Testing my BAMBOO baitcasting rod

I am not sure if you can still remember this rod which was built 3 years ago.
It was the first bamboo bc I built for me..

If you have no idea what I am talking about , click on this link to refresh your memory.

I have fished with it couple of times and it did not hook up or landed any fish.
As I was clearing some of my stuff on the shelf the other day, I saw this rod at one corner and it does not do any justice to let this rod just sit there.

I clean it up and took it out for a lure casting trip with a friend near my place.
Finally after all these years.... it finally landed not just one but two good size catch....


Snakehead on my bamboo baitcasting rod

Peacock bass on my bamboo baitcasting rod..

Finishing off my UL bamboo casting rod

This project was shelfed up on September 2011, I think it's time to complete it and put to test.

Following the style of my fly rods, I am giving it a transparent look on the guide wrapping.

Wrapped with Pearsall's Gossamer silk thread.

The wrappings are very visible before the application of the epoxy.

The effect of the wrapping after the 1st layer of epoxy. The guide foot can be clearly seen.

And, did I mentioned that I did a spiral guide placement for this rod.???
YUP....  I made this rod with a spiral guide placement. The ferrule joint of this rod is firm and tight , I should not have any problem of rod twisting during loading.

Next..............  to test this out....

Light bamboo casting rod

Some of you might have remembered this off set cork handle which I made way back in December last year.

Anyway, I have finally started it .. slow and easy. It took awhile for the trigger reel seat to come as it was out of stock for a few months.

Now, that is the reel seat I was talking about. It looks something like the Megabass Pagani rod except for that wood insert.

After taking the measurement of the top locking nut, the fore grip was shaped and fitted in for a test.

And it was time to do the final shaping of the rear grip..

At the end , it looked something like that.

I finished it off with a rubberized cork for the butt end and a couple layer of U40 cork seal.

That is all for the time being. I still have to get some guides for this rod..



Continuation of the LAMIGLAS casting rod

I used a medium heavy top for this Lamiglas casting rod. The tip was short about 1.5".

Turn my own cork handle for split grip..

I wrapped the guides with YLI green silk thread. Looks nice.. and the contrast of the color is not as bad as I imagine it to be.

MHX Baitcasting rod 6'6" 8~14lb

This rod was put on hold since December last year... and finally it is done. The Alconite tip top was delivered last week. Glued, wrapped and epoxied yesterday..

Bamboo blank for my offset grip handle

Nope, my MHX IM6 8~14lb is not completed yet. Still pending epoxy.. It's still missing the top guide. I thought I have one somewhere in my drawer but I could find it. I guess I have to order another one and put that rod a side for time being..

Picking it up from where I left off... my offset grip handle. I received my bamboo blank a few day back.
Reaming the cork grip handle to fit the blank.

The reel seat for this casting rod is pending stock from Matagi. They told me that the reel seat will be only available in Febuary and it will be a long wait before I could proceed further..

Epoxy coating, drying and finishing

Got all the guides wrapped up. No fancy spiral guides, just  normal straight line guide placement.

I started with a thin coat of epoxy before put it to a rod turner or dryer for another coat of epoxy.

And the last coat of epoxy.

There.... done with the epoxy.

The graphite butt section was wrapped with rattan as it looks odd.

This was before.

...................and AFTER..

and I am done with this one.

My 1st bamboo casting rod....

Bamboo BC rod trigger reel seat..

As expected, Mudhole never disappoint me. The reel seat arrived at my door step today.

I have to add a graphite sleeves to extend the bamboo rod for the butt section. It look something like this.

Completed my bamboo baitcasting rod blank..

A quick update..

Finished the bamboo blank last week. Binded and glued.
I skipped the final heat treatment process on the planned strips as I figured that I have done 3 heat treatment process on the rough bamboo strips was sufficient...
So, I applied a few coat of finishes on the blank...

I WAS WRONG... dead wrong!!!

I found out that the final heat treatment cannot be skip.. The glued bamboo blank was not flexing and it stay in shape after I bent it. DAMN!!!  Basically, I bend the tip and it stay bend...!!

I had to remove the finishing coat with steel wool and redo the heat treatment on the blank. I had to be very careful not to over do this as I do not want the glue to be debonded due too extreme high temperature..

After a several heat treatment process.. the bamboo blank seems to be stiffer and more reactive to the flexing. Finally I can finish off the bamboo blank with a few coats of Gorilla glue..

Just placed orders for the hardwares... Hope to see those at my door steps by next week.

Not another bamboo fly rod....

Since I am into building bait casting rods now... how about making myself a bamboo bait casting rod???
I read up some info on bamboo bait casting rods in the internet and not many people have attempt making bamboo bait casting rods or rather not having their work documented in the internet.

Surprisingly, when I googled "bamboo baitcasting rod", there are a few bamboo rod makers who sell bamboo bait casting rod. Modern bamboo rod makers like Ron Kusse was in front of the list, there was a few advertisement for selling vintage bamboo bait casting rods, a few taper for bait casting rods and that was about all I found..

To start with, it took awhile for me to search for a few decent looking bamboo strips which I tucked in one corner of my porch. The most time consuming part was actually straightening the bamboo strips.. and there was a reason why these bamboo strips was tucked a side.

Anyway, my ventures of the bamboo bait casting rod begins...

Skipping the most boring part and straight away to the beveller..

Completed my rough bamboo strip for planing.