200304 - Issue 11 Description

April 2003
Issue 11

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

The April, 2003 issue of Power Fibers contains:

Salem Bamboo Rod Casting Demonstration a Success

This is a note about the Salem Bamboo Rod Casting Demonstration event held in conjunction with the Santiam Flycaster’s Annual Fly Fair. Overall, the attendance at the event was down from last year. Several things were responsible: the ongoing conflict in Iraq, the downturn in the Oregon economy, demonstrations in Salem, and recurring cleanup of...

Traditionally Modern

There aren’t many days that go by where I don’t get a chuckle or two reading emails posted on the rod maker’s listserv. Some are down in the gut belly laughs. Don’t get me wrong, the list is chock full of learned makers, willing to spew forth their knowledge...

Two Divine Tapers

The Divine Rods, according to Michael Sinclair, are unusually pretty; often unique in character and highly under rated. This issue’s “Classic Tapers” column is devoted to two Divine Rods from my collection. These rods are about...

Wes Jordan’s Cross Rods

Ever since I read Dick Spurr’s book “Wes Jordan - Profile of a Rodmaker,” I have been facinated with Cross Rods. Not so much the later versions produced by South Bend, but the original Lynn, Mass. series of rods.

A couple of years...

Roughing and Tapering Under Power

I have been on a quest to get my milling machine up and running for quite a while now. It is an interesting process, one that causes the hand planer to have to think out of the box. Sometimes it means that you need to learn....

To Stop or Not to Stop

One of the most difficult aspects of installing ferrules is getting a good fit and at the same time getting it concentric with axis of the rod and straight. The LeClair set of cutters solves this problem but is quite expensive for someone making 2 to 3 rods per year.

My low cost method...

The Dangerous Petition

The following events happened, and occasionally as described. Please keep this in mind. The story includes the unusual language and sometimes deeds of Republicans and Conservatives, but of course, no sex. The writer assumes no responsibility for his generation or any other...

Splitting and Signing Cane

I had acquired a five blade Hida splitter from a list member. The first time I used it I thought to myself, “If the splitter can split five strips, why not 10 or 15?” So, I gave it a try. The first set of splits were split to around 8” from the bottom of the culm...

Innovative New Tool Offerings

There are many tools that come into my shop. Some come for a visit, some come for good. The J.D. Wagner Binder is one device that I cannot see myself parting...

The Mother of All Ovens

A while back, there was a big discussion on the rodmakers listserv about heat-treating ovens. Most of us are familiar with the type of oven that Wayne Cattanach’s book describes...

Setting & Fitting Ferrules by Hand

When I started building bamboo flyrods, one of the most intimidating tasks was setting and fitting ferrules. All the books I read and all the talking with others said, “you have to have several hundreds of dollars worth of power tools to accomplish this task correctly.” Well already spending...

Make Your Own: Agate Stripping Guides

I finished my first bamboo rod - a Nunley 504a. I remembered seeing an image somewhere on the Internet of a professional rodmaker’s tools for making his own agate stripping guides. Although I could not find this image again, it stuck in my head...

Steelhead on the Fly, Part Two

Last issue, we looked at the preparation, rods and building techniques that can bring success when fishing for lovely, silver-sided steelhead trout. This time, I’d like to focus a little on...

April 2003Issue 11