In the beginning stages of developing the blanks, is there a predetermined idea of the blank size desired, and is this what helps determine the wt. of the rod? If so, is there a formula for determining the taper from butt, intermediate, to tip?
Thanks
Rookie, very good question,…today with the computer age, they have made it simple for rodmakers as far as tapers go. The pros do have calculations that they use to help determine what they are going to produce but most of them would probably tell you that they go through a lot of bamboo to get the one that they want through trial and error. I have a friend who grew up in Michigan and his father had a wealth of bamboo rods that were built by Lyle Dickerson and Paul Young. He used to fish a lot with these two famous rodmakers and would often “field test” rods that they had made when they were perfecting their craft. he still has a lot of these rods and many of them have inscriptions on the side of them like taper test # XXX…
Today with tools like Hexa Rod out there many rod makers that are not developing their own tapers, can access the tapers that have proven successful and build their own. Other makers, like Ron Kusse, AJ Thramer, Walt Carpenter, Jim Beasley and the list goes on and on, have developed their own tapers based on what they like and feel in a rod and knowing what adding or taking a few thousandths here and there will do to the action of the rod. I admire all of them that can do that and respect their work. It would be very nice to see one of them post here on this subject as it would enlighten all of us.
That answered the question. I had found another bamboo rod tucked away and I don’t even know where it came from. I was restoring the first one and upon discovering the second one, I mic’ed the diameters and found the second one to be smaller in diameter. It stirred the curiosity.
I really appreciate the help
Rookie
a pit of quicksand, tapers are. best to stick with published tapers for the first few dozen rods, after that you will have enough to start designing tapers. after 20+ yrs of taper design i still get surprised from time to time. computer modifications are vaguely helpful but they take hundreds of thousands of pieces of info about the interplay in a good cane rod and try to reduce it to a few thousand computations, so, a weak but valuable interpretation is what you end up with.
splinter
Splinter,
What are you using as a final finish on your rods, your work is second to none and I really like the finish you are achieving. It’s ok if it is proprietary, I would understand that, but your work is certainly something to be admired. Saw one of your Hollowbuilts a while back, outstanding to say the least.
Leo
i’m afraid that there are few tricks in the varnish, simply hard work, except one - the varnish is +90* F when it is applied
splinter
Theres just nothing like 20+ years of experience in developing these tapers. Beautiful rods.
Tim
It’s being dumbfounded at the craftmanship to get 6 pieces of bamboo glued together to a scant 3/64 ths tip measured at the tip top guide, on the cane! That’s .046 on a late 1920’s or early 1930’s # 2 weight !