What do you all do with “failed” rods

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StePhDen
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What do you all do with “failed” rods

#1

Post by StePhDen »

Hi All,

I’m about 9 rods into the hobby, I’ve built most my rods by the book but I have one or two that I have played around with or added my own flair so to speak. One of those just isn’t working out for me. I’m about ready to salvage the guides (I used nice recoil guides) and turn the blank into chopsticks or something.

In the grand scheme of rod building I get that bamboo is not always the most expensive part of the build and that most of the value in a blank is sweat equity. When you guys finish a rod you’re prototyping and aren’t happy with it what do you do? (After you’ve learned what you can from the rod)

Cheers,

Stephen


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woody osborne
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#2

Post by woody osborne »

i have no dog in this fight(not a maker) but rather than chopsticks, turn it into a spinning/casting rod. heck, add ferrules and make it a special/rare travel rod. put it in a closet for a year. you'll come up with something for it.

MGrallert
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#3

Post by MGrallert »

This is a great question, one I've struggled with myself. After all the time invested it's hard to cut up a rod or break it over your knee. I try and find a use for failed blanks. A spinning rod might be a good solution as Woody mentioned. I often wonder if it gets easier to break up a failure with the greater number of rods built.

Canewrap
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#4

Post by Canewrap »

I've had a couple of rods that kind of missed the mark when doing taper development. You would be surprised that some people might like the rod you made, as long it isn't broomstick or a impossible noodle. I sent one blank to a member of this forum, I used another in a rod swap (he loved it), I gave one to a fishing friend that had never tried cane. I am going to be donating one to my local flyfishing club soon. Don't cut it up, unless it is such an ugly and unmanageable rod that isn't useful for fishing.

P.S. I am talking about rods that just didn't cast the way I thought they would. Structural or serious cosmetics issues, then the section gets broken before it ever gets to the wrapping stage. I guess failed is kinda vague.
Last edited by Canewrap on 12/09/21 10:29, edited 1 time in total.

DonT
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#5

Post by DonT »

what Jay said....
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fisherman911
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#6

Post by fisherman911 »

DonT wrote:
12/08/21 16:03
what Jay said....
Plus 1 Unless the blank is so bad that it is structurally unsound which is unlikely even if you grossly missed your marks, I build them out as simple rods and give them away.

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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#7

Post by AlexP »

I am not a rod maker, but I find the topic interesting. For the ones that sell the rods at a discount or give them away, do you sign the rod? Although you have control over the first recipient of the rod and can describe the rod's "self perceived flaws", once the rod leaves your shop you loose that control.

I think selling them with full disclosure or giving them away is the best way to go. They might be fails, but people can still enjoy fishing them.

Tight Lines

Franknrod
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#8

Post by Franknrod »

I make plenty of mistakes! I try to learn something each time. After studying what was good and bad with each rod I make, I experiment with it. Some rods that do not work well for the purpose I intended, may actually do great with a different weight line.

A disappointing "5" weight rod I built two years ago turns out to be a really good 4 weight. The butt section of one rod ended up pairing well with the tip section of another reject to become a fishable rod. I have used both tip and butt sections for repairs of broken rods. If I am unhappy with a rod I made, I sometimes set it aside until inspiration strikes. Sometimes shortening the butt section will improve the rod's feel or replacing a heavy reel seat with a lighter one.

Since I do not sell my rods, I do not need to worry about damaging my commercial reputation. This is a hobby and I like experimenting.
Frank Payne

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flyman219
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#9

Post by flyman219 »

If there is something about the action you don't like you could sand the rod areas to try to improve the action to better adjust the taper next time. But I would put the rod aside for a good length of time, say 6 months and try casting it again WITHOUT any preconceived ideas of what it is. Try different line weights and reel weights for balance and accept the rod for what it is rather than what you were hoping for. Then if it still sucks, Oh well LOL

Mike

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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#10

Post by mrampant »

I chalk it up to R&D.
Cheers,
Mark
He who shall not be able to make a trout fly, after studying these diagrams and directions, must be deficient either in brains or in manual dexterity. : Edward Fitzgibbon 1853

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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#11

Post by Ear4 »

If you really don’t like the way the rod casts, cut it up and make bodkins out of it.

The bodkin I use was made by Glen & team at Sweetgrass a bunch of years ago. It is a section of a pent blank with a needle coming out of it. It was a fundraiser for a worthy cause as I remember.

I bet you could sell them in the classifieds, get a little money out of it and make a bunch of fly tyers happy.

I would buy another. . . .


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penta-spey
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#12

Post by penta-spey »

My workshop has many many built failed section of rods, that are never going to make out of the shop other than for kindling.
Last edited by penta-spey on 12/09/21 08:23, edited 3 times in total.

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Gnome
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#13

Post by Gnome »

Stress them until they fail to learn about what you can do better, Nothing second rate out the door Period!!!

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LeeO
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#14

Post by LeeO »

Honestly, I would never build out a rod on a flawed blank, outside of making a beater or an experiment.

I did try to make a rod as quickly as I could, ignoring many of the steps I have used to ensure precision. I learned a ton from doing it - what makes a difference and what is just wasted motion. The rod wound up with a glue line in the butt that I would never accept in a normal build. I finished it out anyway. The blank is a Para 17 and I have used it on Erie steelhead and slammed it around in my row boat for bass. Works just fine.

No way I would put my name on a flawed blank. But there are plenty of people that would love to get into fly fishing or bamboo that would love a rod.
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#15

Post by Pterrano »

I had 3 blanks I was not happy with recently while developing some new tapers. 2 of them I put some fairly cheap micro ferrules on and gave to friends as blanks so they could learn to build on. The other one I saved to experiment with- I took the tip and wrapped every single color silk I could find on it and then used varnish/cp for each color so now I have a visual reference when coming up with new color schemes. The butt section I am using to experiment with some fiberglass and bamboo ferrules, and I'm finding that it's actually quite handy to have a blank you don't mind damaging around the shop.

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Don Andersen
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#16

Post by Don Andersen »

Sell them at reduced prices detailing what happened or what you did. As long as they are sound, dump them.
I build a double parabolic some years ago 9’ long with bark handle and reel seat.
Looked like crap and casts worse. Some guy really like it, paid me and walked away.

Don

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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#17

Post by CMcDowell »

The cosmetic rejects are the rods that the rodmaker gets to fish. Unless you are experimenting with some really abstract taper concepts, I think it would be difficult to build a rod that truly couldn't be paired with the right line and fishing application such that somebody would enjoy it.

Redwing
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#18

Post by Redwing »

Believe at the very least they would make great Tomato stakes.

bambooflyrodsrecycld
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#19

Post by bambooflyrodsrecycld »

There's the Banty traditon of using the tip and mid section of a 9' 3 piece into a 6' 2 piece stream rod.

I have done this a couple of times and it has proven to be successful.

The first Banty I made was from a 9' 3-piece rod made in Japan - it was heavy, hard to cast. (pictured)

I stripped the rod down to its original surface with a 1 foot steel ruler - working slowly to remove the old varnish layers, without damaging the taper surface. I then applied 6 coats of Tru Oil as preparation before silk wrapping with new line guides.

I put a lightweight N S reel seat (Ray Lee) and turned down a grip on the butt end of the mid section, aadded an agate stripping guide and a new rod emerged, recycled.


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bambooflyrodsrecycld
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Re: What do you all do with “failed” rods

#20

Post by bambooflyrodsrecycld »

Banty Rod Making Notes

Maker-Year: Anonymous - made in Japan c1960
Original Type - Three piece split-cane cane fly rod, 1 tip 9' #7-8
Re-imagined Type: Two piece split-cane Banty fly rod, 1 tip 6' #5 weight
Build date: 2021 JJ for SP

Rebuilding Notes
- re-imagined mid and tip section as Banty from 3 -piece fly rod
- all fittings removed, original varnish carefully removed
- original blanks showed no decay or delamination
- stripped blank lightly sanded 400 grit, tack cloth
- 6 coats Birchwood Tru-oil - light pass of 0000 steel wool - 24 hrs between coats
- Nickel, Aluminium-Bronze composite ferrules (A V Young)
- red agate stripping guide & chrome snake guides
- wraps in Piper's Kenya Red silk, colour preserved Pale French Polish
- down locking Nickel Silver Reel seat (Ray Lee USA)
- Curly Maple wood insert (Ray Lee USA)
- tan flannel rod bag 6' 2/1 (REC) - adjusted flap


Fishing Notes
- this fly rod will suit delicate dry fly + grashoppers and small nymphs
- rod balanced at foregrip with Waterworks Lamson Purist 2 (2.8 oz nett) + line (3.6 oz total)
- test cast to 20 metres with #5 weight DT line

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