ELKHORN BAMBOO Project and Challenge

Equipment Rod Building: Cane and Graphite
21

Shaky -

Really disappointed that I couldn’t make it to Lowell this year. Look forward to meeting you and the others that can make it to the 2009 Idaho Fish In.

I think if I were building a bamboo rod as part of an “arsenal” of rods rather than what I have in mind, I would go with a 4 wt. As it is, the 5 wt is the best compromise for the range of trout fishing I do. And it might even handle a variety of line weights that will get me closer to what I do now with the three graphite rods I use over the course of the year ??

Don’t be surprised if you get a PM with some questions on how you did certain things, after I get the blank and actually prepare to start the hands on stuff !!

John

22

John; PM anytime. I’d be happy to share anything my humble experience might contribute.

REE; We actually met at the 07 fish-in but I was only there a couple of days and didn’t get to spend much time with any one. Looking forward to 09.

23

Had a pleasant surprise when I got home from the South Fork this afternoon. A long slim cylinder with USPS priority mail tape all over it.

Not exactly ready for this - still need to do some studying and thinking and selecting / deciding. But I’ve already had some help from several folks on the BB, and would like to thank them for the ideas, suggestions, and support they have provided.

I really like the reel seat that Brian provided, and it is already assembled. The grip is just what I was hoping for. Thanks, Brian.

My Project and Challenge are off to a great start. Will post some more pics when I round up the rest of the components, probably in ten days or so, depending on turn around time from Golden Witch and Snake Brand.

24

john ,
did it come with a rod tube or is that extra? thats very nice looking!

25

Chris -

No - just a VERY nice sock. But I already have a rod / reel case that is quite suitable for transporting it. Boy, is that case going to get a workout next year !!

John

26

After several weeks of reading about bamboo rodbuilding, getting some great feedback from several members of the BB, deciding on and ordering components, I’m ready to start.

Got the stripping guide and wrapping thread from REC - a Mildrum SMRC size 10 guide and Pearsall’s Naples Java thread. My best guess, pretty much confirmed by Shaky Wadr, is that the Java thread will darken to just the right shade to complement the reel seat.

The snake guides are from Snake Brand, which was highly recommended by BB member boarmountain ( Mike B. in real life ). Also got the tip tops and the winding check from Snake Brand.

Today I ran up to the Trouthunter Shop in Island Park ID to take a look at some bamboo rods before I actually got started. Just needed to see and feel some different rods before I actually started on the Project. Had the good fortune to catch Rick Smith there. Rick has been a bamboo fan for YEARS, so instead of just checking out a few of the “tangibles” of bamboo rods, I had an hour plus of one on one with a guy who knows the subject very well.

This afternoon, I did get started by checking out the ferrule fit for both tip sections. When I first tried fitting the ferrules together, I picked the one that needs just a little bit of work to seat properly. That was a good thing - alerted me to a couple things I needed to learn and be aware of as I proceed. Turns out the ferrule on the other tip section seats almost perfectly as is. Will need to lap the one just a wee bit, and only polish the other one.

Also did a preliminary spline on the three sections. The butt section doesn’t want to give away the spline, so I will probably just ignore it on that section. The tip sections both definitely have a spline, and although a lot of very competent rod builders recommend not splining a rod, I think I will do so on this build.

Starting with some 1500 grit sandpaper and steel wool tomorrow. If all goes as planned, should have the rod completed within about two weeks. It’ll be ready to fish by the first of next year. Will just be a matter of when the weather permits the Challenge to start.

John

P.S. The people at Snake Brand are SUPER. I had a couple questions on sizes ( the tip tops and winding check ) and they offered a solution that I would never expect from any component supplier to a first time customer. Keep these folks in mind if you are looking for a high quality component within their product line.

27

Just a reminder,WE ARE GIVING ONE AWAY THIS MONTH! :slight_smile:

28

And I just wanted to say thank you ahead of time:D:D:D

29

Thought I would get started on this project several weeks ago. But we had something of an Indian Fall following our Indian Summer, and even a few days of Indian Winter following the Indian Fall. Kind of hard to stay indoors and work on a fly rod when the temps are decent and there are willing fish in moving water !!

0 degrees F this morning with some more fresh snow on the ground. Time to get going.

From what Brian told me, I thought I would have to spend a fair amount of time lapping the ferrules. When I first fit a tip section to the butt section, I picked the tip that was a bit off, which reinforced my concern with that part of the build. However, it turned out that the female ferrule on the butt section and the male ferrule on one tip section required nothing more than a few turns of 0000 steel wool polishing to mate very nicely. The male ferrule on the other tip section took more polishing, but a LOT less than I was prepared to do.

I knew the reel seat was close to a proper fit. Didn’t know how close until today when I started a dry run assembly. Just needed a bit of light sanding on the blank for a nice tight fit.

The grip took a bit more than light sanding. I used an old and somewhat worn reamer and took a lot of time fitting the grip. Made the mistake of being too aggressive on a prior build and was determined not to make that mistake again. The reamer was way undersized compared to the blank so it was a matter of reaming a bit, checking the fit, reaming a bit, checking the fit, a good number of times until the grip finally slid snugly down the blank and rested nicely on the upper reel seat.

Added the winding check - from Snake Brand Guides in Battle Ground WA - for the photo.

Double checked for a spline in the butt section. There is nothing detectable beyond the tendency of the hexagonal blank to move to the next flat section as the butt is rotated.

Will epoxy the reel seat and grip tomorrow. There is a good firm “mechanical” fit between the blank and those components. Thanks to Elkhorn for providing components that are such a good match to the blank. It certainly ups my confidence level in taking on this project and knowing I will end up with a rod that is up to the Challenge I set for myself next year.

The next step will be spacing the guides - will start on the tip sections tomorrow while the epoxy on the reel seat and grip cures.

John

30

John…Thanks for the update. Should be a sweet rod when finished…carry on, and keep us posted…Ed

31

Lookin good John; I really like that real seat and the java brown wraps should be a very good color match.

32

I know the blank came w/ the ferrules already on the blank,but it looks like the tabs aren’t thinned down enough. This will cause the ferrule wraps to develop cracks when the rod is cast.

33

Mike -

Thanks for the heads up. I’m assuming that this would be a “cosmetics” only issue ??

John

34

It can lead to more if you don’t keep re-varnishing the crack.Moisture can get into the wraps and make a mess.The tabs need to be really thin so they can flex w/ the blank. At this point, I wouldn’t wrap the tabs much past their ends.

35

Mike -

Noted and appreciated.

John

36

Got the reel seat, grip, winding check and tip tops epoxied a couple days ago and started on the wraps.

First time I’ve used the rod wrapping stand that I built last month. Have had a couple issues with it, but think I have them ironed out ??

Wrapping guides is not one of my strong suits. My technique is pretty good, but sometimes the actual application leaves something to be desired. And just getting back to it after several months, the little things that shouldn’t get in the way do get in the way. Have rewrapped a couple feet as I went along up to this point, and may redo one foot before I apply finish to the wraps.

Haven’t been able to get pics that show the true color of the thread, at least the way I see it. I think these show more what the color will look like after it the wraps are finished, which would be just fine with me.

Good thing that I’m not a perfectionist, or I’d never be done with a project like this. Reminds me of one of my favorite sayings - done beats perfect every time.

Should be able to finish all the wraps over the weekend and start applying finish early next week. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, the weather is not going to be distracting me to go do anything outdoors, unless it is to shovel the drifted snow in the driveway.

John

37

Cool wrap job on the rod. Question for you is how much will the thread darken with the thread finish? I did some Royal Blue on a rod and it turned to a much darker shade of blue when the finish dried. Just curious, I like the color combination you’re using.

Matt

38

Matt -

Thanks.

What exactly the thread color will be after finish is applied is something of an unknown. For whatever reason, my camera just didn’t get the color right on this thread. It is much more in a medium brown tone than what you see here. ( Took quite a few pics but they all came out pretty much the same. )

To my color perception of the thread as is, and my guess at what will happen when finish is applied, it will turn out about as dark as shown in the photos but with a definite brown ( java ) tone. Could be interesting ?? Whatever the final color tone, I’m confident that I will like the effect.

John

This is a definite step up from that short rod that I posted on your thread on that subject. Twice as long !!

39

Looking Good!!

40

Wrapping is complete. Wouldn’t you know, just about the time I’m getting in a groove, I have one snake guide left to do ?? Actually, it was kind of on and off over the course of the last couple days, and I’m not really sure why it was off as much as it was. But the last couple guides went very well, which is a good thing, because I was down to just a few feet of thread.

Just a couple observations.

It was much easier for me to wrap the guides, ferrules and tip tops on this bamboo rod than it was to wrap the two graphite rods I’ve done. The hexagonal shape of the blank is really easy to work with compared to round blanks.

The other point is that using the stretching thread ( from Joann Fabrics ) to temporarily secure the guides to the blank rather than tape makes spacing the guides a breeze. You can just tie the guides on approximately where you think they belong and then slide them up or down the blank to get them just right. When a guide foot is secure with wrapping thread, it is a nick with a razor blade or a snip with fly tying sissors and the stretch thread is gone.

A couple other notes.

The guides from Snake Brand ( Mike and Susan McCoy in Battle Ground WA ) are excellent. I did not have to do any prep at all - out of the bag and onto the blank. And the customer service from Snake Brank was OUTSTANDING. I ran into a couple sizing problems and Snake Brand worked with me as well as anyone has a right to expect to get things sorted out.

REC was the supplier for the Mildrum SMRC stripping guide and wrapping thread. The stripping guide was just fine. BUT the thread was another matter - having seen spools of Pearsal’s Naples thread on other sites noted as 100 meters for $3.50 each, I assumed that is what I would get from REC. WRONG. Their spool was 50 meters for $3.50. And it was barely enough to complete one 8’ 2 tip rod. Not enough to rewrap anything, if that were required.

Will start applying finish tomorrow. Ended up with Ace Hardware Brand Spar Varnish and Sunnyside Brand pure gum spirits turpentine based on recommendations from quite a few folks on one of the sites devoted exclusively to bamboo rod building. Nice to have stuff available in the local hardware store.

Still need to do a bit of prep before applying finish - some burnishing here and there. But everything is pretty much on track, except that the forecast is for 28F and only a moderate breeze tomorrow, so I might end up down at the South Fork for a while ??

John