200207 - Issue 8 Description

July 2002
Issue 8

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To get this issue, order the "Best of" Issue CD on the “Backissue CDs” page.

The July, 2002 issue of Power Fibers contains:

Book Review: Extreme Rodmaking

One of my college friends, Kevin, was good at everything he did. A straight “A” student, Kevin sported the blonde hair and rugged features of Robert Redford, and bluer eyes than Paul Newman’s when Redford and Newman were cult heroes. Most of my girlfriends were Kevin’s rejects. Few professionals could match Kevin’s skills on the tennis court. As a teen, he defeated several players whose names you would know...

Grayrock Gadgets and George

I would like to thank the guys who organized the Grayrock Rodmakers Gathering that I had the fortune of attending June 21 and 22nd. This is a great time for me to get out of town as it is usually the last week of school where I teach here in Western New York. It is a long, 7 hour drive, but the route...

Product Review: Star Splitters and Rod Fixtures

Several months ago I was on a quest to find a way to get perfect strips from the culms of bamboo. After trying many methods (most of them frustrating), I remembered that Glenn Bracket was using a type of star splitter to split the strips at Winston. After watching...

The Clear Creek Quad

This 6’6” 4wt quad is named for a very tiny creek that runs through the small town of Arcade in New York. This stream holds some beautiful little rainbow trout that naturally reproduce in its waters. I wanted a short quad...

Edwards, A Tale of Two Tapers

The first rod taper below is from a three piece 7’6” rod with 9/64 and 15/64 Leonard style ferrules. It was built from orginal Edwards blanks. The stress curve looks a bit like the Baby Catskill or the PHY Smidgen. It lays a 3 or 4 weight line out softly and gently. The action is light...

An Alternative Approach to Conventional Planing

When I first started reading about rodmaking, one of the main things I read was keeping the strips away from absorbing moisture. With this in mind I thought soaking strips was out of the question.

I made my first seven or eight rods in the normal “dry” way. I have arthritis in my hands and found it hard....

Comments on Rodmaking

1. I was born in Detroit, Michigan, grew up at the edge of the city, and currently live with my wife, Carole in the small town of Hastings, in rural Southwest Michigan. Carole & I have two daughters, Joanne and Kate, both college graduates on their own. Hunting and fishing...

Building the F.I.B.H. Ferrule: Parts Two & Three

Let me start by saying that as a European rodmaker that I am used to measuring in meters, centimetres and millimetres. When I started rod building I had to cope with feet, inches and fractional inches; it was very confusing. Now I am in the happy position to return this confusion...

Straighter Strips in 30 Days

I find myself making lots of quads nowadays, and I will be the first to say they are a pain to get straight, since they are all twice as thick across the flats as a hex rod would be. For example, let’s say a normal quad butt is .320” across the flats. That is a big strip to straighten. Heat is not always a viable solution.

I got some great ideas...

July 2002Issue 8