I think everyone who first uses cane has to get past that mental hurdle.
I really like the 202E taper. Good luck with it.
The Bitch Creek trip… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR1gexO9ao8
I just surfaced today with a finished rod - my second rod and a present for our youngest son Jon in Colorado for Christmas. Although I started thinking it would be a Garrison 202E per my previous post, I wound up with a Wayne Cattanach 6’ 3" 4 wt 2 pc taper. I shot over the top of the taper target by about an even 0.005" everywhere. I added a swell to the butt per another maker’s input (I took it out to 0.275 at stations 65 and beyond). Since this is a gift, I had the butt cap engraved with a Celtic braid Jon designed years ago and added his initials. Here’s a photo of the rod (apologies for poor photography). First cast on Sunday afternoon after the varnish dries some more…
It casts nicely with a Cortland 4wt DT Sylk line… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUpGZ95tB4k
We may just get a chance to see it in action on Wilson Creek in North Carolina over Christmas!
And here’s a quick vid of Wilson Creek… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPUd1hGKWq8&feature=youtu.be
A perfect small stream for a 6’ 3" 4wt rod.
Jon is now back in Colorado, looking for a small stream without ice… I’m looking for a picture of his first fish on the rod! The next rod is for our oldest son, Dave.
I’m on to my next rod build and working on the strips prior to rough planing. This time, though, I have a neat little fixture (not original) that really helps node-removal. I personally rank node-removal right up there with a root-canal… here’s a short video of it.
Straightening strips is a challenge for me - I’ve watched expert rod makers droit solely by hand and I am amazed. My attempts have been wonky - until now. I recently saw a widget in a Golfsmith catalog that looked like it has application in my shop straightening - it turns out to be useful. Here’s a quick video highlighting what it does:
Although this kind of looks like the entry to Mordor, it’s actually the glued-up and bound butt section of rod 3 dangling down into the heater tube to let the URAC set. The temperature is quite a bit cooler in the tube then it looks - about 100 degrees F.
Here’s a short video showing rod 3 getting glued up. I still have a great deal to learn about using a binder properly - I keep getting a bend in the top 5 - 10" of my tip section which I can’t seem to eliminate after the glue dries. I’ve done that on rod 2 and 3 now. In any event, this is an improvement and movement up the learning curve - no gluelines on either tip or butt blanks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXpMGbJ6qUs&list=UUFoUzD-K2_8RjOiWI_41HWQ&index=1
Here’s Jon with rod number 2, a 6’ 3" 4 wt, on the St Vrain north branch a week ago… skittish fish but a beautiful day and great to be out!
Finally! Jon’s first fish on his Christmas present - a St Vrain Brookie.
I was beginning to think I made him a rod that couldn’t catch fish…
Well, rod 3 is finished for our oldest son, my verison of the Driggs River Special - here’s a quick video, really quick, highlighting a few aspects of making it. The reel seat is made from a 12" Ponderosa Pine log I brought back from Arizona’s high country when we moved to Michigan. We lived in AZ for 10 years and I camped and hiked the high country with our sons. That piece of pine was from the aftermath of the Rodeo-Chedaski forest fire that decimated the high country…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=98-4-Q0TfVc
Nice video. Great work on the rod.
Thank you, Bob. This rod making business is addictive!
I just got back from a quick trip to Colorado and fished the St Vrain with our son Jon - he was using rod #2, the 6’ 3", 4 wt made for him for Christmas.
He hooked a really nice fish while standing on a boulder running a zebra midge down the creek when it hit right under his feet. I took this picture just two seconds after he lost it - it was priceless seeing that rod bend!
Very nice!! Great rod and great video.
Well, since last posting I finished a 7’ 5wt PHY Princess for our daughter-in-law which we will give her this weekend for her birthday. We are headed to The Hungry Trout Lodge on the Ausable River in the Adirondack’s and will fish this weekend.
Here is how it turned out:
But we found out our little granddaughter Emily would be making the trip with us, too, and her graphite rod was packed away. So…
With just a few weeks before we leave I decided to try and make a Quad - but a two strip version, or, a PMQ - Poor Man’s Quad. I had seen Kaboom’s latest quad Driggs up at Grayrock in late June and it cast very nicely. I thought, hey, I’ll just give it a shot and see what happens.
What I discovered is that I might as well go ahead and make hex rods - about the only difference in the process is the amount of strips and planing work involved. And, the way I made this rod I had no planing form - all free hand planing. Wow… now THAT is a learning curve. And straightening these blanks is an exercise in patience. Or futility. Whichever…
But - the rod is done, it casts remarkably well - somewhere between a hex bamboo rod and a graphite rod, at least with a 5 wt line.
We will see what it can do in the Ausable this weekend… meanwhile, here’s a quick video showing how it went:
Bob
Love the first part of that video!
You’re turning out some great looking rods! Nice work.
What I discovered is that I might as well go ahead and make hex rods - about the only difference in the process is the amount of strips and planing work involved. And, the way I made this rod I had no planing form - all free hand planing. Wow… now THAT is a learning curve. And straightening these blanks is an exercise in patience. Or futility. Whichever…
Bob
I believe we had this discussion at Grayrock. Its the constant measuring that will get you every time. Still think that making a PMQ is a good way for a beginner to get started in this addition?
By the way, it is amazing how they cast when they are completed.
Tight Lines!!
Brad