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I build your rod from start to finish! Below are some pictures of
the process. It is extremely labor intensive as you'd guess, but I love every second of it!
The reason for this page is simply to place some basic info on how
to make a rod without going into great detail. No one showed me how to make a bamboo rod and I wanted to give a little back
to those who want to make their own!
Step1
Get some bamboo!
The bamboo you choose should have dense power fibers like this.
Step 2.
Choose your culm. Look for a straight one with as
few blemishes as possible.
Step 3.
Cut your culm in half. This gives you two six
foot sections and enough bamboo for two, two piece/two tipped rods.
Step 4.
Now the nodes are dressed by filing or sanding off
the ridges at the node. The top node has been filed.
Step 5.
After dressing the nodes, if the rod is to be flamed,
I will do it now.
Step 6.
After flaming, the culm is split in half and the
internodal dams are chiseled out. The one on the bottom has had the dams removed.
Step 7.
After removing the dams, the bamboo is split. Each
half is split into thirds, each third is split in half. Each half is split in half again, giving you 24 strips.You will need
18 strips for your 2/2 rod.
Split into sixths.
Step 8.
The 18 strips have been choosen. They are laid out,
the strips staggered to their proper position and then cut to the proper length. Then the nodes are straightened and pressed.
The strips are then beveled to a straight tapered 60 degree triangle.
Step 9.
Time to start final planing. Here the planing form
is set to .036". This is the target dimension of the strip at the tip section. The numbers will, of course, increase as you
work your way down the length of the form. This rod will have a tip dimension of .072".
Finally, you get to plane the bamboo to it's finished dimension
and what a great mess you will make!
The digital caliper tells us we have reached our target dimension
of .036".
Step 10.
After you have planed your six strips, lay them
out in their proper order for assemby into your new section ...
... roll and tape them together.
Step 11.
Get your bench ready for gluing after you have planed
all your strips.
Step 12.
Rod sections freshly glued and bound...
... and hung in the drying cabinet overnight. The glue will be heat
set the next day in the oven.
Step 13.
While you're waiting for the glue to dry, dress
and feather the tabs on your ferrules.
Step 14.
After cutting the ferrule station on the blank,
the ferrules are glued to the blank, and then fitted precisely on the lathe.
Step 15.
Next, it's time to make the grip. While others make
their grips off the blank or use a premade grip, I prefer to glue my cork rings directly to the blank.
The glue has dried and the press removed, ready for turning on the
lathe.
Step 16.
The grip is turned down and sanded to finished dimensions
and now we are ready to ...
...WRAP!
Step 17.
Step 18.
After you have wrapped, coat the wraps
with spar varnish. Some folks use a poly finish. This has been coated with 4 coats and sanded.
Step 19.
After you have coated the wraps, the rod is dipped
in spar varnish two times and allowed to dry for at least a week or two. The finish is then rubbed out.
Step 20.
The reel seat is then added to the rod. When you're
done with that, you should end up with something like this ...
...that will catch something like this! Enjoy.
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