201001 - Issue 38 Description

January 2010
Issue 38

Power Fibers is published in Adobe Acrobat format. To view the magazine, you must download the Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can get it here.

To get this issue, order the 2010 Issue CD on the “Backissue CDs” page.

The January, 2010 issue of Power Fibers contains:

Cane Gadgets

I want to begin with a disclaimer; I’ve been making cane rods for only about a year and a half now, and with fewer than twenty rods under my belt, I would be the first to admit that I have a whole lot to learn. I haven’t had the advantage of learning directly from an experienced rod maker, which would have made the journey a whole lot easier...

Drawing Nickel Silver for Ferrules

Bamboo rodmaking is a series of journeys and discoveries. At times you figure the journey is over and it begins again. My journey with making nickel silver Ferrules has been one of these journeys.

When you first learn bamboo rodmaking you are focused on just being able to create the bamboo rod, and you take the other rod components as an afterthought...

Rodmaking 101, Part I

In this series of articles, I will try to make things as simple as I can. It may help some newcomers who may be intimidated about getting started. If flaming the culm, do it before or after you split in half. I do not flame, I like the honey color I get by heat treating...

Gorilla Glue as a Rod Finish

For my rod finish, I use Gorilla Glue, a brown colored polyurethane (PU) glue. Gorilla Glue is a trademark name in the US (at least) for glue originally made in Denmark and now, apparently, produced in the US. When used as a glue, it foams before hardening, but when rubbing a thin film on a surface, there’s no such effect. The product is catalyzed by moisture, but a thin, rubbed-on film needs no moisture beyond ambient humidity at room temperature. The resultant rod finish, which is both hard and tough, can be considered a catalyzed polyurethane finish. Other, similar, polyurethane glues are available...

Simple Ferrule Slitter

The basis for this device is a Dremel tool and a 5C collet system.

The Dremel holds a jeweler’s saw and the 5C collet holds the ferrule. The collet is mounted in a “Hex Block Chuck.” The chuck....

Making the Thin Wall Bamboo Ferrule

This ferrule system is based on work done by Alberto Poratelli and presented in 2007. Alberto reduced the usual bamboo-ferrule wall thicknesses substantially and made their thickness dependent on ferrule size. He used a straight ferrule that mimicked the friction connection of metal ferrules. I liked the other aspects of his ferrules, but felt that a self-locking taper would be a more secure way to connect the ferrule. I began with a taper fit of .024 inches per foot for both the spigot and socket parts of the ferrule. That taper is very close to a normal taper...

Joe’s Rod Shop Tutorials - Reel Seats

It is time for a quick down and dirty tutorial on reel seat fillers, this is by no means the only way to do this but it does work. I wanted to do this on my new mini lathe as I realize some of you don't have a larger lathe. So here we go. I hope this helps.

What I am going to do is start with a square blank. The one I used was 3 1/2" long by 3/4" square. This is a minimum size of a blank...

Reel Seats - Another Approach

One of several things that keeps me tuned in are Joe Arguello's contributions, and his reel seat tutorial was no exception - excellent in both photos and text. Keep 'em coming Joe!!

I use a little different path to turning out my own fillers - not better, just different, and it uses two dedicated tools.

The first is a self-centering vise, sold by Penn State Industries, which clamps...

January 2010Issue 38