Thinking About Cane Pt. 2

You may think why go back to cane when graphite is so much better.  Graphite is lighter, stiffer, more sensitive and easier to wrap.  That's exacty correct but, cane is organic, it is just as strong as graphite, can be made fairly light if hollowed and when made right can be a work of art.  Also cane just has a warmth that graphite can never have. 

Seeing photos and youtube videos of people making cane rods has nearly consumed me.  I really don't even think about graphite rods anymore.  Well, at least at this time I haven't given them any thought.  The people who build these master pieces are truly inspirational. 

Yesterday 1/16/13 I took a ride to Home Depot and bought two six foot lengths of maple to begin making my planing forms.  Since I couldn't find a 45 file (if one is even made) I have decided to make a hex float rod after I learn on the two stirp bamboo quad float rod I am planning on making.  From there I will tackle the hex in all of it's glory.  Now I am getting ready to head to Harbor Freight for some measuring equipment, depth guage, and calipers, and maybe a micrometer if I have enough funds.

I'm planning on documenting the process here so everyone who stumbles across this page can follow along.  You will see all my screw-ups along the way.  This is a learning process and every mistake made will be a lesson learned.  I know for a fact some of the blanks my wife will use as tomato stakes.  But there will be one that will look like a work of art and it'll be something I can be proud of. 

Well time to get the tools and supplies.  Stay tuned for part three.

Randy

Updates:

1/18/2013 I thought I would add some more to the post.  I started on the planing form and so far it is coming along nicely.  Metal would have been the better way to go but for now the wood planing form will have to do.  The bamboo should arrive via UPS today sometime.  So, this coming Wednesday I will attempt to split the culms and then try my hand at making a bamboo fishing rod.  I'm looking forward to this new challenge.

1/19/2013 I got the cane today and began splitting the culm.  What a pain in the butt it was splitting it.  I used a heat gun to cure the cane which took an awefully long time to do.  I know I need a torch to properly flame it so on Wednesday I will stop by Home Depot and buy one.  So.... After I split the culm in half I then tried to split each of the halves in half with no success... I ruined the entire culm, luckily I have seven more to screw up on.  This time I am going to try to use my dremmel and cut each individual strip.  I am hoping that this will allow me to make each strip straight and with out splintering as every other try I had did.  Boy you guys on the cane rod forums sure make it look easy.

2/04/2013 Well, I went to Home Depot and bought a new propane torch and used it to flame another bamboo culm.  What a difference the torch made.  Starting at the middle of the culm I flamed the outer enamel to the outer end of the culm as I progress to the outsides the moisture escapes and the bamboo dries out and after that it was so much easier to split.  After that each section was planed, tapered, and glued and then a final taper was planed. 

Thinking About Cane

Well... After getting laughed off the rodbuildingforum.com website for asking about how to go about making a five piece float rod with out resorting to going the spey blank route which was recommended by a few fellow steelheaders (you obviously didn't read my post well enough). 

I came across a few threads dedicated to build a two strip cane fly-rod.  So after researching this matter a little more I have decided to dive head first in this endeavor and build a three piece 13' cane float rod.  I'm not buying an already made blank.  I am buying the bamboo pole and will then split it, plane it, glue it, plane it again and then finish the rod off with my stainless-steel wire guides, utilize spliced ferrules, and silk thread to attach the guides to the blank.  The only bad thing about this build is I will be using the two strip quad cane set up due to the fact that I do not have access to a planing form.  However, building a rod using this style can be done without a form thus the other name it was given was Poor Man's Quad.  I will post pictures of the progress of the build.  The goal of this build is to learn how a particular taper affects the action of the rod and how that rod behaves with that particular taper.  Keep in mind I am not reinventing the wheel.  I am simply trying to create a fishing rod that I can learn something from and have fun doing it.

As for my graphite multi-piece float rod.  It is still floating around in my head on how to go about making it.  I am stuck at how to go about building the taper and finding the perfect blanks to use to find that perfect action I am looking for with out seeing the blanks in person and feeling each one.  I set out a number of years ago to build a spliced-tip float rod and last October I made it but I didn't finish wrapping the tip.  I think this year I will get that done and finish wrapping the rod (it was pictured and mentioned in my other posts).  So stay tuned in to this post as I will be updating this blog as I complete each step in the process of building my two-strip quad cane float rod.