Bamboo Rod Guide Spacing

Would the guide spacing on an 8.5' bamboo rod be comparable to a similar graphite rod? These are 3 piece rod's.
I'm re-finishing a couple of inexpensive rods for a member. They came with 4 little snake guide's and one little stripper guide.
The finish looked like it was applied with a broom and was so heavy in spots the blank's were almost round!! I've sanded (Lightly) one blank and have applied a hand rubbed satin finish.
The rods have 2 tips and the ferrules fit togather very snugly. About the only plus side!
The cork grip's and reel seat's should also be replaced but I'll wait to see how they fish before going to that expense!
P.S. I get to keep one of the rod's!!


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Don't forget the Michigan Fish-In August 14th to the 20th. The Holy Water's of the Au Sable await you!!

Cactus



[This message has been edited by Jack Hise (edited 08 March 2006).]

[dleo6446]

Jack,
Many of the older production bamboo rods were built with less guides than they really should have had. In a lot of cases, you can see "ghosting" of the original location of the guides and can determine the original location of the guids that way after you clean off the varnish. As far as similar to graphite, they are in a way. Guides should be placed based on the taper of the rod and what give you the best distribution of the stress on the sections.

here is a website that has a lot of information on it on tapers, and more importantly a section where you can calculate guide spacing for your rod. Also, There is a member of FAOL that has done the same thing, (I would give the information out about who it is and his program but I would consider that a breach of what he has entrusted to me) and maybe he can expound on that with you. [url=http://www.uwm.edu/~stetzer/guideN.html:66e1b]http://www.uwm.edu/~stetzer/guideN.html[/url:66e1b]

On removing the old varnish from rods like that, I would recommend using Citrus Stripper and staying away from the sandpaper, the sandpaper can cause some damage to the boo that is irreversable.

in many many cases, you can vastly improve the quality of rebuilding some of these older sticks by rearranging the guide spacing, and giving them a much more aesthetic appeal with replacement of the cork and reel seats. Good luck with them and have fun!!!

[This message has been edited by dleo6446 (edited 08 March 2006).]

[PanFisher]

dleo6446

I note your comment:

?There is a member of FAOL that has done the same thing, (I would give the information out about who it is and his program but I would consider that a breach of what he has entrusted to me) and maybe he can expound on that with you.?

I appreciate the respect you give my work but the program is available to anyone who can use it - Just shoot me an e-mail. After all the help I have received from more than wonderful Fly Fishing people over the years (including many who post on this site) the least I can do is contribute what I have.

It uses the same formula as the one from Dale Clemens book used on the website provided by dleo6446 above. It is in a different format though so you may like using the program over the website.


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Let No One Walk Alone
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Bill

[dleo6446]

Thanks Bill, I never like to assume that I have ownership to share information as valuable as what you gave me unless it is posted in a public forum. It truly is a nice piece of work.

Leo