So.........

     So I have gotten a couple of weeks behind

I have been working on a new project. That project is node-less rods. I feel like this will benefit me in the style of rods that I want to build, and also make better use of bamboo. Node-less rods are also a little quicker. This will help in making the longer hollow built light line rods. I will post some of the process once I get some photos together and get everything in order.

Rod #421602

I now have the blank cleaned up and polished. The ferrules have been mounted and the cork rings have been fitted and glued. The Spanish Cedar reel seat timber is ready and the rod bag is complete.

Above is a photo of the bamboo being prepped for the ferrule fit. The reason it takes so long to build a bamboo fly rod, it is because there are many steps in the process. Some of which are very tedious. Fitting very short ferrules takes a lot of time. The short ferrule leaves little room for error. The ferrule station must be checked to make sure it is straight enough to fit the ferrule before turning the station. If not you will end up with a ferrule that is not mounted correctly and then you have big problems. The rod sections will not line up etc.

Here is a photo of the reel seat area that has been turned down to the I.D. of the timber being used for the reel seat.

Ferrules are glued and then the tabs are bound with binding string.

Below is a photo of the butt section of the rod below the cork. It has been turned down to fit the reel seat. The writing is just to keep things in order. It will be covered by the reel seat. You can see all the power fibers in the rod. This is what we strive and struggle to protect as a bamboo rod maker. If this were above the grip it would look very poorly. Here the power fibers will be fine. They will be covered in epoxy when the reel seat timber is mounted.

As for signatures. I only sign My name on the bottom flat of the rod along with the serial number that I have in My log book retaining all the details about each rod made. I do not like to crowd rods with a bunch of writing. Especially My mediocre writing. 

Ready to turn the cork and blue the ferrules for tomorrow. The rod will be wrapped this week, and then varnish.

Not all bamboo is rod worthy

Tonkin cane is relatively cheap (besides shipping). Just like any other natural product you get some good and some bad. Some culms that take a little more work than others. You may have to cut out sections with water marks and bug holes. Then there are digs from it being dragged around China. Also the big dips behind the nodes. Those are no good at all. I built a blank recently and thought that I had discarded all the strips that were generally beat up. I do remove most of the enamel down to the fine haze that appears over the power fibers of the cane before deciding on strip use. Sometimes you just don't see a water mark or there is a dig that you think will have a good chance of sanding out when removing the glue. Sometimes you just mess up and use strips that are marginal cosmetically. I did just that with a blank I just sanded the glue from.

Here is the end result of a bunch of work down the drain. One water mark is not bad, three in the butt section of the rod is no good. So in the trash it goes. Sure I could have kept it but, I already have the taper for My own use. Give it away? Well, I only put out rods that are made with the best of My ability. I take pride in giving away or selling something that I made personally. To put in all the time and effort to finish out a blank that I did not like just seems crazy to me.

We learn from our mistakes. It won't be the first and it sure as hell won't be the last. I still strive to improve on anything I can and learn something new with every rod. 

Time for a beer and a break.

Thanks for looking.

6'3" #Four Weight 2/1 - SOLD

6'3" 2/1 #Four Weight

This is the latest rod completed and is for sale. This is a nice crisp small stream rod for a Four weight line. The usual components. REC Stripper, Hariki Xshort Non Step Ferrule (size 11/64th). Wrapped in Black nylon tipped in Orange Gossamer silk. Same rod as in the casting video. This is My go to rod for small stream fishing. Includes Duck cloth bag and aluminum tube. Shop made reel seat hardware with spacer turned from Cuban Mahogany. Rod weighs in at 2.4 oz. completed.

Rod #421602

This 7' #Four rod is coming along now...The strips were final planed...

...The apex removed...

Shown here ready for glue up

Keeping the strips straight after gluing

Heat setting the glue

Ready for the string to be removed

Thats the progress for this rod as of today. Will be finished within a month. Still need to mount ferrules, straighten, wrap and varnish.

Thanks for looking.

Update on Rod #421602

      Progress As Of Today

Here is a photo of a couple of  rods after three coats of varnish. Deciding now whether or not to add a fourth. I'll give a couple days to tighten up and then decide if I like the look. Keep in mind that the gloss has not been rubbed out. My rods don't have this much shine to them when complete. There is a polishing process that takes a lot of the plastic look out of the finish. Not quite a matte finish but not this much shine. The tips have one coat each and will be done this week. After that, it has to dry pretty good before it can be rubbed out.

These rods will be available when complete.

Rod #421602

This rod is being made to order. It is based on a Payne 98. Same rod that I showed being started in the last post. Today the strips were heat treated. I use a heat gun oven for this. This step helps remove moisture from the bamboo as well straightening the strips and evening out the color.

Here are the strips after the enamel was removed and they have been heat treated. The piece of Spanish Cedar will be the reel seat spacer for this rod as requested.

The reel seat spacer was also turned today. The mortise has been cut into it to fit the reel seat. It has its first of several coats of finish. 

Still working on My 7' 10" Four weight. Need that done next not only for spring hatches, but for a demo rod. I believe this will be very popular. I do have other versions of this rod, although the changes on the latest version make this the one I want people to cast.

Thanks for looking as always.

New Year Update

     It has been hard to get a lot done during the holidays. It is also Great Lakes Steelhead time so I have been doing a little fishing up there also. As well as some local small stream wild trout stuff. The weather was just too good to not to get out. Getting it back together now though and in the shop a lot. I have the next three rods wrapped with one coat of varnish on the thread. The wraps don't look very smooth right now with just one coat. Hope to be dipping two of them next week sometime.

They are a 6' #3 weight, a 6'3" #4, and a rod that I am finally finishing for My own personal use. it is a taper that I have been tweaking and changing over the last couple years. A hollow built 7' 10" #4 weight. Great spring creek rod and I think I got it right where I want it to be now.

The wraps are 2/0 Black vintage Gudebrod thread tipped in Orange Gossamer silk on the two of the rods. The other is wrapped in Naples Antique Gold silk tipped with Gossamer Claret silk. Two of these rods will be available for sale when complete.  The 6' and the 6'3"

Progress of the 7' #4 Weight.

I have some progress photos of the 7' #4 weight for the customer that ordered it. 

The strips have been straightened and the nodes are pressed.

They have been beveled into rough triangles and are now ready for heat treat. After that its time to plane them to final taper and get them glued up.

The reel seat timber has also been roughed out. It is Spanish Cedar by request. This will take on an almost reddish hue once it is varnished. Shown oversized with the slide band before bluing.

I will update the next steps in the process as it comes along.

New rod wrapping station.

I thought I would show off My new rod wrapping stand just because. This thing is great. Holds lots of threads and has plenty of adjustments for tension and the stand itself. Made by Eco Wrapper.

Last fish of the year.

Went fishing on the day before New Years Eve. Hoping to get into some of the bigger browns in My local stream. It had rained good for a couple days during the week and I figured the flows would be good. I missed it by about a day. The small stream drained out quicker than i thought it would, and I  hit it with clear water. Still a nice day out, and even got into some of the smaller resident Browns. Anyone who fishes small mountain freestone streams for Brown Trout knows that if you hit it right its great. If you hit bad flows it would seem as there are no trout at all.

Last Browns of the year. Hope 2016 brings good flows and good fishing.

A couple of stream photos.

Thanks for looking and have a great new year.