I say go for it. Just have some resonable expectations about your skills and accept that your first rod might have a few cosmetic blemishes as part of the 'learning curve'.
For your first rod you might consider a PMQ (Poor Man' Quad or '2 strip quad). This is a 4 sided rod that is made up of 2 strips. It can be hand planed without the need for planning forms. I built my fist PMQ blank over a weekend with nothing more than a stanly block plane and an inexpensive digital caliper. I was able to complete the rod by hand work alone. No need for a binder, dip tank, lathe, planing form, heat treating oven or other contraptions.
Here is a link to a good tutorial...
http://www.bamboorodmaking.com/html/2_strip_quads.html
Or, do a google search on...
'PMQ rod'
'2 strip quad'
'poor mans quad'
There are pros and cons to the 2 strip method...
PRO
1. Can be built with a minimim investment in tools. All you really need is a sharp hand plane, a digital caliper and a box of binder clips to use as clamps.
2. The taper can be adjusted after the rod is glued up, you can tweak the flex during construction.
3. Does not require much raw material. A 2 piece rod can be made from just 4 strips of cane. Mine was built from some scaps another board member kindly sent me.
CON
1. The 4 sided rod is a little harder to wrap, but not impossible.
2. Ferrules are more difficult, sort of a square peg into a round hole problem. There are several simple solutions.
3. Thin tip sections are nearly impossible to make perfectly straight. With just two strips the slight variation in flex at the nodes is more pronounced and the tip seems to move a bit with changes in weather and humidity.
4. With 2 strip construction some of the pith shows on two of the sides. While this does not effect the the casting performance it is somehow considered a cardinal sin to the more traditional bamboo lovers.
While my rod may not have the fit and finish of a $3000 cane rod by House of Hardy, it is my favorite 4wt small stream rod. I built every part of it by myself and if I squint just a little I can't see too many of the blemishes.
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