|
On November 20, I had the honor and opportunity to speak to the Connecticut Fly Fisherman’s Association. I’m a proud member. It’s a fabulous organization, and this is the direct result of both its wonderful leadership and membership. My talk was titled: Bamboo Fly Rods: Connecticut History & Current Construction. The talk was divided into two parts. First, I covered local history. Among other things, I discussed the Hiram Leonard descendants who eventually set up shop in Connecticut and tracked the lineage through to modern day builders. Second, I discussed the way in which I build bamboo fly rods completely from raw stock. I believe it was well received. Here are some photos…  Skills are subject to continual development. When I commenced building bamboo rods, I relied on power-tools to bring stock into a “manageable” condition. I aggressively removed stock to the desired workable size. I dictated to the power tools exactly what I wanted to achieve - the harder you push stock into a sander, the more stock is removed. Aside from machining metal components, the more rods I built, the more I gravitated toward hand-tools. Hand-tools provide a quiet environment where one can gently sculpt, shave, cut, bend, and otherwise manipulate stock. More importantly, hand tools force one to become part of the process, rather than dictating the process. Dismayed by the lack of quality, I eventually entered the wonderful world of Japanese hand tools.  Japanese Dovetail Pull Saw - I’ve come to rely heavily on my Japanese hand saw. Rod builders are continually adjusting strip length base on where they are in the building process. Rather than having a power tool rip through a strip of bamboo and cause it to fracture at an undesired location, my Japanese handsaw provides perfect, slow, crisp cuts at my target locations. Japanese Iwasaki File - Like many builders, bamboo nodes are a source of frustration and problems. We do everything to eliminate their troubling presence. We grind them down, press then, sand them, and even yell at them. A Japanese file will properly put the builder in his place. By allowing the file to cut, the builder is merely guiding the file in the desired direction. Soon, a small repetitive action of guiding the file will reduce the node to powder.  Japanese Froe - I started splitting culms with a froe. I had no idea what I was doing and the resulting bamboo strips proved this point. I then tried a bandsaw jig, a table saw jig, and star cutters. I then came full circle, only to start back at my froe. I tried again and settled on the use of a froe, vice and my two hands. My results have been the best, resulting in plentiful, workable strips.
There is a larger lesson to learn. Japanese hand-tools cannot be forced. Forcing such tools will induce error. However, when we accept our position in the process as maker and allow the tool to do the work for which it was designed, we create a wonderful team. The maker becomes part of the process, rather than a dictating force. Instead of prying back the pedals of a spring flower, we allow it to open when it is ready. Accepting our position in the larger process sometimes means slowing down, backing off, and witnessing the beauty unfold…when it is ready. What do bamboo rod building and Brazilian jiu-jitsu they have in common? bending…twisting…and perhaps a little more… John Danaher, former Colombia University philosophy Ph.D. student, and now one of the all-time greatest Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts coaches, holds that improvement in a particular area is predominately linked to skillset development and training. He further says that sometimes an ephemeral comment or meeting can drastically change one’s perspective and entire trajectory. Early in his career, Danaher had a fleeting, one-time meeting with Dean Lister, two-time ADCC world Champion. Lister had perfected leg locks as a mechanism for submission. Not fully appreciating the value of leg locks, Danaher discussed this with Lister. Lister simply asked Danaher, why would someone ignore half of the body. Perplexed, the former philosophy Ph.D. student and black belt, Danaher said, “I don’t know.” This brief, one-time meeting changed Danaher’s thinking and trajectory. He would go on to become one of the greatest Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts coaches of all-time, developing some of the greatest practitioners of all-time. These practitioners became known as “The Danaher Death Squad.” A significant focus was placed on leg locks. Among other things, he credited this brief, one-time meeting to changing his trajectory and methodology. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Catskill Rodmaker’s Gathering this month. With familial responsibilities, this was no easy task, and previous efforts had fallen short. I met up with a friend, who I knew for a few years from Connecticut. I had been thinking and constantly adjusting my technique for addressing nodes in bamboo rod strips for a long time. We discussed this. Like Lister, he said something brief, simplistic and piercing. I was bewildered and reminded of the almost speechless Danaher comment, “I don’t know.” For me, a lightbulb went off, and I was shocked that I had not considered his methodology. Luckily for me, lightbulbs continued to go off throughout the weekend as I met other rod makers and compared notes. A wonderful event with wonderful people.  I subscribe to the concept of Kaizen - continuous improvement. Bamboo rod building requires diverse skillsets (machining, woodworking, etc.). One day, the builder is cutting a fine taper into a piece of bamboo, and the next day he is adjusting the male slide of a ferrule with 3M polishing paper to achieve an almost airtight fit into a female ferrule. Then, the builder is tasked with joining wood and metal so they seamlessly work together to deliver a fly to an eager trout.
Rather than looking at the monumental task of building the ultimate, flawless rod (an ideal that is arguably non-existent), a better approach is making fine-tuned micro adjustments to one’s building on a daily basis. Learn from mistakes, embrace friction, and push the ball forward, even if daily advancement is small. Some folks describe bamboo fly rods as “noodles,” “heavy,” etc.. The idea of using a bamboo fly rod is then filed in the back of their minds behind a shut door. This is a very poor understanding of bamboo and the myriad of associated tapers.
In my opinion, there is nothing better than bamboo. It can be used in almost any fishing situation, and makers have complete control over the entire taper. While many vintage tapers have a reputation of being “noodles” or “heavy,” our current building options allow for all sorts of adjustments that were not always used. Over time, techniques of heat treating (E.W. Edwards), hollowing (Powell) and creating a swell in the butt section have dramatically impacted rod action. Indeed, while some early vintage tapers may leave some feeling like their rods are overcooked spaghetti, a maker can breathe new life into these tapers by experimenting with heat, hollowing and swells, thereby making al dente spaghetti. E.W. Edwards is my favorite rod builder for a host of reasons. My shop is less than one hour from where he last lived and where he build his “Perfection” rods, which are considered to be his best works. For inspiration, I have one of his rods, a De Luxe, along with a Leonard and Hawes, on display in my shop, near the location where I hand plane. One of the many fascinating aspects of bamboo rod building is the goal of achieving a fluid transition from bamboo to nickel silver. With nickel silver having a density approximately 14 times more than bamboo, the introduction of a chunk of metal in the middle of finely tapered bamboo strips is impactful.
During the bamboo rod making process, the chemical and physical properties of bamboo changes each time heat is introduced. The density of bamboo declines significantly when culms are flamed, when nodes are heated and pressed, when strips are heated and straightened, and when strips are oven baked. And with the advent hollowing bamboo, the use of new adhesives, and the introduction of micro ferrules, it is imperative that one engages in empirical field testing. While understanding the material science is important, there is no replacement to experimenting with prototype rods. While many classic tapers where designed before heat and hollowing were used, experimenting with heat and hollowing can make them almost unrecognizable, sometimes for the better. After a scenic walk behind my shop, I machined a second male ferrule. I brought my metal lathe to its limit, moved the tool post, and hand polished the male slide with 400 grit 30 micron polishing paper. A dead nuts fit. Yet, the shop rabbit was unimpressed and fell asleep.
 "Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans." - John Lennon Occupying the bookends of my day, and flanking lunch with old friends, my shop work did not go as planned. With a busy build schedule, I hoped to finish making an agate stripping guide and precision machining ferrules for a new rod. The back portion of the male slide of one ferrule was off by only 0.0003". Unfortunately, this made for a slightly loose fit and had to be rejected. Better luck tomorrow... |
