YOLO! - FlyBillz' First Bamboo Build

Breck said:
I have so many questions, but I'll limit it to the one that interests me the most. How do you guage which weight fly line the rod is rated for? Is this predetermined before the actual build? Two questions, I guess.
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The line weight is dictated by the taper you create in the shafts. This is predetermined on a lot of rods with published tapers. But like Bill mentioned longer and heavier rods generally take heavier line weights to make them flex. The thing that fascinated me with bamboo is that you can make any rod you wish with the same culm, if you buy a plastic blank, it is what it is, no changing it. Additionally, you can take a given taper and lengthen it or shorten the length or change the line wt requirement with some minor calculations made by programs like Hexrod.

Mike
 
Mike Monsos said:
The line weight is dictated by the taper you create in the shafts. This is predetermined on a lot of rods with published tapers. But like Bill mentioned longer and heavier rods generally take heavier line weights to make them flex. The thing that fascinated me with bamboo is that you can make any rod you wish with the same culm, if you buy a plastic blank, it is what it is, no changing it. Additionally, you can take a given taper and lengthen it or shorten the length or change the line wt requirement with some minor calculations made by programs like Hexrod.

Mike
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Or in my case….Hotrodz! I’ve been asked several times what my tapers are?? My response is it’s tapered….skinny at the tip and fatter at the butt! Tapered! But I’m a builder, not a master maker like Mike…..
 
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Bill stopped by for another session of bamboo rod making. Mostly the drudgery of prepping strips to ready them to lay in the planing forms to plane to the desired taper. The first picture is hand filing the node lips off with a file. It’s slow but quiet and somewhat soothing to work without motors humming and a shop vac screaming. The next two images are using a bench top belt sander with a shop vac to do the same job but much faster. It’s the makers choice of how to complete many tasks with or without the noise accompanying a motorized assistant. Personally, I allow myself the assist of the motorized help with the node prep and beveling of the strips to a rough triangle. That way I can have a lot of strips ready for the form if I get inspired to make a rod. I just plan a day for the prep work in advance to make a stockpile for at least a couple of rods ready to use.


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More of the process today! Mike is refining the teaching and I'm hands on with each step and learning what to do and evaluating how I did it! Great fun! Mike can better answer the how and what better. And the name of the machine we were using. Mike is the master!
 
The machine that Bill is talking about is a Baginski Beveler Machine. It's a bench grinder with one wheel removed and a custom machined set of two wheels that form a V with sanding belt material glued to them. A adjustable anvil is mounted below and a split piece of bamboo (square shaped) is slid enamel side down on the anvil to create the triangle shape we need. After about 4 passes the strip is ready for the next step in the process.Wheel set.jpg
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What Mike didnt say, is that he machines the wheel on his lathe and sells them all over! I'll be getting one after we finish my blank and be able to work on things by myself as things progress. I plan on making rods for myself and continue to work Mike as necessary. FlyBill Custom Hotrodz! Yeah buddy!!
 
In an effort to further bore you all here are some pictures of the first steps after splitting the culm in half and knocking out the node dams. First the half is split to thirds, then each third is split in half, then those two pieces are split in half again to end up with 12 individual strips per half section of a culm section. I'm going to try to load a video of splitting the thirds down to working strips in the next posting.

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Hmmm, working on it…..Failed sorry. Maybe Bill can help next time we connect. I'm going to be visiting my son next week, a project manager dealing with all kinds of magic shit on the internet and AI voodoo. I'll have him help me in return for helping him with some kitchen remodel work. Love that kid, can't wait to see him for the week.
 
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Another visit from Bill today and a couple more steps accomplished. A little catch up image wise, first strips post splitting pre roughed.jpg
next up is the strips after rough in the Baginski Beveller Machine
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Now today here's Bill making bundles of six strips to be bound on my binding machine before heat treating
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Next up is Bill on the binder
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Next up was the heat treating of the bamboo strip bundles at 350 degrees for 16 minutes in the heat gun oven. I think Bill might have got a picture of that process. But now Bill has enough strips to make both a tip and a base section for his bamboo fly rod with three extra stips for either shaft if things go south on him.
 
My son just showed me a way of uploading video content links (you are in trouble now LOL). So, here is a quick little video of splitting the 1/3 of the half culm down to quarter inch wide strips. The first piece is just over 1 inch wide. So, the strips just need to be split in half twice which makes it easy to keep them even during the process. The clamp is holding a bread knife as the splitter. I start the split with a side cutter to fracture the end of the strip.



Mike
 
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