Jigs for bamboo rod building

Denwor54 · Jun 24, 2023

I used to jigs when I was in the woodworking trade and thought I would show some of the jigs that I use. When I first started this journey I quickly started playing around with different jigs to help make the assembly easier. I became frustrated with hand reaming the cork pieces and had realized I had to make jig for the cork inlay for the reel seat. Now I use the jig for reaming the cork pieces which has worked out well. I’m curious what jigs you guys have assembled for your bamboo rod building needs.

Tim Cottage · Jun 28, 2023

Not exactly a jig but more a self contained tool.
It is based on the core concept developed by an amateur but talented rod maker in Woodinville, of two inclined planes, each with half of a notch. One jaw is fixed. The other is loosely held in place and it moves both horizontally and vertically. As the two planes come together the split strip is squeezed on all four sides at once as the movable jaw climbs up the incline of the fixed jaw. The original version had a single notch and a completely different hand operated drive mechanism. This was then modified by my late friend Jerry Foster who had a penchant for automating as much of the rod making process as possible using CNC and other programmable tools. His version employed a foot pedal operated hydraulic ram to close and open the jaws. He also added a second notch to better accommodate different sized strips. I took that version and reduced it to a simple screw driven device.

I started with a 6" machinist vise, cobbled together a handle from parts I had on hand and cut the aluminum jaws on a table saw followed by a little file work to flatten the bottom of the cuts as a blade for cutting non ferrous metals is typically a triple chip and does not leave a flat bottomed cut.

It eliminates heating most nodes more than once and at 6" wide it straightens a few extra inches to each side of the node. With two different sized notches it accommodates any normal sized splits for both butts and tips.

Eventually I replaced the plastic balls on the handle with brass balls to give a bit more centrifugal advantage when spinning the vise closed and I mounted it on a thick MDF base.
If anyone wants to make one of these I can supply dimensioned drawings of the jaws. The rest will be up to you.

Denwor54 · Jun 28, 2023

Thanks for posting Tim, I definitely pick up a couple of those vises as my current set is not very easy to work with. Node work and straightening is my least favorite part of bamboo rod building. As I learn more it is critical that the node area is flat with the Morgan hand mill.

Mike Monsos · Jun 29, 2023

Tim that is really a slick way to deal with the nodes. Thanks for the detailed explanation and pictures to further clarify the operation.

Tim Cottage · Jun 29, 2023

It works well for most nodes but there are always going to be those difficult few that refuse to cooperate and need a more focused point of pressure to straighten out. For those I use Ray Gould's "Strip Presser". You can find a photo and construction drawings for it on pages 46 & 47 of Ray's book Constructing Cane Rods, Secrets of the Bamboo Fly Rod. I am fortunate to have Ray's personal "Presser" but if I were to make one I would rethink the way it clamps to the bench.

Between those two tools no node is safe from receiving a good straightening.