Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

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Boudin18
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Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#1

Post by Boudin18 »

Lou was a close friend of my family and a lifelong fishing partner of my father-in-law. Before he passed, he gave my FIL all of the remaining 5 strip blanks he had. Since Dad passed away, my son has had them. He recently decided to move, and has passed these to me. I know Lou would roll over in his grave thinking these might end up a tomato stakes somewhere. I would like to know if any one might be interested in some/all (I'm going to keep a couple to build two rods for a guide friend that likes cane rods and myself) of these. All together I'd estimate there are a mixture of about 100 butt and tip sections. They would have to be matched up. I don't know enough about bamboo rod building to do it!
Contact Carl at (901)268-0852
Tight lines...

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bugslinger
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#2

Post by bugslinger »

I sent you a pm Carl, I’m very interested. Thanks.

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bugslinger
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#3

Post by bugslinger »

Hello Carl......anything??

NewUtahCaneAngler
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#4

Post by NewUtahCaneAngler »

Did you call him at the # he posted?

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Pentalux
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#5

Post by Pentalux »

Had an absolutely amazing morning talking with Carl about Lou today and look forward to learning more about him in the future. Was always a fan of Feierabend but now am even more so - the man was unquestionably genius. Thrilled about these blanks and will keep you all posted when they finally arrive. I have several of his earliest LFU rods and one of his own inked rods so super-psyched about these blanks.
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Short Tip
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#6

Post by Short Tip »

Pentalux wrote:
05/12/22 11:11
Had an absolutely amazing morning talking with Carl about Lou today and look forward to learning more about him in the future. Was always a fan of Feierabend but now am even more so - the man was unquestionably genius. Thrilled about these blanks and will keep you all posted when they finally arrive. I have several of his earliest LFU rods and one of his own inked rods so super-psyched about these blanks.
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It's great that they found the right home.

jeffkn1
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#7

Post by jeffkn1 »

Who has the story behind anodized aluminum Super Z's? I took notice of a full page ad for them and the address was Martinsville, NJ, a somewhat quiet little town where an old friend once lived. Where was Feierabend from?

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Pentalux
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#8

Post by Pentalux »

What year was the ad from?

jeffkn1
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#9

Post by jeffkn1 »

1954, but they weren't aluminum, they were "Broloy" - "a special copper alloy having excellent resistance to corrosion". I saw the colors and immediately thought of the Featherweight aluminum rod hardware. I kneejerked.
I'll send you the ad via PM.

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Pentalux
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#10

Post by Pentalux »

That would be great Jeff thank you! Not exactly sure where he is from originally but think was living somewhere around Poughkeepsie, NY when he left Uslan for IBM - again I believe but hopefully Carl will chime in here as he knew him really well.

Relative to the ferrules, my understanding is that they were basically made by two women that Feierabend gave permission to continue to make and market the Super-Z's after he left the rod business, which they did for some time. The curious thing is, to my understanding, they were from Pearl River, NY so not sure on the NJ address.

jeffkn1
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#11

Post by jeffkn1 »

I would post the image here but it originated on ebay back in '20 and I don't post those without permission.

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Pentalux
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Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#12

Post by Pentalux »

Thinking these might be the same ferrules - its a Dan Brenan rod I had in here recently - tough to see but they were stamped Super-Z's and seemed somewhat truncated - were definitely a soft golden color just like broloy is described
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Boudin18
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#13

Post by Boudin18 »

I haven't been back on here since talking to Robert. However, checking in once again I saw a question about some of Lou's earlier SuperZ ferrules. I believe they were made from a beryllium bronze material, as I have one of those somewhere.....and I'm workong on getting all of the original SuperZs he passed on to Dad before he passed.
Yes, he was from the Poughkeepsie area, that's where he met my father-in-law and they became lifelong friends. After IBM "retired" him, he moved to Sunshine Canyon, above Boulder, CO and lived there until his wife passed away, frequently being a guest lecturer at the Engineering school at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

jim royston
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#14

Post by jim royston »

Here’s a little ferrule fun. From left to right, stamped Super Z Pearl River address, 5 tabs, Brolloy stamped Super Z, black painted Z style, brolloy, a set of 11/64 in wrap that I bought from Hoagie, from an inventory that he purchased from the gals that made them, no stamp, and. Rodon 11/64 set, Simroe owned the patent when these we made. I have had a handful of the bronze alloy ones, usually larger sizes and prefitted. The ns Z’s are all with tabs, all unfitted.
What does it all mean? I haven’t a clue, but it’s interesting. My bad, Hoagie’s are second from the left
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Pentalux
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#15

Post by Pentalux »

Nice assortment there. To my understanding, the Pearl River stamp was only used initially after or just prior to the patent being granted and can be found on a few of his LFU rods. Have seen the same black enamel coated ferrules on the earliest Airex fiberglass spinning rods which Uslan was overseeing the building of - have seen them in brass with the logo too also with enamel coat. An interesting observation when looking at his earliest ferrules and the ones he made before he stamped them compared to what they eventually became can be seen in the grouping as the later ones have a dramatic tapering of the lower third of the larger diameter part that was much more subtle in the earliest ones.

Psyched to say that a nice assortment of Uslan/Feierabend blanks have shown up here and I'm looking forward to going thru it all. One cool find in the pile was a small six ft long six-strip set of blanks along with a 36" flame tempered (extremely light) tip marked Payne 1947 so perhaps there really was something to the old story about Lou miking up several Payne rods when he was updating the Uslan tapers.

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Pentalux
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Thoughts on: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#16

Post by Pentalux »

Have about 25 lbs of blanks. Most are Spencer grade so thought I would browntone them similar to what was done at Uslan. Here's a few pic's of first one I tried.

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The rod on the left is an LFU (Louis Feierabend Uslan grade) and the one on the right an LFS (Spencer grade). His personal rods and those made for friends seem to have a slightly different tone. With his experience at Payne, I believe he was aware of the first coat formula which was also applied to the blank I toned (middle without grip and close up above). I'm pretty happy with the look and finish but appreciate any comments.

With a large stash of old Uslan ferrule stock these will be a lot of fun to produce.

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I'm not interested in making LFU and LFS clones so appreciate any thoughts on hardware. As the rods Lou made after leaving Uslan look to be more one-off's - each made for a specific individual or use, was thinking of using the various stock of hardware I have collected over the years(?). For those that remember Bob Malucci, I purchased all of his remaining hardware years ago, have a few Jim Beasley seats, a couple from Omar Needham, etc and a variety of stuff from various auctions. Thinking of using these to impart a bit of custom-ness to the individual rods. Thoughts?

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Pentalux
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#17

Post by Pentalux »

Here are a few (poorly lit) photos from some of the initial builds. 2/1 rods will be priced under 1k...
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jmcj1984
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#18

Post by jmcj1984 »

They look great and using up all your old stash of part add just a hint of one off custom to every rod have fun

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Brian K. Shaffer
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#19

Post by Brian K. Shaffer »

Was lucky to meet the descendants of Lou - all three generations - at this past Denver show.
Jeff Hatton showed them the same rod Lou held... handmade ferrules - handed it to the grandson.
His jaw dropped.
" There's no such thing as a fly fisherman wholly satisfied with his casting performance. " ~ Jim Green (1971)
" Just once I wish a trout would wink at me. " ~ Brian Shaffer

Use the SEARCH for justification and reasoning.

bluesjay
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Re: Lou Feierabend 5 strip tonkin cane blanks

#20

Post by bluesjay »

Hi Guys, I always wanted to meet Feirabend. He wrote the 'bamboo' part of 'McClanes Fishing Encyclopedia.' He was friends with Jon Parker, and went to his bamboo 'shindig.' I also went, but he had unfortunately passed away the year before I went. He was also friends wih Gordon Wickstrom, who was the best. He was an inspiration for me for sure.

Jay Edwards

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