jus' an update and stuff that makes me laugh

OK...yesterday I expected a brother to show up and bid me farewell...he didn't. Also, the insurance adjuster/estimator guy came out to finally assess the damage. It was also the first time my landlord dared show her face. I was pissed. She obviously really doesn't care about the quality of life of me and fellow tenants. You folks in the customer service industry please take note. A problem customer doesn't just 'go away.' They get angrier if you ignore them and a small problem turns into larger problems.

So anyway...I had an uncomfortable meeting with my landlord. I won't go into it here but the matter was settled. I'm out, the building is, this morning, getting a patch job and my dog Bonnie (what I was really writing about) is quite disappointed in me. Not in the upcoming move, not in my 'handling' of my landlord, but in my choice of dog food.
Now my dog lets me know what's what. Even though I try and get her good food, she has her preferences. I always try and be tuned to her preference but sometimes you just screw up you know?

Now Bonnie doesn't know or trust a lot of folks. It's not really a bad on her part, it's just that it's hard for a Border Collie to grow up in these cramped conditions and circumstances. Border Collies don't make good pets for the most part. Their work ethic is very strong and will turn ANY game into a job. I like these dogs because they work all day every day for the most part, as do I (kinda.) I can relate quite well to them. That's why she's my third BC.

Bonnie's not a 'chow hound.' She doesn't stick her head in a bowl and not stop eating until it's gone. She nibbles through the day. I like that about her. 3 handfuls of  'Kibble & Snouts' will last her all day. It's really quite wonderful.

So anyway...sheesh...(I digress) one of my two neighbors (who I'll call Dianna) always gives Bonnie treats when she sees her. Sometimes these treats are canine gastronomical delights. Sometimes they (apparently) are not. When Bonnie gets something she thinks is yummy, she will sit, lay down without the slightest coaching. She learned to sit and lay her first day in the shop. She will do either at the slightest provocation IF she knows there is some food (something tasty preferrably) in your hand . You would think her quite well trained....but I assure you...

When Dianna gives her a treat she likes, she will do anything you ask. IF you tried the same thing with a crusty, dry, milk bone dog biscuit (you know what I mean) YOU'LL be the one begging her to take it. She hates them. She hates ANYTHING that looks or smells like them.
She will eventually take it gingerly from your hand but she won't eat it. She will simply take it and bury it...immediately...right now...and come back for something better. Right now, there is half a bisquit she buried under a railroad tie out front over six months ago. She can't walk past it with pulling me over and re-burying it. Cracks me up.

SO...I bought her some food. The place I always bought her food went out of biddness and I had to try and find the equivalent diatarally (SP?). I got a brand named "Diamond" which is supposedly a quality dog food.
She hates it...

Have you ever watched a dog bury a 40 lb bag of food?
See below...

 Going...

 Going...

 Gone...

Done. Don't feed me anymore of this crap...

Arizona rodmaker Mike Johnson, recently made a comment on his blog. I asked him if he was going to be able to stop by one last time befor I left this hell hole.
His reply was "Congress is a dangerous place to visit."
While I believe he may have been referring to one of the many dangers of visiting me, I don't think he had this in mind...

Downtown Congress, AZ destroyed by fierce winds..

Looks like the perfect time to be gettin' out of AZ...

New Digs

Hi folks...
Yep new digs.
I am moving as was obvious a month ago.
Contact info will change a little.
The email addy will stay the same;
Troutgetter@aol.com
Physical mailing address will be;
M. Shay
96633 Pinon Village Rd
Inyokern, CA 93527

The actual location is a little place named Kennedy Meadows in CA in the southern Sierra.
For me it will be 1/4 mile from heaven...The south fork of the Kern. A half hour to the Kern Plateau and little Golden's, Two hours by jeep trail to Monache Meadows. This was pretty much always my home water. I am only in AZ because I was spawning and when the river dropped I was stranded on a gravel bar.

If you ever want to check weather conditions before making the trek to fish (or see me) you can go here and see what's what.

(No, I won't be in Inyokern. Inyokern is little better or worse than where I now reside. The US Guberment has decided that mail can and will be delivered to Kennedy Meadows by the Inyokern PO. Funny they can't even do that in Congress AZ but I ain't complaining.)

Now as slow as the damn donkey that delivered mail to Congress was, I suspect that the same poor beast will also deliver mail to this address. I ain't complaining. Not at all!
Once I'm in there, I will apparently have a phone and so I will also have Internet even if it's somewhat sporadic. So my email addy will not change.
I will also have a phone number.
It will be;
559-850-7429 (SHAY) heh heh...

Anyway...the new place is going to be a 'bit' on the rustic end of the spectrum. No water, no electricity except what Mr. Honda provides and rodmaking is going to change for me.

When I first started making rods, I taught myself to make a rod two ways. With electricity and without.
I am going to be doing a LOT of things without firing up a generator. Your rod will be more 'handmade' than ever.
While I will have eliminated a lot of recurring monthly charges (rent, electric bill) I will still be a slave to intangibles (water begging, fuel for generator, denatured alcohol, sandpaper, etc) and the extra time needed to complete a task that would have taken moments or minutes with plug in power. Supplies that were just around the corner (so to speak) here in AZ will involve a day trek down the mountain and back. That's going to be pricey in this part of CA.
So I don't expect the actually cost of making a rod for you to be any less, but it could actually take longer. I'll find out for sure once I can actually get all my tools up there and set up. For now, I'll more than gladly honor any order at the price of $1395.00 if you're willing to have a bit of patience. The price may go up or down later but if you order it at that price, I will deliver it.

Anyway...the new shop right now is nothing more than a shack my dad built 40 years ago. This is not the same shack I'm going to try and live in. It's going to need a decent sized addition to make it work, not to mention windows. I'll need to find a new home for all the clutter and stuff in there right now...assuming my neighbors haven't stolen everything and cleaned it out for me.
This won't be the first task once I'm outa AZ. The first will be getting yet ONE MORE roof on the cabin. This will be the fifth roof in 20 something years. I'm sure this one won't last any longer. The last roof I put on blew off in a year or two and I haven't put one on in well over ten years. I expect to pretty much find the place a train wreck with the governor sending in another train in a matter of moments.

Anyways...the object of this page is to let you know I'm NOT out of business. I'm just rearranging things and it will take a while to get it sorted out. If all goes as planned, I will have my tools out of storage in the spring, shop set up and making rods by summer.

Luv,
Mike

Well it had to happen...

...sooner or later...

I've been keepin' the wolves from the door for years...

Yesterday it came to an end.

Now I've meant to post a lot of stuff this last month. I've taken tons of pictures, done a lot of work and it all came to naught yesterday.
I got my five day notice. I'm moving out.
This isn't going to be easy on many levels.
I owe people work, not just a little bit either.

So here's the plan...

I'm moving to "my Alamo." My last stand. The place I always held in reserve for when things got more than unmanageable.
The Alamo is located in Kennedy Meadows.
There is no phone, no electricity, no running water. It's my shack located pretty deep in the southern Sierra on the Kern Plateau. Yep...golden trout water. and plenty of it.

Now this is just about the absolute worst time of year to move deep into the sierra. I mean really...middle of sierra winter and talking about moving things such as a 500 pound lathe, ya know, to a shed you can't get close to with a truck and trailer.

So the plan is simply to store the shop here in AZ, move it in the spring (if I survive) and try and stay warm and alive until then. It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be fun, but I'll finally be out of AZ and I'll finally be back in trees, water, and fish.

There is going to be a holy shitload of work to do and just getting there seems insurmountable at the moment, but it will happen.

So I temporarily bid you adieu (SP? LOL)...I probably won't be able to post a damn thing until I can afford and arrange phone service (not an easy feat in this place) but pictures will be forthcoming at some time in the future.

Until then I wish all of you a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/whatever, and love and peace through the new year.
I'll update when I can and possible.

To my faithful customers...
Thank you...each and everyone of you.
To my new friends and brothers in AZ...an open invitation and a wish for peace, happiness and prosperity...
To the brothers I've been lucky to help here in AZ...I am always at your beckoned call.

Love to you all until I can do what I's gots to do!

Mike

movin' along

Well, the blank has been glued, the glue heat set and as of this morning, the last tip has been sanded.
The blank is now ready to be cut to final length and ferrules glued on.

The sanding involves for me, 60gr, 100gr, 220gr, 320gr, 500 grit. I used to continue to 1200 -1500gr, but I found it pretty useless, non-noticeable with no real benefit. Just burning up time and expensive sandpaper.

Here's an idea of the amount of sandpaper needed to get to 500gr...

And the somewhat finished product...

Now before I can consider this actually finished, the ferrules will need to be mounted and glued and a grip is to be installed on this particular blank.
So more when I get to that...

As an "edit thing" to the previous post, I had to make two new strips for this blank. One of the things I had neglected to take a picture of was the roughed out strip. By roughed out, I mean the strip is run through the rougher to achieve an equilateral 60 degree triangle.

Now as you can see, not all apexes are sharp. I don't care about this at this point. What I care about is that the angles cut are 60 degrees. The planing forms and a bit of skill will create the final taper.
Right now this strip will nest quite nicely in the forms.

So more later as the ferrule stations are cut, rod sections cut to final length, ferrules glued, and the cork rings glued on and then turned into a grip my bud wants...

Time Flies...

Well...hell...it's been almost a month since I last posted anything.
My bad I suppose but I've been busy. In fact I wouldn't even be posting anything right now but I have a blank heat curing in the oven and I'm just sitting here on my thumbs, so what the hell?
Much of bamboo rodmaking is hurry up and wait.

I think when I last wrote that I had three blanks in progress.
Still true.
However, one of the blanks had to be scrapped during final planing when undetected uglies reared their ugly heads. The second replacement blank was dangerously close.
I tried posting some of this stuff yesterday but I had a couple few pics I wanted to show but they were taking forever to load so I'll try it again...

The last pics were of a split out blank for a brother in Canada. That blank was scrapped and another started. Same procedure but different bamboo ya know?

I didn't take any pictures of actually planing but who cares and besides I simply forgot.

But...here is a picture of one of the drudgery's of making bamboo rods. Heating and pressing nodes. This can be very beer intensive as it's practically mindless work.
Heat the node to plastic, press the node to straighten.
I use a heat gun with a fishtail attachment.

The split strip is held a couple of inches over the top of the gun and is constantly moved to heat the area evenly.
Now most things rodmaking seems as though there is no right or wrong way to do any particular task. I know guys who heat a node so hot that it's charred. Their rods are fine as far as I can tell. But imho, the less heat the better. As much as IS needed for sure but I don't think you need to char a piece of bamboo to bend it to your will. Extra heat has been shown to make bamboo and nodes in particular, brittle. Not good.
Enough heat to plasticize the lignum is surprising little. Oh it will feel hot to the touch for sure but not charred. You go beyond the plasticizing and continue onto a hard, brittle, inflexible node. A node treated like that is as likely to crack as a node that hasn't been heated at all. BTW...if you hear your node crack while pressing it...scrap the strip. It's wrecked.
Now on the subject to pressing nodes and heat...The less heat the better as long as the bamboo has softened enough to move and be pliable. NO MORE.
Now I generally flame my bamboo and that is the heat tempering that I give it unless of course someone wants a blond rod.
Now if you use a bench vice to straighten your nodes, you normally heat each node twice.
Once to press the hump of the node and again to straighten a kink at the node.

To get around this twice heating business, a friend of mine, Robert Kope, came up with a quite useful tool.
It's one that is now indispensable in the shop.
Picture if you will, one of the old aluminum can mashers you used to be able to buy and mount to a post or wall. You set the can in, pulled a lever and presto perfect squashed can. This works on the same principal.
Robert's node masher is a lever/cam press that squeezes all four side of a node at one time.

This levered cam is powered by pulling a lever that pushes against 6 valve springs. The valve springs then push an arm against the strip. Now as I understand it, there are 3 springs from a Chevy 350 and 3 from a Ford 360. The springs nest inside each other so each set of springs (3 sets) provides some damn heavy duty but even pressure to a poor little heated node. The node wouldn't have a chance you'd think but bamboo is some tough stuff. The really nice thing here is the time savings. Heat a node once, press from all four sides at once. Cuts the time of drudgery in half. The tool is pricey but I think it's worth it. Hell the savings in beer alone will save you at least a 12 pack per rod. I like that and it will obviously pay for itself in a short period of time.

So after the strips nodes have been pressed and straightened, the strip is ready to be roughed into a "roughly" 60 degree triangle with absolutely no taper to the strip. just correct angles.

Then the enamel is scraped of, any imperfections in the nodes are dealt with and then the strip is ready to plane. Again I'm sorry, no pics of that. I got a little too focused. You're bound to see that somewhere here later on I'm sure.

After final planing and you arrive at your desired taper, you're ready to glue them all together.

Here the strips have been aligned, taped together and the butt section has been butterflied, apexes removed and ready for glue.

Now I always have the same problem here. I won't stop gluing once I start. That means no pictures of how to apply the glue and bind them. There is no reason to get glue all over my camera and I'm not changing gloves every five minutes to take another stupid picture.
So, no pictures of running them through the binder, tying loops etc.
Here is the butt hung in the cabinet

and all three sections hung to air dry over night...

This morning, the sections were rebound and are now being heat cured. This increases the heat deflection of the glue to about 285 degrees. These babies will stand up to being on you dashboard in a Sonoran summer without delaming.

The sections are heat treated and cured at 235 degrees for 3 hours.

20 minutes to go on the heat treat and I'm done with that and will be ready to sand the glues off, seal and cut to length.

Sorry for such a long damn post but hell it's been a month ya know?

So...OK!

Moving on with stuff. No one complains if I don't post everyday so why bother? I mean the only two persons reading this crap are in Russia and Serbia looking for stuff to lift and download, stealing stuff if you will... so here's a bit of fodder for those two guys. Knock yer self out.

I think the last post where I actually put a pic up of any sort of progress were three bamboo culms cut and on the bench.

Since then, the culms have had the nodes sanded, been flamed (heat tempered) and split in halves. The damns knocked out and the splits re-taped into a single piece again.

Once this is done, then the halves are ready to be split. The halves are split into sixths, the sixths split into halves and those halves are split into halves. Giving you 24 strips of more or less equal widths.

Once you have 24 strips, you need to pick out the best 18 strips. 6 for the butt and 12 (6 for each tip section) for the tips. Sort them and get them aligned.

Once you get your eighteen strips, one of the tricky parts rears it's head...knowing where your ferrules and tip top will fall on the rod.

The general rule of thumb is no node closer than two inches to a ferrule or tip top. That means you need to know how much longer you need to cut your strips, how much of that length will ultimately be cut off and removed and that your ferrules and tip tops will be in the proper portion of the rod section.

Now this particular rod is is going to be a 7'6" 4wt. The finished length of each rod section is approximately 45" long. Since that length depends on the length of the male and female ferrules and length of the tip top, to make each section 45" long now means something is going to be long or short when the time comes to mount the tip top and ferrule, so...the thing to do here is make the sections longer. In my case 5" longer as the adjusting stations on my planing forms are 5" on center. This actually makes life MUCH easier.

SO...I slide around the groups of 3 strips. The first thing is to get the nodes even spaced out.

There are quite a few different methods and reasons to space out one's nodes in a particular way. I'm not going into why you should or shouldn't space your nodes in any way in particular. I'm just going to leave you with I space mine 2x2x2. I have my reasons and if you want to know, ask.

After I get the nodes spaced, it's time to decide where to make your cuts for section length. Again this depends on where your tip top and ferrules are ultimately going to end up on the glued up rod sections.

I decide on this piece of bamboo, it's going to be here...

Now on this end (butt end) the actual end of the rod section is going to be about 5" to the left of my red cut off mark...5" from the mark will put my final cut-off between the first and second sets of nodes on the left. At least two inches from any male ferrules and on the tip side it works out the same. No node closer than two inches from the tip top.

Many times it's not anywheres near as easy as this rod and you have to do some finagling...but this one is just fine!

More or less later...

Mike

for your consideration...

I have been intrigued for some time with the process of "Japaning" ferrules and reel seat hardware.

This was an accepted pratice for many old dead guys. It's not as easy as it looks and yet is.

This was sent to me, yet again, by Royce Stearns in Oregon. He's more than getting the hang of it and I hope to learn some good things from him.

Now these two pictures really don't do justice to just how nice this piece of metal looks, but it's damn pretty. It's something I would like to offer at some point and there is still some lot of work to be done but I like it.
If one wants to "truly" blacken a piece of nickel-silver...Japaning is absolutely the only true black I have seen.
Even the original Payne Formula, as almost perfect as it is, will leave you an oxidized, blue/black (black pearl) beautiful finish, but it's not truly black.

so, today...

Today I get on 3 new rods.

From left to right...an 8' 6" 3pc 7wt Payne Canadian Canoe...one of the smoothest casting rods, in a 7wt 3pc configuration, I have ever had the pleasure to cast, next is yet one more Payne 100 and I hope the last of the years 100's. I think this will be the 5th or 6th "100" I have made this year, and lastly on the right, an F.E. Thomas 7 footer for a three wt. Simply one of the finest 7 footers for a three weight you could ever hope to fish. Sweet and smooth as chocolate is the only way I can think of to describe this rod ans she will go to a girl in Michigan.

The very butt ends...these will be unceremoniusly chopped off as time goes on. Yes the CC has a bit of bend in it but it won't be there when I'm done...I hope...
That CC is almost 4" across the butt end. It is a piece of bamboo I was saving exactly for a rod like this. Deep power fibers, extremely hefty, simply perfect for a he-man's rod as the Canoe is.
The 100 is also a butt section, quite straight and solid for a 4 wt. The last one is straight as an arrow, more than adequate power fibers for a three weight and should make one sweet as chocolate rod.

Other new stuff

Along the lines of "new for me stuff" is a spool of thread Royce also sent along with the bluing solution.

Now I love classic colors.
By that I mean wrap colors. Thread that was used on grandpa's rod ya know?
Those threads and colors probably passed the bend in the river about the time your grand dad did to.

There were some great colors used that at the time that were as common as dirt. Now almost impossible to find. When you can find a spool, it's pricey as all hell, likely the wrong size and what you have is likely to be all you'll ever have.

So to back up a little bit...I am (was) a Pearsall's fan. I've used it for fifteen years. Gossamer is my favorite size. I lately have been using Naples. Slightly larger thread, not enough to notice really unless you're the guy wrapping the rod. My tipping is still Gossamer though.

A few years ago, Pearsall's has been having their thread made in an oriental country. Since that has happened I have (personally) noticed that many things, I came to take for granted, have gone down the tubes.
For starters...thread quality, colors and knots.
For quality...I could have never asked for better than what Pearsall's offered. Never a fuzzy, rarely a knot, and dye lots always consistant. By dye lots being consistant I mean...I always bought a BOX of thread. Never a spool or two. Dye lots, by the box, assured an even color from one spool to another.
The thread Pearsall's sell's today doesn't even assure any guarantee that the color will be consistant on the same damn spool!
Oh yes...scarlet will still be scarlet or whatever you are wrapping...but the wraps 'could' turn out blotchy looking. You'll likely think you did something wrong with your tension, varnish, oil on your hands, etc.
But the fact is...(sorry Pearsall) the dye is uneven. It's simply not the same color or consistancy. It vary's, foot by foot, on the spool. Now this isn't something that's even going to make a knats ass difference while you're on the stream ya know? But if you're paying top dollar, that's what you should get.

Knots...well...what comes out of a silk worms gut is only so long. It certainly isn't forty five yards long. The silk has to be "knotted." I don't know if there is a machine that can do this properly. There could well be, BUT...while I was used to getting a "knot" that was detectable once maybe every spool, I know get three or four every spool. The time to make things right are not being spent anymore. That's the opinion of me only. I'm not trying to slander Pearsall. Now I don't know about you...but I'm not wrapping a 2/0 guide (which is damn tiny in the first place) and have a freaking knot show up on the foot or back side that will leave a lump forever when varnished. Period.

Now for an important point...price...
A freaking teeny 45 yard spool of Pearsall's is 3 bucks for 45 yards. I mean really?

So...I've been looking around.
I think I might have found a great replacement for at least the main color wraps.
A company named Kimono is making some damn NICE silk. Great colors, old colors, great consistancy of size, color, knots etc, 220 yard spools.

Here is an orginal Belding spool of Pongee 5010 and a QUITE similar color of Kimono  365;

Smaller size, almost perfect match not even as much as a pantone shade off. Much closer than Pearsall's "amber." I like it.

Last month (which was a post or two back) I showed a dismal failure at bluing. This was my go to, hard earned, very pricey shit that was supposed to last me the rest of what's left of my life.
It just looked like hell.

Now I also have a bottle of Jeff Fultz' stuff which I have never tried.
But a brother in Oregon, Royce Stearns, an accomplished fly tier and rod maker, sent me a bottle of LeClair's Payne solution.
Well...it wasn't. It's the solution he uses and sells to blacken piano wire that one would use to make home made snake guides. It's what he offers if you bought his "Snake Maker"
I thought I would try it anyway...

The first try was dismal.
I tried it on a plug of nickel-silver.
The first try was just hopeless. I mean, the metal only darkened where the solution was applied quite heavily and only where it beaded up on the metal.

So...I sipped me beer and went through the stages of total rejection to "maybe if I did this."
So realizing that the NS I was trying to oxidize was raw, unpolished, prolly oil coated, metal, I decided to try and polish it out a bit, clean thoroughly, allow the solvent to totally evaporate and try it again...
This happened!

Now there's a lot more prep to make that color happen, and it isn't even really supposed to happen with this metal but I got it to work.
The jury's still out if I will actually use this on a customer's rod, but it's promising.

I'm a papa!

Newly hatched, minutes old, corn snake

Somehow the shop is also now a managery of sorts.

Besides Bonnie the dog and Callie the cat, there are a fair amount of snakes and lizards living here now along with the rats and crickets needed to feed them.

In fact, there is very little elbow room and working has become much harder stepping around all the cages but they're here, they're alive and I'd like to keep it that way.

So...been baby sitting a clutch of these eggs for two months now. It hasn't been easy.

They need a temperature range of between 76 and 86 degrees. Considering the summer is finally ending and inside shop temps have been in the mid 90's and 100+ outside for the last six months or so, steps to keep the eggs cool enough has been a 24 hour a day job involving ice packs and continuous monitoring of the eggs temps with ideal being 82- 83 degrees.
Diligence paid off today as the first baby crawled out of his shell and into the new world.

Welcome...



Anniversary

October...normally when nature tells the natural world to start scaling back.
Winter and hard, cold times are coming.

And yet, October celebrates my third year in this rathole.
3 gotam years!

Little has changed and yet so much.

I won't go into the why's and wherefores of how I came to be here, but I'm here.
I won't go into why I decided to once again take a leap and rent shop space, pay through the nose on the morning of the worst economical disaster to hit the US since the great depression.
The simple fact is I'm here and I'm keepin' on.

When I started here in this hole...I had been making bamboo for 11 or 12 years I think. In those 11 years or so I had made somewhere around 150 fly rods and repaired or refurbished god knows how many.

My apparent all time high was a couple of years before I moved to AZ in about 2004.
For two years in a row I made 24 rods a year, two per month.
I came close to stopping. I don't make rods on a mill. I make them by hand. I have machines sure...but they really don't speed up production very much. They simply reduce wear and tear on a man who has come to understand his mortality.

Anyway...happy anniversary to me!

Cheers!

Big Doin's

Yep...once a year the shithole (er...the community) pulls together for two days and celebrates "Old Congress Days."

There's usually a crappy swap meet/craft show held across from the fire station, the community center hosts a "Taco Salad" meal for 4 bucks and the highlight for me is the parade! Now I will say this...supposedly they had an honest to god chili cookoff. But at three bucks for a cup and spoon to taste a half dozen chili recipies...well...I'll walk home and eat a couple of hot dogs and put the extra money in the bank.

Yep, where was I? Oh yeah...an honest to goodness parade! The State shuts down the highway long enough for the parade to march from the Post Office all the way to the fire station. Takes about 5 minutes (barring delays in front of the judges "booth.")

Here, both of the town's Boy Scouts and their sister proudly lead the parade. The banner announces that the Grand Marshal of the parade is right behind them.
Yes, it was quite a turn out.

He's riding in a Genuine Yavapai County Street Sweeper

(I shit you not.)

As you can see, Bonnie is quite impressed.

The County Sheriff shows off his new paddy wagon

There were horses

And wagons

And floats!

Complete with a child the girls there taught to 'sit' on command

Yep...it was a real dog & pony (and goat) show

The parade ended with the pride and joy of Congress...

Our new fire truck!

Our parade just gets bigger and more extravagant every year.

Along with the parade and swamp meat, today a gymkhana was held I think and tonight a dance inside the fire station guaranteed to last into the wee hours of the night...9:00PM I think.

Can't wait 'til next year.

Little things

Well, after yesterday's tragedy, having the wind taken out of one's sail's takes a toll. I get depressed and have a hard time moving on. I have to actually have a stupid conversation to buck meself up and move on. A "pep talk" if that makes any sense to you. I have these with my self quite often. I mutter, swear, ask, complain, plead, and apparently there still is no god.
Yes I have little gods on the bench to help the process, but often they do NOT earn their keep. Still, there they are.

So yesterday, after a dismal failure at bluing, I pondered (again) the idea of making my own solution for oxidizing.

Now I've tried a bunch of oxidizers. I mean really.
I have never found, and expect to NEVER find anything that works as well as the product Dave LeClair made and sold. In fact, I love it so much that I drove a total of 4,000 miles to buy three ounces of this magic juice. 2000 miles round trip to northern California for one ounce and 2000 miles round trip to Denver for two ounces. Both trips quite enjoyable. It probably cost me $2000.00 after fuel (when it was five bucks a gallon driving an F-150 with the big motor,) motel bills, food, etc.

Anyway...I'm currently on a quest to find out just what the hell this juice is and how I can make it for myself.
The stuff last nights dreams were made of...and rats. I had rat dreams too. Don't ask.

So this mornings stuff was pretty much at a stand still. I have a blank that needs to go to a brother in Hawaii. The blank (a Dickerson 8013) is finished, bag made, and I needed to make the tube up for it.
Done. Now to obsess over the secret formula...enough obsessing for now and I get back to work.


Day before yesterday I think, I made up the bag and tube for the brother in NY.

I'm really finicky I guess about the fit of a rod, bag, tube. I never thought I was until someone pointed out that I seemed to go to a lot of trouble to make things fit properly. This was brought home by another rodmaking brother, Harry Boyd. Apparently Harry is as finicky as I am.
A few years back I actually had the pleasure of finally shaking Harry's hand in Colorado at the Colorado Rodmaker's Reunion. We swapped rods for a test cast. When he unscrewed the cap off of mine the first thing he said was "WOW, someone actually knows how to make a bag and tube!" Hell the rod was still, obviously, in the tube and bag and, unfortunately, I don't recall if he actually liked the rod itself, but he damn well liked the fit! Was that a run-on sentence or what? I'm still trying to pare my words, sorry.

Anyway...today...the topic is proper fit. I'll leave proper finish up to your discretion. To each their own.

But a proper fit of rod section to bag, imho, is a bag that "just" covers the rod sections. You don't want the bag too long. If it is other problems will rear their ugly head when you make the tube.
As for length of rod sections...the current train of thought is that all sections MUST be equal length.
Well I guess that shows attention to detail and if they aren't the same length, the maker was sloughin' and going through the motions.
But "what if" your maker had something else in mind? What if your maker wanted a stout butt section to protect a delicate set of mirrored tips? Would he maybe make the butt section just a smidge longer than the tips? Say 1/16" or so? So the butt would protect the tips? Maybe.
I do. Sure the rod still assembles at the prescribed length. An 8 footer is going to be an 8 footer not an 8' 1/2" rod.
But figuring this number out ahead of time takes a bit of thought and measuring and measuring again.
Then it's time to make the bag.
Most all tube maker's stick a little piece of neoprene on the caps, butt and tip. But, it's a skimpy cushion at best. Not much there really.
SO...I like my bags to slightly cover, be longer, than the finished rod sections. Since I make the butts of my rods to be slightly longer than the tips, I like the bags to be slightly longer than the longest piece in the bag. Just a smidge longer.
When the bag is in the tube, I like the bag to slightly fold over the top of the rod or, at the least, be even with it. I prefer the bag be just a bit longer than the sections so that when the bag is in the tube, the bag folds ever so slightly over the sections when the tube cap is screwed on. Friction does the rest of the job. The bag helps keep the sections from sliding much up and down in the tube and there is no slop between bag and tube.

In other words...I "think" it should look like this when assembled;

Mundane crap? Yep!

But I think you should know that your rodmaker is thinking of mundane crap regarding the rod he makes for you. You are after all paying through the nose for it.

Sorry my posts seem to always be so wordy...there's just stuff to write about and why one does what they do ya know?

There always seems to be a reason for everything.

I'll eventually run out of stuff to write about but for now, this place is new for me, I'm having a bit of fun, and if you don't wish to read it...well, screw me.

Mike

WTF?

Yes...once again I more than mutter to myself, WTF?
This morning it was more than muttering. In fact, Bonnie hid under the bed. I was swearing and stomping.
Why?
This...

how freaking bad is that!



 I mean...I've blued tons of stuff. Ferrules, seat hardware, strippers entire reel seats, but this was simply a new one on me! Not only was the metal dull and mottled but there is a place on the ring that is obviously copper. WTF?
It looked like this(below) when I got it...bright and shiney and looking like it's supposed to look and ends up looking like the above. I was flabbergasted.

So...today...I was ready to do a victory dance and finish a rod. Instead...I write a letter to a brother, with pictures and explaination and ask forgiveness and understanding...

My guy assures me he has NO idea why that happened. Either do I unless he bought something that wasn't what he though he bought. He assures me that a new set is on it's way to me, and I'll be sending a set back to him as well.

Yes rodmaking is quite glamorous.

Put me to bed...now... 3:30AM seemed to come very early this morning.

Mike

Udder stuff...

First...since I can't seem to get google to allow me to reply to comments...indulge me for a few replies right here. Yes, I've tried rebooting. Ain't working. Get error messages. I hate error messages.
So below are a few replies to Mijo who has bothered to even read this divvel, let alone reply. But hey...he's the only one that knows this is here.

Mijo bruddah...you knows I loves ya...but...
#1) As for golf...I tried it when I was 10 or 12. My dad liked the game. I went out and hit more than a few buckets of balls. My dad sagely advised me to "stick to baseball." I know he was looking to me to be able to share a Sunday doing something he enjoyed. I'm quite sure I disappointed him yet one more time.
Since I can't hit a ball worth shit, I actually admire that you can. I have long since lost any interest in the "sport."
#2) Thanks for pointing out that the rod is lacking a reel seat, I hadn't noticed. I'll correct that as soon as a set of hardware shows up. I've ordered it 3 times, and I am optimistic that it will finally show up in the near future. I'd order from somewhere else but the insert has been cut and finished and I need a particular set of hardware to finish this rod.
#3) You don't like my bags? Tough shit. At least my bags actually fit the rod sections. And though you were once a teacher...that is not piping. Piping is round. That is Bias Tape. Makes an easy job of a hanging loop as well.
#4) Yes, there is shrink-wrap on that grip. I felt it prudent to protect 25 bucks worth of Portuguese cork from the filth and ravages of Central AZ. That rod was sitting on the bench for too long and I needed to keep it in "as new" condition. I hope you understand?

So...where was I?
Oh yeah, udder stuff...

Well...there's Bonniethedog...

She loves games. She's a red, smooth-coat Border Collie. Unusual looking for a collie but I chose her because I love the breed (she's my third Border Collie), has wheels turning inside her head and can think things through (wish I could), and comes from a wonderful working bloodline of collies. She has a strong work ethic (much stronger than mine, and I have always somewhat prided myself on my own work ethic), and she is relatively easy to care for in the rathole. Having fur that is short, allows her to be a bit more comfortable living in central AZ, rarely needs a good brushing but she does enjoy it, always ready to play (work for her as I sadly don't own any sheep), and has a somewhat meager appetite. I love this dog...she doesn't eat me out of house and home, loves Frisbee and is damn good at it, not terribly interested in balls, but loves you to throw the rope. She will do flips, twists and knows I love it when she does. She does get her snadwhiches, ice cream, cookies and the like.
And before anyone rags on me for owning a Border Collie living as I do, giving her a half a ham sandwhich or a bite of ice cream, she is not an unhappy dog, is healthy, stays occupied, amuses herself without being destructive, and is a wonderful, smart, intelligent companion, though overly protective of me and this stupid rodshop. But she is after all a sheepdog, and, given the opportunity, a damn good one I'd wager.

Lastly for what this is worth...
I want to thank a brother/customer for giving me this godess. I was sent a picture and description of her when she was 6 weeks old and living in Missouri with her momma on a breeder's farm. I was asked if I would like to have her and all I could muster as a thank you was "Hell yes!"
She cost the brother a hell of a lot of money. More than I could afford.
3 weeks later when she was old enough to part from momma and fly on an airplane, I drove into hell (Phoenix) and picked her up at the airport from American Airlines.
She just celebrated her second birthday last month (August 9) with cake and ice cream. She let me have some too.

Now onto stuff...
Yes I live in my shop. It's quite glamorous I assure you.
Some of you might think that everyday I am hunched over the bench, diligently, laboriously planing out strips one at a time. Well, I do. Sometimes in the summer, it ain't easy, more than a chore, and amounts to drudgery.
In fact a lot of what I do I consider drudgery. But it needs doing or it don't get done. I know because I've checked.
A few things aren't drudgery. I actually enjoy planing strips. It's still really the only part of this process that I do enjoy.

So anyway... today I measure, cut and glue up the rod tube to fit the bag that I finished out yesterday with Mijo's horrid "piping." He doesn't like it. I don't care what he likes. He can make whatever he damn well pleases in his own shop. This is how I mostly make mine. They look like mine and that's that. But they DO actually fit the rod. Not an inch or so short...ya know?

So anyway...below is the tube that I put together for the brother in NY.

Measured, cut, epoxy measured out ready to mix and apply

...and now glued up, excess' wiped clean and the mixing cup will stay on my bench until tomorrow. I use it to make sure the epoxy on the tube is set properly.

This tube came from Landmark Components. I use this tube exclusively. The tube is mill finished. Expensive lesson learned after some pricey annodized and powder coated tubes got banged up and fookin' ugly in the back of my truck. This tube will look no worse for wear after sliding behind the seat in your truck, on the dashboard, or in the bed a year later. My kind of tackle.

There are other things I do to try to have fun in the shop. They don't ALWAYS involve Bonnie.

Above is a bodkin I made out of the cut-off of the above NY brother's rod.

The cut-off is chucked up and the ends shaped and one end drilled to accept the needle, signed and two coats of spar varnish. The brother is a more than accomplished fly tyer and maybe he'll enjoy using a bodkin with his old Hockey number (No 27) inscribed on it made from the rod he ordered and has patiently waited for. Maybe it don't mean squat, but I made it anyway. He can do with it what he wishes.

I make other things from cut-offs. Ferrule plugs, ferrule honers, etc. Use your imagination.

OK...10:00 am here and it's, once again, getting hot.

Time to slam the doors, fire up a fan, take a nap...then off to the library to get some new movies to watch come dark.

Later...

Mike

Rod Bag Tuesday

It was time to finish out a rod bag today for a rod going to a brother in New York.

I make a few rod bags at a time and leave them unfinished. This way I always have a bag or two on hand when I need one.
All I have to do is measure the finished length I would like and sew the bottom, turn it rightside out and stitch the partions. Takes about 5 minutes not counting the time to set up the machine, dig out the iron and press the bag. Hell, it takes me 10 minutes to find and dig the sewing machine out and another 10 minutes to wipe the dust off it.

This bag is for a "Payne 100", a 7'6" for a 4wt.

Along with this bag I finished one out for a "Dickerson 8013" an 8'0" 5wt and got another bag ready for yet another 100. I'll wait on that bag until the blank is finished out.

I'm about out of fabric again and I'll try and remember to pick up more if I ever get down to the big city.

Ran a few errands posted this dribble and it's pushing 95 inside. Time for a nap.

As a PS kind of thing...for some google reason, I am currently unable to post a reply to any comment...how rude.

This could well be...

...my first and last post.

Glamour shot

I'm not a "blogger." I am also not a blooger, booger, or bugger, etc.

I'm here only because this is apparently "free" though I understand that nothing one does through Google is free and everything seems to have a price. If I am proven wrong...well...there ya go. If you get a lot of weird ads after leaving here, I appologize in advance.

The site is obviously under construction. There could well be a flurry of activity at first. It's not because I lost (or am losing) interest in the site.
I don't know how this place works and I need to learn things, such as how to post a freaking picture. So please consider this as what it is, a first post by a stranger in a strange land.

This post will eventually be buried (I hope) under layers of ditrimous.

What this place is...

This place was created because I can no longer afford to keep up a real website...pure and simple. Real websites actually cost money to publish on the web. I'm assuming that since this doesn't cost money, it isn't a real website.

What the hell am I?
I am (like you) defined by my work.
I make split bamboo flyrods. I'm a rodmaker.
If you teach kids...you're a 'teacher.' If you sue people you probably are a lawyer, though not necessarily.
There...I said it.

The market is less than a "niche" market at this point. The depression has taken the wind right out of my sails. We all know it's a depression right? Not 'merely' a recession?
Many of you good folks (millions!) lost their jobs within a month. I personally lost five years of business in a month. This is mostly my fault. I refused to take a payment until I actually started your rod. Your word that you wanted one was 'good enough.' I was shown the foolishness of my foly. Now life is a struggle as I'm more than sure it is for most folks who find themselves here, reading this dribble.
Still, here it is 2011 almost 2012. Fifteen years after I started making split bamboo. I started my first bamboo rod in 1997. Yeah...big deal.
I mention it because I haven't been doing this a year or two in my garage. I am a devoted slave to the craft. It's what defines me, what I have more than sacraficed for (two marriages, three kids, yes, I bred) three houses, god knows how many cars and trucks, and still I live in my shop. I don't have my children, I don't have the houses (or money from them). I DO have Bonnie the dog, who I'm pretty sure will be featured here from time to time, and I have a truck that is destined to live out it's life with me already pushing 12 years old. And I have my shop. And that is life, and that's OK by me. IT's my life and I get to live it.

Where I am...do you really care?

I am in the freaking middle of the Sonoran Desert, Congress AZ. My shop is in a freaking rat hole. I don't really have running water, no cooler to speak of presently and summer temps easily push 120 for weeks and months on end. Saudi Arabia's got nuttin' on me.
A simply horrible place to live if you flyfish. I mean really.
A simply wonderful place to live if you make bamboo flyrods. Yeah it's pure hell and torture making one but the bamboo loves it and who am I to argue?
Why the 'f' am I here, ten goddamn feet from hell where there ain't no fish?
Simple...I was spawning. The fish goes where the river flows. I dried up on a gravel bank here when the river went down. I'm waiting for a bear to eat my head.

Anyway...enough for today...
I'll try and write more tomorrow...don't hold yer breath...

Mike