I'd recommend taking a class. Before you do, however, I should point out the following:

1.) Making your own rods isn't really going to save you any money (that is, if you put any sort of monetary value on your time).

2.) If you haven't cast or fished with a number of bamboo rods, you may want to do so before you get too far into this- bamboo is a realy great material, but if you expect it to act like your graphite rods, you're going to be dissapointed.

3.) Budget twice what you think you'll need to get started.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM/email me with any other questions.

Regards,
Joe Martin