of the different rods he made. He claimed to be able to make as good a taper as any American maker, and he had little patience for all the hype that mystifies what a rodmaker does. He was very down to earth judging from the article. It's fascinating that all his rods came from wooden forms. The destruction of those forms must have been devastating for his business. Best, Jed
Fefferfly
Re: R. James - rod taper?
#6I just came across this thread and thought I’d add a little.
Many years ago I used to live in Newcastle Upon Tyne and visited Mr James’ workshop on a few occasions. It was a haven of old school craftsmanship, I remember seeing his wooden formers and he described to me how he used them, we talked about glues and varnishing amongst other aspects. He had a wealth of information, I just wish I could speak to him now as I’ve started making bamboo rods myself.
His workshop was in his garden, and I remember him rightly bemoaning the fact that local undesirables kept trying to break in, “what on earth are they going to steal that of any use to them?” I remember him saying. It would appear that similar undesirables set fire to said workshop, it must have been heartbreaking for him.
He refurbished a 13’9” #9 Hardy LRH Speycasting rod for me and did a very good job. He said the copper thread used on the butt ring was impossible to get hold of, only Hardy had any and they would not sell any to him (I believe it was braided).
When I was there on one occasion he showed me a rod he had just finished, a 10’8” two piece spinning rod built on a Hardy Corbett taper with a double built butt, a lovely rod. He claimed that the Corbett taper was infinitely superior to the LRH spinning taper. The rod had been built for a local Police Chief Constable if I remember rightly.
Sad to hear he’s died, but he was quite an elderly chap when I met him.
If anyone has any articles on him then please post them up, I’d love to see them.
Many years ago I used to live in Newcastle Upon Tyne and visited Mr James’ workshop on a few occasions. It was a haven of old school craftsmanship, I remember seeing his wooden formers and he described to me how he used them, we talked about glues and varnishing amongst other aspects. He had a wealth of information, I just wish I could speak to him now as I’ve started making bamboo rods myself.
His workshop was in his garden, and I remember him rightly bemoaning the fact that local undesirables kept trying to break in, “what on earth are they going to steal that of any use to them?” I remember him saying. It would appear that similar undesirables set fire to said workshop, it must have been heartbreaking for him.
He refurbished a 13’9” #9 Hardy LRH Speycasting rod for me and did a very good job. He said the copper thread used on the butt ring was impossible to get hold of, only Hardy had any and they would not sell any to him (I believe it was braided).
When I was there on one occasion he showed me a rod he had just finished, a 10’8” two piece spinning rod built on a Hardy Corbett taper with a double built butt, a lovely rod. He claimed that the Corbett taper was infinitely superior to the LRH spinning taper. The rod had been built for a local Police Chief Constable if I remember rightly.
Sad to hear he’s died, but he was quite an elderly chap when I met him.
If anyone has any articles on him then please post them up, I’d love to see them.
