Building a bamboo rod by Tightlines

[fishnbanjo]

     Welcome to Week 4
of the Crackerbarrel Forum. Last time we finished a 3 part series on buying
your first bamboo rod and you learned a little history of bamboo and the
various components of the finished rod. We also gave you some abbreviations to
assist you to understand the terminology used for bamboo rods by the folks that
use them and the dealers that sell them. This week I would like to introduce
you to a maker of bamboo rods. He uses some of the classic techniques and some
newer ones as well which he will share with us and I’d like to introduce him to
you. His name is Mark Wendt; Mark lives in Waldorf, MD and is married. He posts
on the VFS as Titelines. If you have any questions you’d like to ask Mark
personally you may reach him by email at wendt@kingcrab.nrl.navy.mil  The smell coming from the coffee pot says
it’s time to start so while I give the stove one last stoke let’s get to it.

 

 

Building a Bamboo Rod Part 1

 



   This week we're going to talk about making a bamboo fly rod. 
Yup, you heard me right, making your own bamboo fly rod.  There are many
myths cloaking the actual making of a bamboo rod, and I'll attempt to dispel
some of those.  If you've ever worked with hand tools, and have a bit of
patience (along with a bit of spare change to buy the tools or make your own),
you can make a bamboo fly rod.




   The first step in creating your own grass thunder stick is getting
the tools needed to make the rod.  You can go to a one-stop shop, such as
Golden Witch, and purchase all the tools you need to make your rod.  Or,
you can do as I did, and make most of the tools.  Be forewarned, if you go
this path, it is time consuming, and can be almost as expensive as purchasing
the equipment.  Let me state this right up front - if you're looking to
save money making your own bamboo rods, it ain't gonna happen, unless you make
hundreds of them and sell a few along the way to pay for the equipment.  I
got into making bamboo rods, because I love to work with my hands, love fishing
with bamboo rods, and I really enjoyed making many of the tools I needed to
make the rods.


   Let’s look at the tools you'll need.  First off, you need a
decent block plane.  You can start out with a Stanley 9 1/2 block plane,
from Home Depot or Lowes; do some tuning on the plane, and purchasing a good
blade from Hock, or other companies out there.  You'll also need something
to sharpen the plane blade, such as a Lee Valley-Veritas sharpening jig. 
The jig isn't totally necessary, but it sure does make it a lot easier to start
with a repeatable angle on your plane blade.  To go along with the jig,
you'll need some sharpening stones, in various grits up to 8000, to get the
razor sharp edge you'll need on the plane blade.  Now that you've got
something to actually shave away the bamboo, you need something to hold the
bamboo, and be able to cut the taper.  For this, you need a set of planing
forms.  If you're lucky enough to have a machinist that really knows what
you're looking for in a set of planing forms, you can go that route, or you can
purchase them from companies like Golden Witch, Colorado Bootstrap, Lon
Blauvelt, or others.  You don't necessarily need steel forms, you can get
by with wooden ones, and a number of the companies mentioned above sell those
too.  You'll also need a binder, used for heat treating, gluing, and a few
other tasks.  Another item that I consider necessary, since I don't as yet
use power tools to bevel my rod strips, is a rough beveler form.  This
form is used to plane the initial 60 degree bevel in the split strips, so that
you can move the strip over to the planing forms and create the 60 degree bevel
on all three sides of the strip.  The last tool I consider as a must have
item is some kind of heat treating oven.  There are a few out on the
market, some made with computer controlled heaters, convection ovens, and some
made to use heat guns.  It's up to you, depending on how much you want to
spend.  Or, you could do like I did, and make your own.  You'll also
need a couple of precision measuring devices, because we try to hold our
tolerances to .001".  First, you need a decent dial caliper, usually
a 6" one that can read down to .001".  Also, you'll need a depth
gauge, usually of 1" length, with a base.  The caliper is really
handy for measuring the strips, and can also be used to set the depth on the
forms.  The depth gauge is what most guys use for setting the depth of the
planing forms.  Other necessary items are a heat gun or alcohol lamp, a couple
of mill bastard files in medium and fine, various grades of sandpaper, and of
course, some kind of glue to glue up the strips.  These are the absolute
minimum tools you'll need to get started.  Other tools, such as a drying
cabinet for finishing rods, lathes, dip/drip tubes for applying the finish, a
rod wrapper, and other hand or power tools are nice to have but not necessary.




   So, we now have the tools needed to start making our rod. 
Now, we have to actually acquire the bamboo.  Where do we get it
from?  A few places come to mind, if you wish to acquire bamboo. 
First, Charles H. Demarest Inc., the oldest bamboo importer in the US, is one
place you could go, and they're located on the East Coast of the US.  Andy
Royer, of the Bamboo Broker company, is located on the West Coast.  You
can also order single culms from Golden Witch.




   We now have the culm in our shop.  You'll notice that most
culms come with usually at least one split down the side of the culm. 
This split is usually put in the culm by the distributor, to aid in even drying
of the bamboo.  Most culms arrive in 6' sections, unless you've ordered a
bale of culms, which usually arrive in 12' lengths.  Those have to be
shipped common carrier in those lengths, hence the cutting into 6' lengths, which
can be sent through the mail system.  We need to split the culm into the
strips that we are going to plane into the taper for our rod.  I use an
old butcher knife, that's been cut down to about a 6" blade length, and
had the cutting edge dulled to just a bit sharper than a butter knife, and an
old mallet.  I divide the circumference of the culm up into six equal
sections, and mark those sections on the culm.  The first split I make is
opposite the drying split.  I set the knife on one of the marks I've made,
give it a light tap with the mallet to start the split, and then move the knife
down the split, twisting the knife as I go.  You'll hear a nice pop when
the split goes through the nodes. I continue this all the way down to the
end.  After the culm sections are divided into two pieces, I split the
three sections out of each half.  Repeat the process for the other 6'
section of the culm.  Now, here's where the splitting can get
tricky.  We're splitting smaller sections, and sometimes the split can wander,
which we don't want to happen.  We want all the strips to be as close to
equal width as we can get.  I divide the split sections up into four equal
parts, so that I can split in half, then in half again.  The reasoning
behind this is that if I split the strips down the middle each time, I'm
keeping equal amounts of bamboo on either side of the split, which helps to
keep the split from wandering.  Of course, depending on how the fibers run
the length of the strip, the split can still wander.  I start the split
the same way I do for splitting out the big sections, but my technique changes
for getting the smaller strips split.  Once the split is started, I take
the knife out of the section, and start splitting by hand, which gives me more
control on how the split commences.  I place one hand on either side of
the split, gripping the cane with my thumbs on top, and fingers underneath, and
apply pressure to the outsides of the strip.  I can control how fast the
split is happening, and if the split starts to wander, I can work it back to
the middle of the section by applying pressure by my hand to the side that's
getting fatter.  The split will then work itself back to the middle,
usually by the next node.  I do this for all the sections, and end up with
24 pieces from each section.




   Why do I want 24 strips?  Well, you'll not always get the
perfect strip from each split, so you need the extra pieces to make up for
that.  Also, cane has what we call leaf nodes that grow out of the nodal
areas, making that section of the culm unusable for making a fishing rod. 
Sometimes, you'll also have worm holes, or other kinds of injured areas on the
strips, making those strips also unusable.  You'll need at least 12 strips
for the tips on a two tip rod, and 6 strips for the butt section.  I
usually use the upper section of the culm for the tip strips, and the bottom
section for the butt strips.  The upper section usually has denser power
fibers, and since the tip sections are so much finer than the butts, it makes
good sense to use the upper section for the tips.  Once all the strips are
split, I use a sanding drum mounted on my drill press and sand off the nodal
dams and a bit of the pith under the nodes to be able to displace the node
sections once I start straightening.





   Once I get all that done, I soak them in a tube filled with water
and a smidgen of bleach for a minimum of five days.  I do this, because
soaked strips are much easier to straighten and plane than dry strips. 
Once the soaking is complete, I start straightening.  Using a heat gun, I
hold the strip's nodal areas over the heat until I feel the strip starting to
become "plastic".  The strip will bend quite easily at the point
where it's been heated.  I have two vises made up to straighten
strips.  The first, has three small blocks glued on to the faces, two on
one face, spaced the width of the other block, and the other block glued to the
opposite face.  I put the strip, with the enamel side facing wither up or
down depending on how the strip is crooked, into the vise, and tighten the vise
so that the strip gets straightened.  Once the side to side crooks have
been straightened, I use the other vise to displace the node.  This vise
has a "V" groove cut into one of the faces, and the "V"
groove will receive the nodal ridge while I'm displacing the node.  I
tighten the vise, and the node gets displaced to the side of the strip that had
been sanded earlier.  Now I start looking at the rest of the strip, once
all the nodes have been straightened and displaced.  You can get some
"wows" between the nodes, and those have to be taken out also.

 




   Once the straightening portion is completed, the next step is to
file down the nodal ridges.  Displacing the nodes leaves only the small
ridge to be filed off, which goes much quicker than filing and sanding down the
whole nodal area, which has to be done if you don't displace the node. 
Displacing the node also leaves a smaller nodal area on the strip than filling
off the ridge and other bumps if the node isn't displaced.




   Now comes the beginning of the fun.  We have to plane an
initial 30 degree bevel on to one side of the strip.  I have a roughing
form that I made out of two blocks of maple, 24" long by 1"
square.  The roughing form has an 87 degree angle, one side cut to 30
degrees, the other cut to 57 degrees.  When you place the strip into the
roughing form, enamel side against the 30 degree cut, you plane the top of the
strip so that it's parallel to the top of the roughing form.  Do this to
all the strips, then move on to the next phase, the initial, untapered
bevel.  For this, I have another set of forms that have no taper cut into
the bevel, but are adjustable.  I set the forms so that the bevel has a
depth of .195", so that the beveled strips will fit into a set of heat
treating fixtures that I use.  Set the previously planed strip into the
forms, with the side that has the bevel into the groove, and begin planing the
top side of the strip.  Once I have the beginnings of a true 60 degree
bevel planed into the strip, I start flipping the strip every three or four
planes.  Remember; only plane the sides of the strip, not the enamel
side.  I flip the strip for two reasons, first, because I want to take off
equal amounts on both sides, and second, it helps hold the 60 degree angle
better on the strip.




   Once all the strips are beveled to 60 degrees, and all have the
height of .195", I close the gap on my forms so that the enamel side of
the strip, facing up, is up above the form.  Then I take a single edge razor
blade in a jig I made up, and scrape the enamel off, making sure I hold the jig
parallel to the top of the form.  I do this now because it's a lot easier
to hold the 60 degree angle when I start planing the final taper into the
strips.  Some folks wait until just before the finish of the final
planing, but for me it works better this way.  Technique only, not
mandated.  After the strips have the 60 degree bevel planed into them,
it's time to stagger the nodes, and cut them to rough length.  I've used
the spiral method, and also the 2-2 method for staggering nodes.  In the
spiral method, the strips are placed flat on the table, with the nodes
aligned.  Then, I move the second strip about 1 1/2" away from the
first, the third about 1 1/2" away from the second, and so on for all six
strips in each section.  The 2-2 stagger starts out the same way, but now
pairs of strips are moved.  Strips 1 and 4 stay stationary, and strips 2
and 5 are moved 2" in one direction, the strips 3 and 6 are moved 2"
past strips 2 and 5.  The spiral stagger has no nodes opposite each other
anywhere on the rod, while the 2-2 stagger has only two nodes opposite each
other at any location, but they are on opposite sides of the rod.  Once
the stagger has been set, I measure the sticks for cut off on each end.  I
try to make sure that no nodes are within 6" of either the ferrule or the
tip top, and also that I have 6" of scrap length added to each section of
the rod.  Let's say that I'm working on a 7' rod.  Each finished
section will be nominally 42" long.  I cut my strips so that each one
is then 48" long, so that when I go to glue up and bind, I have a few
extra inches to spare to tie off the binding thread.




   Next step is heat treating.  I dig out my binder, and the
heat treating fixtures I mentioned before.  The fixtures are designed to
hold six strips at a time, so since I'm making a two piece, two tip rod, I use
all three of the fixtures.  The strips are set into the fixture, and are
run through the binder, tightly bound with cotton glaze thread.  Since I
use the fixtures, and have an oven that is controlled by computer so that the
temperature is maintained ± 1 degree F, I have a special regimen that I
follow.  I put all the fixtures in the oven while it is cold, turn it on
with the oven set point temperature at 350 degrees, and let it heat up. 
Once the oven reaches 350 degrees, I start my timer for 30 minutes.  When
the beeper goes off, I re-adjust the set point temperature down to 225
degrees.  Once 225 degrees has been reached, I start the timer for one
hour.  At the end of the hour, I shut the oven off, remove the fixtures
from the oven, and let them cool down to room temperature.  Using this
regimen, I'm able to both heat treat, and dry the strips.  The color of
the bamboo ends up a nice rich shade of honey blonde.



   Now comes the most important phase of the entire sequence. 
We are about to plane the final taper of the rod, so we need to be very
precise.  My planing forms are set up on top of three no slip blocks, to
keep the form from shifting while planing.  Using the depth gauge, I set
the 5" intervals to the correct depth.  This usually requires me to
measure and re-measure each station three to four times, since an adjustment at
one station can affect the depth of the stations on either side of it. 
Once the depths are all set, it's time begin the final planing.  I set the
strip in the forms, with the ex-enameled side, against one side of the
groove.  Now I take four to five passes on each side of the strip, making
sure the sole of my block plane is parallel to the tops of the forms, to ensure
I hold the 60 degree bevel.  Once the strip is starting to approach the
size of the final taper, I start flipping the strip every couple of passes,
just to make sure that I don't lose the bevel.  As it approaches the final
dimensions, I take the strip out of the forms, and using my calipers, check the
dimension at each 5" interval, to make sure I'm not going too far, or not
enough.  As the strip approaches within .005" or so of the final
dimension, I set the plane aside, and use a scraper to get the strip down to
the final size.  This process is repeated for all 18 strips.  This
phase takes me anywhere from 8 to 10 hours, but I'm a little anal about my
dimensions, so there is a lot of time taken measuring and so on.  Once the
first strip is even with the top of the forms, I'm almost finished.  I
take another set of measurements, and if the strip is a little thicker in spots
than the taper calls for, I'll readjust the forms by that amount at the
stations that were off, and continue scraping until the strip is even with the
top of the forms again.





   Now we're getting to the point where we're about to making a bunch
of strips start to look like a fishing rod.  Getting the binder out again
and setup, I’m going to glue the strips together into three sections, one butt,
and two tips.  I carefully gather each section of strips, and making sure
they are in the right order, I fit them together into a hex section.  I
tape them together at 6" intervals, so as to hold them together without
twists.  I slice the tape between strips 3 and four, and lay the sections
out flat, apex side up.  I use a glue called Epon for my rods, because of
the nice long working time, and because of the strength it has.  After
mixing the two part epoxy in the right proportions, I take an old tooth brush,
and apply the glue one section at a time. At 75 degrees F, I have almost an
hour of pot life with this glue, so no hurry needed.  After the glue has
been thoroughly applied to the strips, I curl them up into the hex section
again, and run the section through my binder.  The string acts as a clamp,
and since it spirals up and down the blank, it gives a nice even clamp the
whole length of the section.  This is repeated for the other two
sections.  The next step, which is a nice feature of Epon, is the initial
clean up of the sections.  Taking a sponge and denatured alcohol, I wipe
down each section, removing most of the glue on the outside of the
bamboo.  We also need to remove any bends, kinks or wow's that were
induced during the glue up/binding phase.  I take each section, lay it
flat on a newspaper on my workbench, both hands in the middle of the section,
and start rolling the section while my hands move outwards to the ends. 
This takes out most of the nasties.  Now, I pick up each strip, and hand
straighten any little kinks left over from the rolling operation.  Each
section has a loop in the binding string, and now they're hung in my drying
cabinet overnight.




   The next day, the sections are taken out of the drying cabinet,
the binding string removed, and the final cleanup begins. I lay the sections
down flat on my workbench, and start scraping off the residual glue with a
single edged razor blade.  The Epon is still somewhat rubbery at this
point, so the cleanup goes rather easy and fast.  You now have two
options.  You can either let the glue come to it's final cure over a
period of a week or two, depending on temperature, or, you can heat cure the
glue.  Even though I'm patient, I have a heat treating oven, so why not
use it and speed up the process.  The sections are rebound again, this
time with more tension than the initial bind, so if there are any glue lines in
the sections, the heat curing will soften the glue slightly, and allow the
binding thread to draw the strips closer together.  I crank the oven up to
212 degrees, and put the sections in for two hours.  After the heat
treating is over, I let the sections come back down to room temperature before
I remove the thread, so that they don't shift, or separate.





   End Part one.  Part two will cover the steps of mounting
hardware, finishing, and a few other odds and ends.

 

      Well that’s it
for this week and as Bob Corsetti always says in his catalog “the old coffee
pot is empty” and I’m lighting up my favorite pipe awaiting your question,
comments and input.

      banjo

 

Links to places Mark spoke about can be found here: http://www.canerod.com/rodmakers/supp.html
and many more as well.

Part 2, the Saga
continues....



   Last week, I left off
with taking the glued up sections from the oven after heat setting the glue.
 I didn't remove the binding cord because we wanted the heat softened glue
to cool off, and set up.  Now I remove the binding cord from the sections,
and do a final clean up of the glue. There's a couple of ways I do this,
depending on the thickness of the glue spots. I use a sanding block which has
600 grit sandpaper mounted on it, and I also use the razor blade scraper I
mentioned before.  I start out with the razor scraper, taking a couple of
passes on each flat to remove the majority of the hardened glue.  I follow
that up using the sanding block to get the stubborn glue clumps that the razor
scraper leaves behind.  This serves two purposes - first it takes off the
remaining glue, and second, it finish sands the sections without taking too
much of the

surface off.  I don't want to
free hand sand (that is without a block) because I wouldn't be able to sand things
truly flat.  Once the sanding is done, it's time to cut the sections to
length.


   Cutting the sections to
length requires a little mathematics.  What I need to do is make sure the
finished sections of this rod, with ferrules, tip top, and handle and reel seat
are of equal length. So, I need the distance the tip top will reach above the
tip of the rod, the thickness of the water

dam on both the male and female
ferrule, the length of the male slide and the depth of the female receptacle,
and finally the thickness of the hardware on the end of the reel seat.  On
this typical 7' rod, I want to end up with all the sections, after the hardware
is mounted, being 42" long.  For the tip section, using these
parameters, I end up with a section length of 42 1/16", and for and for
the butt; I end up with 41 17/32".  The different lengths happen
because the male section of the tip ferrule will slide into the female section
of the butt ferrule and things get even more complicated when I do a three
piece rod.    After I cut the sections to length, I again measure the
depth of the ferrules where the bamboo will be inserted.  This dimension
is marked on the cane, and just inside of that dimension goes another mark
representing the depth of the slits into the ferrule.  I chuck up the rod
sections in my lathe, and using sandpaper, I sand the stations down to where
the ferrule fits over the end snugly, but not too snug.  You want a good
fit, but not one that will force all the glue out and starve the glue joints.  

Next, I place all the
ferrules on the rod sections, because they come in real handy in finding the
spline of the rod.  Bamboo will almost always have one side that is
stiffer than the others, and the opposite side is where I mount my guides.
 I place the ferrule on a flat surface, hold the tip ends in my left hand,
and place my right hand on the middle of the section.  With a light force,
I press down on the section, at the same time I roll the section.  It's
readily apparent when the spline shows up - it gives a kick as it rotates
through.  Once I determine for sure what flat the spine is on, I mark the
opposite side on all the sections.  Now it's time for me to start
permanently attaching the hardware.  I chuck the butt section into my
lathe, and sand the reel seat portion down to fit the wooden reel seat.  I
use U-40 Rod Bond for attaching all my hardware, including the cork grip.
 I glue up the reel seat station, slip on the wooden reel seat and line it
up with the flat that I've marked as the spline side. I also glue up the tip
tops and slide those on, again lining them up with the marked flat.  After
the glue sets up over night, I glue up the ferrule stations, and install the
ferrules.  Once the ferrules are slid on, I line up the slits with the middle
of the flats, then take a steel rod and flatten the ferrules to the rod where
the slits are.  I used a heavy duty binding cord, and wrap the bottoms of
the ferrules to the rod, so they lay flat after glue up.  After curing
overnight, I remove the cord, and clean up the glue around the ferrules.


   Usually while all this
is going on, I glue up the 1/2" cork rings into the grip.  Since most
of the rods I make are trout rods, I make the grips either 6 1/2" or
7" long, using either 13 or 14 cork rings respectively.  They are
glued up on a mandrel using Titebond II glue, and allowed to set overnight.
 After the glue has set, I chuck the mandrel in my lathe, and using
sandpaper, I turn the grips down to the shape I want for that particular rod,
be it half wells, full wells, cigar or other

shapes.  After the final shape
emerges, I final sand the grips with 600 grit sandpaper for a nice smooth
finish.  I carefully remove the grip from the mandrel, and start to ream
out the grip so that it fits the cane above the reel seat.  One point I
should mention, if you use a winding check,

make sure it will fit over the butt
section ferrule before you permanently mount the ferrule...  Ask me how I
know...  Once I'm sure the grip will fit where I want, I use U-40 Rod bond
to attach the grip and the winding check. One more thing I usually have to
do to the ferrules is fit the male

sections to the female sections.
 They generally come with the male sections slightly oversized, and need
to be re-sized to fit together.  Different folks like different fits.
 I like to have about 1/8"

or so of the male slide stay just
slightly oversized so that with wear, the ferrule will stay tight.  Again,
I chuck up the tip sections in the lathe, and using some very fine jeweler’s
files, bring the male portion of the ferrule down to where it's just really
tight in the female section.  Then I

take some 1000 grit sandpaper, and
take out the marks left by the file.  I follow that up with some 2000 grit
sandpaper, to take out the 1000 grit sanding marks.  This is finally
followed up by using 0.5 micron polishing paper.  I end up with shine that
rivals a mirror, and superb fit.  When I

disassemble the rod sections, there's
a definite "pop" when the ferrules come apart.  

After I've mounted the
minimal amount of hardware, it's time to apply the finish to the rod.  I
like to apply the varnish to the rod before I wrap it.  It makes this
process a lot easier.  I use a "drip" tube, in which the
sections are suspended in the varnish, and the varnish drains out the bottom of
the tube, controlled by a valve.  The rod sections are suspended in the
tube, with fixtures mounted on either end to keep the rod sections from
touching the sides of the tube.  The fixtures make removal of the rod
sections from the tube easier.  Once the sections are suspended in

the tube, the valve on the bottom of
the tube is opened, and the varnish flows out of the tube at the rate of
approximately 1 -2" per minute.  The descending column of varnish
pulls the varnish down the rod section, keeping runs from forming.  The
resulting finish, as long as there are no

dust nasties or air bubbles in the
varnish is pretty near flawless.  The main reason I like to apply the
finish without the guides mounted is I don't have to stop the varnish at every
guide. If I had the guides mounted, I'd need to stop just below every guide, so
that when the varnish bubble

pops inside the guide it wouldn't
cause a run.  Sans guides, no runs, and a quicker job of finishing.
 Each coat is given an overnight cure inside my drying cabinet, and then
cuffed down with 0000 steel wool between coats.  The first coat is steel
wooled down to the cane, to fill the grain. The tips will receive three coats total;
the butt section will get four coats.  After the last coat, I cuff the sections
down with 1000 grit sandpaper, followed by 2000 grit sandpaper, just to knock
off the tiny nubs that inevitably wind up in the surface.  Then, I use
Perfect-It by 3M, to give it a final polish, taking out whatever sanding marks
are left.  Now I'm to the point where it's time to mount and wrap the
guides.  If I'm making a traditional taper, I'll try to use the original
maker's guide spacing.  If I'm making one of the more modern tapers, I'll
temporarily mount the guides with tape and cast the rod, and move the guides
around until they are in the "just" right position. There are a
number of guide spacing guides out there to give you a starting point, you just
need to experiment from there.  Once the guides are in the position I
want, I mark the position on the rod and on a long sheet of paper so that I
have a record of where the guides are mounted.  I take off all the guides,
and clean up the surface of the rod.  This gives me a nice clean starting
point.  If the marks have been rubbed off from cleaning, I re-mark.
 I use Snake Brand guides and Pearsall’s Silk thread for my wraps.
 The Snake brand guides come from the factory 99.99% ready to use.
 I've only had a few that I needed to touch up prior to use.  I
really like the Pearsall’s

silk, because of the rich colors, and
the fineness of the thread.  I mount the guide back on the rod section
with a small piece of automotive painting tape - this tape leaves no tape
residue when you pull it up.  I start wrapping the guide on the guide,
until I have 5 wraps off the guide foot.  If I'm not adding a trim wrap, I
turn the section around in the wrapping jig, and wrap the other side of the
guide.  If I'm wrapping a decorative trim wrap, I'll select the color, and
wrap usually five turns of

the silk.  The ferrules present
a special case.  I usually end up with a guide mounted just at the base of
the female ferrule.  In this case, I'll wrap the side away from the
ferrule first, and then wrap the other side of the guide, down to the cane and
up the ferrule to the thread shoulder.  Wrapping the tips can sometimes be
a royal pain in the rear.  You've got this thin little tip section that
wants to bend all over the place while you're wrapping.  Not a big deal on
the main part of the trim wrap, but when you're trying to wrap the thin
decorative wrap - OY!


   Once all the guides are
wrapped, I sight down each section, and adjust the guides so that they all line
up.  Now, I coat the wraps with a 50-50 solution of spar varnish and
thinner for the first four or five coats.  This fills the thread, and is
thin enough so that the air bubbles can escape.  After the thinned coats
are applied and dried, I coat the wraps with full strength spar varnish.

 I'll usually put
four to six coats of the full strength on, and once the varnish builds up a
little on the wraps, I'll lightly sand the varnish between coats.  This
helps get rid of the waviness, and other little imperfections to the surface.
 Once all the coats are finished, the rod is either done, or I let the
varnish cure for about a week, and rub it down with rotten stone.  The
rotten stone leaves a very pretty satin finish, which I really like on my
working rods. If you want a showroom finish, I omit this step.   The
only thing left for me to do is to make a rod bag to protect the sections
inside of the tube.  I use a real heavy weight flannel to make my rod
bags.  Since the rods I make are either two or three piece, I have two
designs, one for each type of rod.  Both designs have a flap that folds
over, with a loop on the back side for hanging up, and also for easing the
removal of the bag from the rod tube.  I'm in the process of collecting
the tools necessary for making hexagonal rod case made out of hardwood.
 These are real pretty, and can be made in a number of different woods.
 You can see a picture of a couple at http://www.rodworks.on.ca/rodtub2.html
.  Banjo wanted me to talk a little about some of the current professional
rod makers.  I'm lucky enough to count a few of them as my friends - R.L.
"Bob" Nunley, Martin-Darrel Odom of Spavinaw Rods, and many others.
 Most, if not all the current professionals, are turning out cane rods
that are

truly extraordinary.  They are
using modern glues and finishes to make a truly long lasting, durable cane
fishing rod.  As you look at the offerings of these professionals, the one
thing to keep in mind is that most of them are making the majority of their
rods based on their regional

clientele.  The pro's out west
make the majority of their rods to be fished on the bigger western rivers and
the pro's back here in the east make the majority of their rods to fish on the
smaller eastern rivers.  This isn’t to say there's no crossover, because
there is.  Many of these guys will

make you any kind of rod you want,
long, short, fast, medium, or slow, and do a fantastic job at it. Their
strengths lie in the water types, and typical rods that fit these waters, and
they will give you the best bang for the buck.  You can expect to spend
anywhere from about $750 to $1200

for a 2/2 rod.  That's a rod
that is two piece, and has two tips.  Generally, with the modern makers,
the higher the price the bigger the reputation.  That doesn't mean,
however, that the $750 rods are something to sneeze at.  I've seen some
absolutely beautiful looking, great

casting rods for that.  On the
other hand, I've seen $1200 -$1500 rods that look absolutely beautiful, but
don't cast worth a hoot.  

Like anything else, talk
with the maker, let him find out what you're really looking for in a rod, ask
him for names clients and addresses of those that have and use his rods, and
make your decision after carefully considering all the aspects.  I hate to
say it, but like anything else, there are shysters out there.  Get all the
information you can before you plunk down your hard earned cash.


 Well, that about does it for
creating your own bamboo fly rod.  I've left out some of the details,
otherwise, I would have written a book...  Maybe I need to find me a
publisher....  

Thanks for sticking
around long enough to see what we do.  If you have any further questions,
feel free to contact me via email, at: wendt@kingcrab.nrl.nay.mil .

 

     I can see all of you now running out to
stock up on culms etc. OK, I’m just kidding. I’d like to thank Mark, once
again, for his time and effort and a very nice introduction to the makers art
and I hope you have all enjoyed it as much as I have. Looks like “the old
coffee pot is empty” as Bob Corsetti always says at the end of his catalog and
I’ve got the pipe lit and setting my feet up awaiting your comments and
questions. Don’t forget to join us next week and we’ll have another session of
the Crackerbarrel.