The end of my nodeless construction for bamboo rod - my #3 built

It's almost to the end of this project.. the rod wraps just need a few coat of varnish and that's it. Another great learning process in bamboo fly rod making.

I guess I will be planning for my 4th one soon....................................

Lathing reel seat and cork grip for the "node less" boo

Last weekend, I managed to finish the reel seat and grip. Got a cheap stainless steel rings for the sliding band.


Not bad, considering it is dirt cheap.. but looks kinda neat.

Lathed the grip and then fitted in..



I have decided not cap the end of the butt. I just applied 2 coats of clear epoxy to seal the ends.


Next for the guides....

Nodeless construction for bamboo rod - continued

Finally ... my "nodeless" bamboo rod is taking shape....



Extra precaution have to be taken during the planing of the bamboo strips as the strips are made of multiple short length of bamboo glued together..


The planed tip and butt section was glued, bind and was left to set for 48 hours before the thread was removed and the excessive glue stripped.



Completed my nodeless bamboo rod blank..... now for the finishing part...

Nodeless construction for bamboo rod

Started my latest project for awhile now. Never in my mind I wanted to do a "nodeless" first. I was thinking of hollow built but I had problems with my last batch of bamboo. There are voids in the nodes and this may weaken the bamboo. I did not notice it until I split the bamboo.

I had to cut away all the nodes and venture into the unknown again. I should not be difficult, I guess. I have seen this Japanese fella who did he nodeless bamboo fly rod from his website. Looks great.


Then I place all these "chop sticks" into the oven for heat treatment. Surprisingly, the "chop sticks" was 58 grams lighter after the treatment.



Now I have to put them back together.. Seems like a long process but it's better than straightening them. I used Titebond III to glue up the 'chop stick'




After a couple of day, it was time to try the nodeless strip on the Medved beveller.
Tested 6 strips on the Medved but only 5 'survived', 1 was out of shape.


As for the joints, it still hold up pretty well.


So far , so good. Need to finish up all 12 strips before setting up the planing form.