Waischenfeld Bamboo Rodmakers Gathering's Notes

89 bamboo rodmakers of 9 nations gathered in Waischenfeld, Germany , at the "Hotel zur Post" from 26 to 28 October 2007.

On Saturday and Sunday lectures were given. here a short summary.

• 8'6'' flyfishing rods are very popular. The late '20s and '30s were the Golden Age of bamboo rodmaking in the USA.
• From a very basic, regular taper, (middle, yellow line) we can build variations such as the Dickerson 8014 taper, Garrison 212 taper or the Cattanach Wayne 8062 taper.






• For instance the green line - Garrison 212 taper - we can lower the slope, the tip will be softer. So we try to modify the taper design of a rod in order to change the action of the rod
• The Cattanach Wayne 8062 - red line - is an adapatation of Paul Young's parabolic taper. It can be seen like two different separated tapers which meet. It's very difficult to make but a genius work. The rod with such a taper can can cast short without effort but at the same time can cast fast.
• The weight of the rod is practically determined by the first 15' of the rod, the action of the rod by the rest of the rod.
• The taper of a rod can thus have a very crucial role in a rod, but also the weight of the rod, the length of the line and other "Unkknown variables" can have an effect the performance of a rod. We don't know everything!
• Later Tom gave us a slide show presentation of a popular "Saltwater flyfishing" area in Connecticut: The Whale Real Estate Island.

• Vincent Marinaro was Bill Harms' friend and mentor
• When we start bamboo rodmaking as a hobby we take some known taper design but soon we will try to make our own. In other words, we experiment.






• Normally, a taper's rod stress chart has "jumps" and steps so when you flex a rod there are "weak spots" which maybe we don't feel but which actually occur; a "convex taper" does not, have those jumps and steps instead. The transfer of - casting - energy occur in a "smooth line", softly and without interruptions.
• The convex taper is very ancient: the greek and roman columns were in such a form not only for estethical reasons but also to maximise the strength and minimise the weight of the columns. The same principle was applied in masts of ships and in arrows design. So we we can make the same in rodmaking!
• Vincent Marinaro experimented for decades with trials and errors because he did not know any maths! He finally suggested a principle and gave us guidelines. E.g. maximum swell on tip, 10' back. The convexity must be a uniform curve, every point must be kept above the swell

Michel Mauri, a professional flyfishing guide and instructor, showed us different casting techniques on the nearby stream.

• Philippe Sicher, of The Swiss Rodmaking Club, made 11 bamboo rods with different geometrical section (from quad to "13 sides", how do you name this rod, uh?) in two weeks (!) using the Morgan Handmill.






• The advantages of using the Morgan handmill is that you don't need to spend 500-900$ to change planing form and that you can experiment different rods geometries. As a matter of fact, you can change planing angle by just changing a 10$ blade holder! Each blade can be used to make 2 to 5 rods depending on the hardness of the bamboo - depending if it is flamed and/or tempered or not. The speed of work is just about the same as with a normal plane and planing form. The only disadvantage is represented by high price tag of the Morgan handmill.










• The following day, Philippe Sicher let everybody cast with the 11 rods and judge which one was the best one. A very difficult decision since the rods were all of an excellent quality!

• A very enlightning demostration on how to straighten the blanks and nodes with a vise in a good, sensible way.

  Peter uses a simple metal (copper) ring in the vise to the purpose! The node is pressed against the ring. That's it!

• Casimira firstly showed us how she splits a culm of bamboo. After using hammer and knife to start the split, Casimira just uses a normal nail fixed in a woodden plank towards which she pushes the culm to split the bamboo.Casimira is most probably the only professional bamboorodmaker woman in the world.






• Jeff Wagner explained to us what is at the heart of a USA bamboo rod design and also told us some biographical notes.
• In the USA 50% of a a good bamboo flyfishing rod is made of the final casting qualities and the rest 50% in the finishing of the rod. A good looking good casting rod is more appreciated than an average looking good casting rod. So, esthetical details are of paramount importance in the USA. For instance once a customer requested that Jeff's signature shall be well written! Customers also want very straight rods.
• Jeff also went into details on how he finishes a rod, the mistakes he made and from which he slowly learned the trade
• Historically, two person in the USA formed the US finishing style of bamboo rods and showed the way: Thomas Dorsey and Thomas Maxwell of "Thomas & Thomas". The perfectioning of the finishing process started in the '70s when the bamboo rod making was loosing ground over the new fiber-glass rods. Thomas & Thomas realized that if bamboo rods were made more beautiful the business could still be viable.

• Ever wondered the relationship between the section of a rod and the performance of a rod? In other words, is a quad rod better hollow or full in his section? And what about an exa rod?
• Gabriele Gori, Italian Bamboo Rodmaker Association's co-founder - together with Alberto Poratelli - and IBRA president, himself an engineer by profession showed us that considering a fishing rod just a lever you can apply the same momentum of inertia to different sections and quantify the answer. The higher the sides of a rod, the better a hollow rod section performs!. So keep a quad full and make a - theoretical - circular bamboo rod hollow! An excellent mathematical proof by Gabriele. Thank you!