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Bamboo Rod Blanks

9K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  RustyTank 
#1 ·
I’m trying to restore a family bamboo boat rod... I realize pretty much everyone only uses bamboo anymore for just Fly Rods... but I’m trying to locate a bamboo rod blank in the ball-park of the following specifications....

Any idea where I could track such a piece down?

48-60” long .37” at the base and .2” at the tip

122-152cm long .94cm at the base and .5cm at the tip

Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to provide.

RustyTank
 
#3 ·
Bamboo rod project update: Earlier this fall I posted about the bamboo boat rod my Mom fished for decades. In fact she fished this rod up until last year, only months before she passed away. On one of her last trips bottom fishing with my dad, she put the rod briefly in a rod holder, got distracted and the rig hooked the bottom and snapped the rod in two. One afternoon while in the attic with my Dad, he pointed out the rod, and it was clear it meant a lot to him and he was somewhat distraught about not knowing how to fix the old rod. Well... I went into his attic one afternoon when he was not home, retrieved the old/broken rod and a reel that belonged to my Mom's father who was also a fisherman.
That begins the project, it took months to track down a suitable replacement bamboo blank. There is no one building bamboo boat rods anymore, all the new bamboo is very fine and pricey stuff for very high end fly rods. Also many of those pieces are not sized right to come close to the small / stubby boat rod I was trying to rehabilitate. Finally after two months searching, sending emails and scouring the flea markets, garage sales and the internet, I found Bruce Howell, out near Murphy, Oregon who hooked me up with a fine bamboo blank, darn the thing looked like a piece of furniture. He also spent an hour on the phone with me, talking through how to finish the piece. THANKS Bruce... your contribution got this project off the ground!
Then it was on to replacing the seized and corroded reel seat. I found a duplicate old-stock Lakeland 3160 chrome/brass reel seat and ferrule at rodnreeldepot.com and Rod Trine hooked me up! What a nice piece of antique style fishing hardware.
Royal Silver Manufacturing Company www.rschrome.com of Norfolk, VA did a fine job of chrome plating the winding check for me, and Mud Hole rod building & tackle www.mudhole.com for the tip-top and vintage style mushroom butt cap.
I re-finished the wood but and grip with four coats of Pettit/Z-Spar Captains Varnish thinned with Naphtha... using Bruce's recipe.... it looks GREAT... and then finally The RodFather www.rodfather.co & www.facebook.com/rodfatherva of Hampton, VA for the rod guides and thread, and especially Dwight who did the most amazing job winding the guides and tip-top with a great old-school/classic dark green and yellow thread!
The reel that belonged to her dad, was an old Penn Silver Beach #99 that was in rough shape, needed new drag washers, and was missing its eccentric spring. I found the spring on EBay, and new carbon drag washers from Dawn at smoothdrag.com. It needed a LOT of cleaning and TLC but is now a nice vintage reel, working great all spooled up with new yellow 15lb Mono.
Thanks to all the above for help and the advice on the alantani.com, tidalfish.com and 100ffc.com forums to get me through the project!!!!!
Before and after pics below: Writing implement Tool Office supplies Metal Pen
Writing implement Tool Office supplies Metal Pen
 

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#4 ·
What a neat old classic...kudos to you on the completion of your project. Looks Sweet. My brother is into the restoration of classic, ultra-lite, bamboo fly rods....Hardy Bros, Thomas and Thomas, etc. I know that it takes a master craftsman countless hours to restore one of these fine pieces...

Happy Holidays to you & yours.
 
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