Split Bamboo Fly Fishing Rod Maker near 28645?

[charlessenf]

After watching a Craftsman's' Legacy show on PBS about and-made fly-fishing rods made from split Bamboo, I thought to ask here if any members may be ;into the craft and have some of the jigs used to shape the pieces of bamboo before they are formed and glued into a rod blank.

Especially interested in the jig used to plane the strips into shape.

The show didn't focus closely on that particular jig or show a cross section of the individual strips before or after they were planed into 'shape.'

Indeed, they implied the center might be hollow - but didn't show that cross section either.

Questions abound.

 

[Jim M.]

Charles,
While I have never built a rod from bamboo, it's on my list of things I want to do. I had this website stored in my favorites as a reference. Hope it helps, Jim

http://www.thomaspenrose.com/tonkin.htm

 

[charlessenf]

Excellent link: http://www.thomaspenrose.com/tonkin.htm

Lots of decent pictures, shots of jigs, tools, etc.

I did notice that the line guides had openings parallel with the rod while the show I saw showed guides with the loops set 90 degrees to the rod with just the attachment 'feet' running parallel with the rod.

Does appear to require a steady hand!

The bamboo imported appears anything but green - i wonder if the stuff found around here (USA) would suit at all.

Thanks again.

 

[charlessenf]

Let me add this list for those whom may stumble upon the post:

For more detailed information on split cane fly rod making, look at these books:
A Master's Guide to Building A Bamboo Fly Rod, by Everett Garrison with Hoagy B. Carmichael.
Handcrafting Bamboo Fly Rods, by Wayne Cattanach.
How to Make Bamboo Fly Rods, by George W. Barnes.
Fundamentals of Building a Bamboo Fly-Rod, by George E. Maurer and Bernard P. Elser
Constructing Cane Rods: Secrets of the Bamboo Fly Rod, by Ray Gould
Splitting Cane: Conversations With Bamboo Rodmakers, by Ed Engle
The Lovely Reed: An Enthusiast's Guide to Building Bamboo Fly Rods, by Jack Howell
Cane Rods: Tips & Tapers, by Ray Gould

 

[Jeff]

The bamboo imported appears anything but green - i wonder if the stuff found around here (USA) would suit at all.

There is a bamboo nursery in Hendersonville, NC. Our NC bamboo may work just fine for your rods.

https://www.ourstate.com/haiku-bamboo-nursery/

http://video.unctv.org/video/2252916668/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyB8aLOsk5g

 

[dwminnich]

Charles, I saw that same episode and have had some of the same thoughts. Thanks for gathering the list of resources in this thread.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AL Spicer]

Charles,

A few tips on making split bamboo fly rods. It takes about 40 hours to make a rod. You only want to use Tonkin Bamboo, it only grows in a small region of China. A link to a good supplier http://www.tonkincane.com/tonkprice.html
You only want to use the Tonkin bamboo, because it has the most and strongest power fibers.

There are many good tapers from well-known rodmakers and here is a link for those
http://www.hexrod.net/Tapers

Here is a forum especially for split-cane rod makers to discuss construction of, and pretty much anything, bamboo.

http://www.rodbuildingforum.com

I haven’t made any rods in some time (more into furniture now) but last count it was around 26.

Hope this helps