**### What’s A Fly Rod
By Michael K. Villa, Rodmaker**
Good Morning! And welcome to the shop. As
you can see it’s a small place. My wife Diane and I like to think of
ourselves as a simple ‘mom and pop shop’ where we make our split
cane bamboo fly rods by hand.
I’m going to start to split some cane for my next rod. Then I will
stagger the nodes and mark each strip before rough planning.
After rough planning, I’ll set up the precision iron to get the finished
taper on each strip of cane. Each strip will be hand-planned to tolerances
of 20 thousandths of an inch.
After each strip has been planed it’s time to bind the six strips
together to make the hexagon shape. The butt and the tip
section are being prepared for baking. I bake the cane to
remove the moisture and temper the bamboo.
After baking, gluing, and sanding the rod blank, we place
the blank into the dip tank to be impregnated with a balanced
formula of tung oil and types of varnishes for moisture resistance.
Out of the drying cabinet onto the wrapping table where "MAGIC’
is made. Each Split Cane Bamboo Fly Rod has it’s own unique
personality.
In the day of computers, cellular phones, pagers, the internet
and electronics where everything is manufactured, processed
and sold off the assembly line, this instead is about good
old-fashioned, hand-made craftsmanship and personal service
to each individual.
There is no way to shorten the process of making our
Split Cane Bamboo Fly Rods without sacrificing quality.
Each step of the process involves tremendous attention to
detail and the finest of craftsmanship.
As in days of old, we make our Split Cane Bamboo Fly Rods
one at a time. You have my name on it.
Good days on the river! Yes, you can email
me. ~ Michael K. Villa, Rodmaker
“What’s A Fly Rod”
Fly Fishing Co.
Originally published July 25, 1999 on Fly Anglers Online.