Preparing the Culm
Things move pretty fast early on in the process. It almost lulls you into feeling that this rodmaking stuff is easy. Enjoy it while it lasts. I don't think it needs to be stated, but I will anyway: Each step in the process is no more or less important than any other. Mistakes made now will haunt you later, so don't assume that since you can finish several steps in an afternoon, you should. Making a bamboo rod should be a lot like fishing a bamboo rod--slow down, take your time and enjoy the experience. Casting a dry fly isn't a race. Neither is making a bamboo fly rod. Ideally, the rod you end up with will be one that you fish with for the rest of your life. Take that extra ten minutes and do it right. And if you are like I was, you'll be accumulating tools as you go, so there will be plenty of time between paydays to enjoy each step. Oh, and by the way, if you have a customer bugging you to finish a rod, simply ask him, "So, you want me to rush through the rest of your rod?" That'll change his tune. If it doesn't, just refund his deposit and move on to the next order.
That being said, I will tell you that I tend to execute the early steps of the process in batches. I'll select, prepare, rough bevel, bind and bake enough cane to make a half dozen rods at a time. This is simply an optimization that I employ. There's no benefit to this if all you want to do is make a rod for yourself and I don't recommend this until you're comfortable with each step.
Measuring and Cutting the Culm Section
Once you've selected a culm you like, measure and cut a culm section for a particular fly rod. This is a good time to introduce your first rod making tool: The dozuki saw. The dozuki saw is a Japanese cross-cut saw. Very sharp, fine teeth and a reverse cutting action make the dozuki saw ideal for cutting and trimming bamboo culms and rod sections. It'll also make quick work out of branches when pruning your fruit trees, but I'll leave that up to you. This is not an expensive tool and I recommend it instead of a hack saw.
Oddly enough, my dozuki saw was made in Japan. My Japanese is a bit rusty, but I believe it says, "Be careful or you'll cut your fingers off."
The dozuki saw cuts cane quickly. Notice how you can cut nearly half way through the culm with two or three strokes.
I recommend supporting the culm on both sides of the line when cutting. I have a long workbench with a soft pine table-top. This makes an ideal surface for cross-cuts since it's important to finish with a firm stroke. Avoid cutting most of the way through the culm and 'cracking' the rest. The bamboo will split longitudinally, which will tear the fibers away from the culm. A best, that creates a mess. At worst, you'll ruin the culm.
Preparing the Nodes
The nodes must be dressed prior to splitting. There are two options as to the order here: dressing nodes before or after flaming. (Of course, if you're not flaming, I won't be with this example, this isn't an issue.) Flaming after dressing the nodes will give a uniform color throughout the length of the fly rod. I usually prefer to flame before dressing the nodes, however, since I like the light color of the nodes. It gives a rod a nice variegated look. It is messy, though, because the belt sander tends to fill the air with the nasty black flaming soot.
There are two common approaches to dressing nodes: the traditional and the practical. Can you guess which one I use? Anyway, the traditional method involves a mill bastard file and a free afternoon. The practical way involves a small belt sander and nerves of steel (or at least the absence of caffeine).
Install a medium grit belt--maybe 180 or 200-grit. For the first phase, leave the 90-degree backstop installed (you can see it peeking out from behind the belt). Carefully move the work into position. Just take off the highest spots in the node.
Work the culm slowly around until all of the high points are taken down. Be careful. Pay particular attention to the edges of the belt. Don't allow the belt to touch any part of the culm except for the node.
For final sanding, remove the backstop. This will allow for a softer approach. Work the node in a slow circular motion as you rotate the culm. You know you're done when you've removed all of the enamel from the center of the node area and there is a smooth transition from the finished node area to the rest of the culm. It's also important to try to minimize the amount of material you remove from the culm. That is, try to keep the sanding marks as narrow as possible. One of the quality marks of a good bamboo fly rod is unobtrusive node transitions or "narrow nodes".
Run your finger over the finished node. It should feel smooth across both enamel surfaces. Smooth and shiny is what you want.
Flaming
There are lots of reasons to flame a culm. There are a few reasons not to. The heat will temper the cane, which will stiffen it up a bit. I think it brings certain tapers alive. Flamed cane is gorgeous in the finished fly rod. Flaming really brings out the color of the fibers, especially at the node transitions. And any imperfections in the cane will become "beauty marks" once they're flamed. A flamed rod has character, while a blonde rod has class.
Notice how moisture exits the culm in sort of a sticky solution sugar water bubbling out through the power fibers. Flaming is the second phase of moisture removal. Remember that the first stage was to age the cane. The final stage comes later after the cane has been split and beveled. You'll want to oven bake the cane to remove even more moisture.
Use a propane torch with a gentle orange flame. I use a weed burner. I don't use a plumber's torch since the flame is too narrow and intense. You really only want to allow the flame to 'lick' the enamel. Work slowly. If the bamboo heats up too rapidly, the outside will char while the inside remains cool and untempered. Bring all of the fibers up to temperature slowly. You'll know when it's time to move the flame because the enamel will form an orange peel texture expanding from the center of the flamed area. And never flame unsplit cane. It will explode. I speak from experience. Scared the bejeezus out of me--almost dropped my torch. You've been warned.
So why wouldn't you want to flame? The first reason is obvious, you don't want a dark rod. Many customers prefer blondes. Also, flaming can be tricky. Until you get the hang of it, it's easy to turn a perfectly good culm into an expensive piece of charcoal. And finally, if your culm has many splits in addition to the check split, each exposed edge will char. You might not end up with enough usable cane.
Work the flame from the center of the culm to the ends. This will draw the moisture out.
I like flaming. I like the smell of freshly flamed bamboo, though some have said it smells like bar-b-qued dog piss. It's one of those smells I never forget, like the smell of coffee brewing makes me think of Grandmama's kitchen, or the smell of Scotch tape makes me think of Christmas.
That being said, I will tell you that I tend to execute the early steps of the process in batches. I'll select, prepare, rough bevel, bind and bake enough cane to make a half dozen rods at a time. This is simply an optimization that I employ. There's no benefit to this if all you want to do is make a rod for yourself and I don't recommend this until you're comfortable with each step.
Measuring and Cutting the Culm Section
Once you've selected a culm you like, measure and cut a culm section for a particular fly rod. This is a good time to introduce your first rod making tool: The dozuki saw. The dozuki saw is a Japanese cross-cut saw. Very sharp, fine teeth and a reverse cutting action make the dozuki saw ideal for cutting and trimming bamboo culms and rod sections. It'll also make quick work out of branches when pruning your fruit trees, but I'll leave that up to you. This is not an expensive tool and I recommend it instead of a hack saw.
Oddly enough, my dozuki saw was made in Japan. My Japanese is a bit rusty, but I believe it says, "Be careful or you'll cut your fingers off."
The dozuki saw cuts cane quickly. Notice how you can cut nearly half way through the culm with two or three strokes.
I recommend supporting the culm on both sides of the line when cutting. I have a long workbench with a soft pine table-top. This makes an ideal surface for cross-cuts since it's important to finish with a firm stroke. Avoid cutting most of the way through the culm and 'cracking' the rest. The bamboo will split longitudinally, which will tear the fibers away from the culm. A best, that creates a mess. At worst, you'll ruin the culm.
Preparing the Nodes
The nodes must be dressed prior to splitting. There are two options as to the order here: dressing nodes before or after flaming. (Of course, if you're not flaming, I won't be with this example, this isn't an issue.) Flaming after dressing the nodes will give a uniform color throughout the length of the fly rod. I usually prefer to flame before dressing the nodes, however, since I like the light color of the nodes. It gives a rod a nice variegated look. It is messy, though, because the belt sander tends to fill the air with the nasty black flaming soot.
There are two common approaches to dressing nodes: the traditional and the practical. Can you guess which one I use? Anyway, the traditional method involves a mill bastard file and a free afternoon. The practical way involves a small belt sander and nerves of steel (or at least the absence of caffeine).
Install a medium grit belt--maybe 180 or 200-grit. For the first phase, leave the 90-degree backstop installed (you can see it peeking out from behind the belt). Carefully move the work into position. Just take off the highest spots in the node.
Work the culm slowly around until all of the high points are taken down. Be careful. Pay particular attention to the edges of the belt. Don't allow the belt to touch any part of the culm except for the node.
For final sanding, remove the backstop. This will allow for a softer approach. Work the node in a slow circular motion as you rotate the culm. You know you're done when you've removed all of the enamel from the center of the node area and there is a smooth transition from the finished node area to the rest of the culm. It's also important to try to minimize the amount of material you remove from the culm. That is, try to keep the sanding marks as narrow as possible. One of the quality marks of a good bamboo fly rod is unobtrusive node transitions or "narrow nodes".
Run your finger over the finished node. It should feel smooth across both enamel surfaces. Smooth and shiny is what you want.
Flaming
There are lots of reasons to flame a culm. There are a few reasons not to. The heat will temper the cane, which will stiffen it up a bit. I think it brings certain tapers alive. Flamed cane is gorgeous in the finished fly rod. Flaming really brings out the color of the fibers, especially at the node transitions. And any imperfections in the cane will become "beauty marks" once they're flamed. A flamed rod has character, while a blonde rod has class.
Notice how moisture exits the culm in sort of a sticky solution sugar water bubbling out through the power fibers. Flaming is the second phase of moisture removal. Remember that the first stage was to age the cane. The final stage comes later after the cane has been split and beveled. You'll want to oven bake the cane to remove even more moisture.
Use a propane torch with a gentle orange flame. I use a weed burner. I don't use a plumber's torch since the flame is too narrow and intense. You really only want to allow the flame to 'lick' the enamel. Work slowly. If the bamboo heats up too rapidly, the outside will char while the inside remains cool and untempered. Bring all of the fibers up to temperature slowly. You'll know when it's time to move the flame because the enamel will form an orange peel texture expanding from the center of the flamed area. And never flame unsplit cane. It will explode. I speak from experience. Scared the bejeezus out of me--almost dropped my torch. You've been warned.
So why wouldn't you want to flame? The first reason is obvious, you don't want a dark rod. Many customers prefer blondes. Also, flaming can be tricky. Until you get the hang of it, it's easy to turn a perfectly good culm into an expensive piece of charcoal. And finally, if your culm has many splits in addition to the check split, each exposed edge will char. You might not end up with enough usable cane.
Work the flame from the center of the culm to the ends. This will draw the moisture out.
I like flaming. I like the smell of freshly flamed bamboo, though some have said it smells like bar-b-qued dog piss. It's one of those smells I never forget, like the smell of coffee brewing makes me think of Grandmama's kitchen, or the smell of Scotch tape makes me think of Christmas.
posted by Brooks Bollich | 8:09 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home