A response to an old thread, but maybe a chance to start a dialog on making tenkara lines....
I have been experimenting with furled tenkara lines ranging from 12 to 20' in length. I basically made a miniature rope walk with a 3 hook spinning head and a counter rotating tail stock. It takes about 15 minutes for me to lace the jig then spin the stands together for a typical 12' section. I have been experimenting with various thread materials, taper designs and finish coatings. My current favorite is a 12' tapered line made of of UNI 6/0 thread, then given 6 coats of spar varnish.
The varnish treatment is similar to the linseed oil finish used on braided silk lines from long ago. It makes the furled thread water proof, provides some stiffness and fills in the gaps so the line has a more consistent round cross section.
Why bother with making your own? Because I enjoy it, because I can produce a line that is not available commercially and because I get a real kick out of catching fish on the fly I tied - on a rod I built - using a line I made. Right now the only thing I need to purchase are the hooks!
Here are some thoughts on my experiments....
- 20' lines are a pain to construct, the threads tangle more easily and it takes up way too much room in the house. I now prefer to make 10'-12' sections and join them with loop to loop connections
- I have tried all kinds of materials: Mono, fluorocarbon, spectra, silk, nylon fly tying thread. Out of this mix I think I like the UNI 6/0 tying thread the best. The spectra was the worst, very tough to work with and the end result wasn't very effective, too limp. Silk is nice but results in much thicker lines than the finer 6/0 thread.
- Overall I prefer the thread based lines/leaders over mono of fluoro. The thread comes in many colors, is easier to work with and holds the line dressing better if I want to grease it up to float or sink. The mono and fluoro lines have a tendency to pick up water and spray a bit on the cast.
- I prefer the coated lines to the uncoated thread. The finish adds just enough stiffness and weight that the end product really performs line a modern coated line. Downside, it takes forever (about 2 weeks in my climate) to get 6 coats of varnish to set. The coated lines are much easier to handle, much easier to grease up, and less prone to twisted tangles. Uncoated thread lines will eventually become water logged and need to be dried out to keep floating. And the coated lines don't unravel if you need to cut them!
- I tried lots of finishes, linseed oil, tung oil, true spar varnish (linseed based), urethane based spar varnish. My favorite was a 50/50 mix of spar varnish and linseed oil + some japan dryer to accelerate the cure. Tung oil works well, but took over 2 weeks for the first coat to dry, pure linseed oil took slightly less time. The urethane spar dried in just 4 hours, but the end result is a little too stiff for my taste, especially in cold weather.
- I like a 3 strand twist over a 2 strand twist. The three strand produces a much rounder cross section but limits how fine the tip section can be.
- I really don't like tippet rings, makes no sense to have a heavy piece of metal at the end of my delicate tip. I fish a lot of very small flies, size 22-18 and the tipper ring weighs as much as my fly and creates a hinge point in the cast. Plus it's a pain to thread those tiny rings. I much prefer a tied loop at each end, very light and very easy to use in the field. I use a Shorb's loop or Perfection loop knot.
- tapers: For calm to light wind conditions I like a simple linear taper, total of 6 threads (3 strands x 2 threads) at the tip progressing to 15 theads (3 strands x 5 threads) at the butt end. I built some weight forward tapers for heavy win, these have short taper at the front(4' long) 6-15 threads then a 8-12 foot running section of just 9 threads.
- I started with a jig made from a 1x8 pine board about 10' long with pre-drilled holes for 1/2" dia. wood pegs. This worked well but the pre-drilled holes limited my flexibility and I wanted more length. I modified this rig by mounting the pegs in small scraps of plywood that are temporary attached with binder clips. Now I can use any raw 1x8 board I have laying around (or multiple lengths of 1x boards) I just clip the pegs where I need them, fully adjustable.
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