Want to try Bamboo

[fish4trout]

I had some neck surgery a few years ago and while I was rehabing I got into building rods. I built rods (graphite) for family and friends and even sold a couple but to be honest I got kind of bored with it. I didnt feel like I was really creating anything, all I was doing was assembling rods. I have been doing a lot of reading on bamboo rods lately and I am very interested. It seems like there is a lot of specialized tools and such. Luckily I have a wrapper and a turning motor and quite a few other little do dadds from building graphite rods so at least I am not starting from scratch. Does anybody have any ideas on where I can come up with some used tools. I have tried eBay and there is nothing there. My wife and I just bought a new house and are in the process of adopting another child so pretty much everything I do is on a budget. Any ideas would be appriciated. Thanks.

[AgMD]

Every once in a while someone will post bamboo tools for sale on Clarks Board.
http://p205.ezboard.com/bclarksclassicflyrodforum
Since you seem bound and determined to walk down this dark path you might as well do it right and and start hanging around Clarks. Nice folks and more information than you could use in a lifetime.
You might consider making some tools yourself. Planing forms, binders, ovens, dial indicator base and standard are all things that can be built by anyone who is up to building bamboo. You can also start out rather "minimalist" and bind by hand and heat temper in the ovens down at the local pizza joint. See who is selling used tools in your area. Micrometers, calipers and dial indicators can all be found used. Unfortunately wee seem to be experiencing a downturn in machinists jobs, which means a supply upswing in the used tool market.
AgMD

[Photojoe4]

Alright, here's the way I would go-

Get a planing form + depth gauge from here:
http://www.genuinebellinger.com/planingforms.html

And find yourself a nice old Stanley ( 9 1/2, Knuckle-18, etc..) on Ebay, or your local antique store. Or, you can pick up the Lie-Nielsen plane for $125.

I'd also pick up a decent dial indicator or micrometer (should run you about $50 or so).

You can flame your cane, or make an oven to "bake" it, so you'll either need to build yerself an oven (probably $3-400), or pick up a torch (probably another $50-100).

There you go. For about a grand, you'll be all setup for making as many bamboo rods as you possibly can.

Regards,
Joe Martin

[fish4trout]

Thanks for the help guys. Do planing forms find their way to eBay very often?

[mdram]

heres a site that shows you how to make planing forms
http://www.thomaspenrose.com/bamboo.htm

there are other sites out there that show how to make the other stuff, but its been a while since ive seen any of them posted places you can try http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/

[dleo6446]

Every once in a while you will see a planing form on EBay but in all probability, you will want to get a good one. Boing to Bellinger or Jeff Wagner will assure you that you have a good form that will give you lots of good service. Also, as was previously mentioned I believe, give Russ a call at Goldenwitch. He has an assortment of "tool packages" that will include a lot of the necessities that you would need. Of course, Jeff or Bellinger could probably do the same kind of package for you.

Most importanly, to save you a lot of mistakes, headaches, and $$$$$, find you someone to apprentice with, or a class...The time and $$$ you spedn doing so will save you a lot of time and mistakes in the learning curve.

[darrell]

"...pretty much everything I do is on a budget..."

sounds like me .... and - I'm nearly ready to get into working with my culm - finally. It's been months (since mid-April) that I've been reading - and about late Aug / early Sept I really stepped into it.

I'm a do-it-myselfer kind of person. For making the blank - from plane form, soak tube, binder, oven, torch, dial guage, vernier, mallet, fro, plane - I think I didn't spend more than $300.

I'm making a wooden plane form - with a steel one being costed out from a local tool shop (know the owner). The wood one will get me going and any 'secrets' I want changed I can do with the steel one. Soak tube - 4inch dia. PVC pipe with 2 caps. Oven - 8inch by 14 inch tin ducting with a rack, a heat gun, and a digital thermometer. Torch (had one). Plane (had one). Dial and vernier (bought). Mallet and fro (made them). Binder - made it.
None of my stuff looks like the precision made / crafted binders, plane forms, ovens that can be bought. However they will do the job, and that's what I'm looking for without lots of upfront capitol expenditures. If I like bamboo making - I'll upgrade and spend more later.

It's easy (like anything flyfishing related) to go overboard and spend copious amounts of money. But - to get started you really don't have to. More costly tools do help - I will agree - but for the economically challenged ... not necessary.

I keep reminding mysefl - they made these things hundreds of years back - shouldn't be that hard.

darrell,

[fish4trout]

What a great place this board is! Thank you everyone for all the advice. I will keep you posted on how my new obsession is going.

[kengore]

You might consider building a 2 strip quad style rod. They don't require planning forms and you can get started with just a hand plane and a dail caliper.

I built my first one for about $40 worth of tools and materails.

You start with 2 squared up strips of cane. Using the hand plane remove material from the pith side to produce a long thin wedge. Every few passes of the plan you check the thickness with the calipers.

The two wedges are glued together and you hand plan the sides to finish the taper.

You can find more info at the following link, look under '2 strip quad' or PMQ 'poor man's quad'...

http://www.bamboorodmaking.com/html/pmq.html

[Kathy Scott]

Hi,

Lots of good advice, and there's plenty more in the cane world today. I can't imagine what it would have been like trying to ferret things out even thirty years ago, though I've heard tales.

I've seen wonderful rods wrapped with thread running through a phone book with a human-foot tension device -grin - and a film can with a nylon stocking lid full of varnish used as a dip tank. On the other hand, I love Jeff Wagner's high-end planning forms for their precision and versitility, and while Stanely's work well, Lie-Neilsen planes are works of art in themselves. Different strokes...

Here's just a thought to use or disregard as your circumstances dictate... if you want to see if you really want to make rods before investing too much, consider a class. Everything is usually provided, and you walk away with a finished blank or maybe even a finished rod, depending on the length of class and the price. The setting are often pretty cool, too. The Catskill Museum offers a late June class (disclaimer - grin - I'll be there with my husband and at least one other instructor), Jeff Wagner offers classes, Lon Blauvelt, Ron Barch, Wayne Cattanach, Golden Witch, hmmm... there's a lot of others, too. Just a thought.

Kat