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Steve if you need some sticks, I have a deal for you! Mike

I started out with the two-by-two placement, but I have moved to the three-by-three placement in recent years. Dawn is a great rod maker, and I am sure his reasoning is solid. But to be honest I have not had a rod fail at a node with either method. I think IF there is a failure at a node it...

To my eye the break looks suspect as a weak point. in the close up image you posted. After heat treating the bamboo will break with many fine splinters and yours looks like a pretty clean break without the splinters. Doesn't change the fact other than to ease you mind about the cause. I'm...

Now I know what I can do with all the left-over extra strips I have laying around.(y) Mike

I was just thinking of adding that to my comment, yes, it is mesmerizing.

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...

That's a shame, I'd expect the break would have been closer to the tip rather than near the ferrule. I'm wondering if there might have been a weak spot where the section snapped. Mike

Here are the three bundles of 6 strips (looks like a Tuna Rod LOL) after heat treating waiting for some node work and the kiss of the plane. Things will slow down at this point. A bit more prep work and many, many, planing strokes are ahead of Bill.

Another visit from Bill today and a couple more steps accomplished. A little catch up image wise, first strips post splitting next up is the strips after rough in the Baginski Beveller Machine Now today here's Bill making bundles of six strips to be bound on my binding machine before heat...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

These are all my makes, not in any order, Sir D, Dickerson 7613, Para 14, Leonard 50D, Payne 197, The Lufkin, My Own 8645, 7'6" 3 piece, 7'6" 4 piece, Martha Marie. These were the rods I brought to the fling last year for casting. I'm guessing they will show up again if all goes as planned.

Bill's next step is to make the two half culms on the right (tip and base) look like the split ones to the left side. Each half culm will render 12 strips which only 6 of those will be needed for the tip and another 6 for the base sections. One step at a time.

A great taper in the 4wt category is the Sir D. The taper was originally created by the late Wayne Cattanach and was slightly modified by Darrel Hayashida thus now called the Sir D. This is a two-piece 7' rod that can easily cast 50' of line. This was the first taper I made, and it was a real...

You will be doing a lot more work as we move through this adventure together. This is only the second time I've helped someone make a bamboo fly rod. You won't believe the feeling that you get when you cast a rod that you made from culm to fly rod. Hold on Bill the fun has just begun. Mike

I agree Steve, that a faster action in a bamboo rod is an easier transition from graphite to grass. One of those tapers is the Dickerson 7613. Most new to boo casters can slide into this taper pretty easily.

I think that if you are looking to buy your first bamboo fly rod, find one that you like the feel and personality of for your first purchase. With bamboo rods you are going to find a whole spectrum of "personalities" in different rods. The best test is to cast the rod before laying down your...