i was just told by my dad who is in new york that i have a fly fishing rod in the attict i remember it slightly and asked if it was bamboo sure enough it is. ill be home in march 31- april 13th and it will be coming back out with me to cali.

oh ya trout season opens april 1st. ya buddy.

bro i feel ya on the cabin fever, just aint got the cabin, but i feel ya.

as far as april first, thats when trout season opens up in new york. and ill be there kickin some ars on those big fat native brookies in my local towns creek. i cant wait.

I may have a chance to pick up a bamboo rod for $100.00. I know nothing about bamboo rods. The rod is a Montague Rapidan genuine signature, Does this mean anything to anyone ? Anyone ever heard of this ?

Actually, if you are interested in building a bamboo rod, it isn't as difficult and mysterious as it sounds.  There are no "micro planes" needed, just an old fashoned (pre-80's) Stanley 9 1/2 hand plane.  The old models have a much finer adjustment than the models available today.  The most difficult thing for most people attempting to build bamboo rods is acquiring a planing form.  In the old days builders used to make thier planing forms out of hardwood such as maple but with the industrial revolution a switch to steel occured.  The best commercially available planning form is made my Bellinger (www.genuinebellinger.com).  This form is rather pricey however at about $900.  If you are serious about crafting a bamboo rod though, I think you should atleast be able to craft your own planning form.  I made my own using two 6 foot lengths of 3/4 square cold rolled steel (about $50) plus some shoulder bolts and precision hardened steel dowel pins.  There are several books on the subject, the most usefull being a two volume collection of articles compiled into book form called "The Planning Form"  vol. 1 and vol.2.  These books cover all aspects and building cane rods and include expert tips and tricks of the trade.  Most people don't know that while an oven is required to temper a blonde rod, if you use a gas torch on your culm of bamboo before the initial splitting, you get the same result with the added benifit of a rod with a beautifully rich dark mottled look.  If you are intent on building a blonde rod, i made an oven using a steel pipe wrapped with insulation with a heat gun blowing into one end.  A temperature probe inserted into the pipe tells me if i am at my target temperature.    As far as a wrapping machine...  i wrap my bundles by hand using cotton thread.  I dont want to spend hundreds or even thousands on a wrapping machine.  It really isn't necessary unless you are churning out a high volume of rods.  As your skills increase, you come to find that tapers are the secret to fine fly rods.  They are like recipies, some tried and true, others just novelties.  Tapers are what make a bamboo rod sing.

Don't expect to gather all the required tools and presto! whip out a work of art on your first try.  Crafting cane rods is an endeavor atleast as complex and hard to master as fly flishing itself.  It will require dedication and focus over time to turn out fly rods to be proud of.  For those who want to enrich thier fishing experience to include this nearly lost art, the rewards are deffinately great.  HeHeHe, my step-son likens it to the Jedi who's skills are not complete until they construct thier own light saber.  

A beginner buys a fiberglass rod at Wall-Mart...  then a graphite one at a fly shop as they get serious about fishing and start catching a few lunkers...  and when they have caught countless fish and yearn for something a little more from the sport, they discover Tonkin cane and then they become true artists.

One last point.  Don't get into building to make money.  Atleast not until you have payed your dues to the craft.  It is a disservice to professional builders to flood the market with poorly made rods built by ametures. 

Brian.

for a second there thought you was talkin to me. but its the brian from above. cant wait so see this stuff. looks like this brian knows a lil bit about bambo rods. nice.

-- Edited by brian clemens at 19:16, 2008-01-19

sweeeeet bro, you let me know when you wanna hit putah, and you bring that fly rod, and we will get you on some fish.

Kalenen, I would like to build a bamboo rod but need some advice on the construction of the plane. How did you get the angle on the steel, and does the steel ruin the plane blade. I would think that the blade would chip or get burrs on the edge. with a six foot plane, how did you find the right tapper? The books sound like a good idea for me where could I find them, and are they expensive. One last question, what size bamboo should I buy for a rod? I read two inch but it seems that if I buy a larger peice I will have more material to work with, when I make a mistake. Hit me up with any advise or wisdom you care to share.

I've been working wood for about 40 years, making everything from cabinets and large parts of houses to decoys to guitars and mandolins and I recently got the bamboo rod building bug once again.  The differences between now and the last time I got the bug (in the mid-1970's, and I didn't pursue it then) are:

-I have a much higher income now which is good because I'll need it.
-I have a way better wood shop now which is good because I'll need that too.
-I also own a metal working lathe (Atlas 6" swing, 3-foot bed) which is not only good but critical for ferrule fitting.  Lathes like that start at about $900 for a good used one plus tooling and the knowledge to operate it is priceless and hard to come by unless you know a machinist.
-I've had lots of practice fitting very close wood joints which is the heart and soul of piecing up a six-strip rod so that it will cast properly and last a long time.
-Most of all, there is so much more printed and online information on learning and mastering the skill of bamboo rod making now than there was in the 1970's that I wouldn't be feeling my way around in the dark nearly as much as I would have in the 1970's

For the latter reason I feel as though it would be a worthwhile adventure, but I am still facing some other realities:

-Tools I still need (planing form, depth gauge, Lie-Nielsen 102 scraper plane, some method for wrapping the pieced-up blank, another method for heat -treating, and a method for varnishing evenly (usually by dipping).
-The dilemma of purchasing bamboo culms from Demarest (the major importer of Tonkin cane) and shipping them from New Jersey back to California at reasonable cost--three culms (the minumum order) currently cost $90 plus $50 shipping, and a bale of 20 culms currently costs $435-550 plus discounted truck shipping.  It takes a culm to make a rod.  Some suppliers (such as Golden Witch) will sell smaller quantities but the price goes up.
-The likelihood that the first $30 culm I split I'm likely to split incorrectly and make at least part of it unusable.  I'll need two culms for my first rod. 
-Learning curves on this type of project vary all over the map but my experience with fine woodworking has been that you start to know what you're doing on about your fourth attempt and you begin to have mastery after about 15-20 successful projects.  All of the completed projects up to that point are probably going to be usable but each is a learning experience and they don't add up well until you've learned what you need to be an accomplished builder. 

So, I see it as a good and worthwhile endeavor but potentially frustrating until all the components come together.  My advice (not that anyone asked): go for it if you have lots of time, some woodworking experience, the funds to purchase the needed tools (don't settle for junk--buy only the best tools and fixtures and remember that you also need to master sharpening at a high level), and can arrange access to a metal working lathe--a wood lathe is not the same and few of those can even be set up to attempt to cut ferrule seats, which they then won't do accurately.  If you are lacking any of those key components, still go for it but know that it will take longer and require more practice and ingenuity.  Whatever you do, read everything you can find--there are several good books and lots of websites with lots of useful information on the topic (I'll post a list if anyone is interested but by all means try to start with Ev Garrison and Hoagy Carmichael's "A Masters Guide to Building a Bamboo Fly Rod"--it's out of print but recent editions can be had at reasonable prices). 

I'll probably take up bamboo rod building next year.  I'm curious what I'm going to do with 15-20 practice rods.

Good luck

Sean (my first post to this group but I've been flyfishing Putah Creek since 1968)