Getting the most out of those pen blanks

feeds@yuku.com (Joe Arguello) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:00:49 GMT

Well as we all know there are a bunch of nice pen blanks out there. Many of these are some of the most beatifully figured burl woods avaliable at a good price, or maybe not such a good price. How about if you could get them for half the price? Well if you get 2 reel seats out of one blank isn't that just what you have done? In my strange way of thinking that's just it. We know that pen blanks are mostly 3/4" x 6" and the reel seats I make I like to make about 3 1/4"...

Simple Cane Ferrule 2

feeds@yuku.com (bubba01) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:07:07 GMT

Here is another cane ferrule that's not to hard to construct but does require a bit more planning ahead then the sleeve type. This is a female ferrule built into the rod shaft itself. You use a swell in the female ferrule end that is scalloped, ala hollow building, to create the ferrule. You need to deceide what wall thickness you want so you can determine the dimentions of the swell. Also, you might need to change the taper at the smallest dia. of the shaft before the swell in order to...

Simple Cane Ferrule

feeds@yuku.com (bubba01) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:20:53 GMT

Sense there is a lot of curiosity about cane ferrule making, I thought I would post a short tutorial on a simple method I have used in the past. Hopefully it will give you some basic knowledge from which you can expand upon. Some may not like the athstetics because I don't try to hide the ferrule, rather I prefer to accentuate it. Either way, your own imagination can take over and give your own look to the finished product. Below is a 7ft, 6in 4 wt done with this method.

Splitting and Staggering Tutorial

feeds@yuku.com (Joe Arguello) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:05:45 GMT

Well the best place to start off is with the tools:

We need to cut the culm in half first:

WOW...!

feeds@yuku.com (splitcane) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:10:32 GMT

As I was building this new "How To Forum" I was able to review all the great info available to all from a special group of members...

Very Special Thanks goes out to Joe, Doug and all that contrubited to make this happen...

So... Let's hear some feedback, what do you think...?

A visual aid for color selections

feeds@yuku.com (dugdan) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:14:11 GMT

I found this over on the Rodbuilders Forum- Chris Carlin has done something I find quite amazing and helpful

http://farnorthrodsmiths.com/features/selector/index.htm#

Making Snakes

feeds@yuku.com (Mike Peck) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:50:05 GMT

I haven't seen much on the topic of snake making so I thought I'd share my method.

While restoring a couple of vintage rods (See Help Restoring A&F post) I ran into the problem of the old rods missing more than a few guides, then not being able to find the exact style, size and gage.
First off, the guides I recreated where a really heavy gage...

Turkey baster varnishing

feeds@yuku.com (davewelch) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:50:29 GMT

My dip tank is in moth balls but I have one rod I'd like to apply a quick overcoat to. I'm thinking of doing this using the 'turkey baster' method; a technique I've read about but never tried.

Anyone have experience with this method for sections that are already wrapped? Any tips or tricks on how not to screw things up?

Inexspensive Binding

feeds@yuku.com (bubba01) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:50:23 GMT

I got this idea to bind without a binder from Ray Gould's book first off, so thank you to Ray. It's an inexspensive method of binding using braided sleeve and a rack made from scrap 2 x 4's. My rack is 2' wide and 6' high with hardwood plates on the top and bottom. You will need 4 open eye bolts w/lag bolt thread for the bottom and 4 open eye bolts with S.A.E. thread with nuts and washers for the top. The bottom eyes are turned in permanentely. On top you drill...

All Metal Cork Clamp. Mark I

feeds@yuku.com (Wally Murray) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:34:23 GMT

Some time ago, too long for good manners, someone asked to see a picture of a cork clamp that was mentioned. I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm going to attempt to post a couple of pics.

Reel seat fillers- another approach

feeds@yuku.com (dugdan) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:10:15 GMT

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

But I use a little different path to turning out my own fillers- not better, just different, and it uses 2 dedicated tools......

The first is a self-centering vise, sold by Penn State Industries, that clamps to my drill press. It allows me to easily drill on center, no...

Black Pipe Tutorial

feeds@yuku.com (Joe Arguello) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:49:35 GMT

Well, I said I would do a tutorial on heat treating in a black pipe so here it is. First off I have to apologize for the poor photography but it was real hard to get good light, handle the torch and camera all at once. And I didn't want to ruin the cane as this is a rod I am working on.
So here goes:

First off I had to get all the stuff together since I hadn't heat treated anything this way in quite some time, the upside is I can tell you where I got the stuff. Which...

Reel Seat Tutorial

feeds@yuku.com (Joe Arguello) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:45:09 GMT

As I said it is time for a quick down and dirty turorial 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 you want to use but I really wanted to show that you don't need much...

Trim Wraps Down and Dirty or Pine Pitch and Turps!

feeds@yuku.com (Joe Arguello) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:40:34 GMT

Well as of late I have had many individuals interested in this method of doing trim wraps. This by no means is something I just conjured up. It was shown to me by a customer when I had my fly shop. Anyway I will try to pass it along, so here we go.

Today I decided I would do this from the very beginning, it seems that most of the questions were "where do I get some pine pitch. Well I was on my way to see if I could find some at a music shop, but I thought that there were a ton...

Planing forms, any suggestions?

feeds@yuku.com (Salmosalar) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:48:37 GMT

I am considering making bamboo fly rods and I would like any comments, hints or tips you might have in the selection of a planing form for hex/six-sided rods.

I have narrowed the search down to Colorado Bootstrap and Forrest Maxwell's . The Bootstrap forms are 60" and don't include a dial indicator to set the form. Forrest Maxwell's are 72" and include a dial indicator for form setup. The Bootstrap forms cost about $300 less. Are there any other brands I...

Scraper Blade Tutorial

feeds@yuku.com (Joe Arguello) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:16:17 GMT

Well as promised I will try to get something done here:
Here are the things we will need:

First some sandpaper, I like to use this 3M self adhesive or PSA paper that comes in a roll. This stuff is readily available at any auto body paint store and yes it is 150 grit you can use 180 if you please. You can use any sandpaper you want but you may have to use some type of contact adhesive to stick it to the glass if it's not self stick or PSA.

Another hobby!

feeds@yuku.com (Joe Arguello) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:44:46 GMT

Well I don't collect these (can't afford them) but I do make a few of these. I hand forge the blades, assemble the knives and even hand stitch the sheaths.

FIRST ANGLE 60°

feeds@yuku.com (SUNNFRANCE) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:17:46 GMT

hello...today I have made a machine for make angle 60°;

detail for cut a paper abrasive and stinking,gluing....

...

Let's do a REAL Glue Survey, Where we can Talk Freely...

feeds@yuku.com (splitcane) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:31:23 GMT

I have not expressed my views on the subject because I'm amazed at the amount of bad mouthing Gorilla Glue gets every time the subject comes up. I have done extensive testing and building with Gorilla Glue and if done correctly you will not fine a better glue for Cane in my opinion. I have never bought into the Epoxy Revolution with the expense, short shelf life and critical mixing needed seems like the hard way to go with lots of room for failure. My fear of...

Setting & Fitting Ferules By Hand...

feeds@yuku.com (splitcane) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:44:53 GMT

When I started building Bamboo Fly rods one of the most intimidating tasks was Setting and Fitting Ferrules. All the books I read or in talking with others said "you have to have several hundred dollars worth of power tools to accomplish this task correctly" Well, already spending a boatload of money purchasing the other required tools of the trade, I set forth to develop a method of safely and accurately completing this task with very inexpensive hand tools. The following...

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