A broken "BLACK"

Sigh....  As I have expected, the over toasted bamboo blank is too brittle. Lawn casted "Black" and it snap.
Another lesson learnt...  Do not over 'cook' the bamboo...

A clean break on the strip and crack through.

Tried to look for ways to repair it but the damages done was beyond repair. I think I will cut the butt section and make a spigot at the end for the connection to the tip section... and turn "Black" to a kid rod...

"BLACK"

Finally it's done..... and it's time for testing 'Black'...........

Completing "BLACK"

It is ahead of schedule....  Completing "Black" faster than I thought. Yup, I named that rod "Black" because it's black... over toasted. Well, "Black" is a 6'5" 2pc , integrated bamboo ferrule bamboo fly rod.

The rod felt abit brittle, slightly stiffer than I imagine it would be. I taped the guides on the blank for testing and find it cast well with a DT3, I think better with a WF4. It throw a 30' of DT3 with ease. Just hope that it will not break when fishing with it.

Done up the grip, reel seat and all the guides. But it still need a coat of finish..

Completed bamboo fly rod blank

Finally.................
I managed to completed my No. 5 bamboo blank.
This will be my 2nd rod for the year 2010. I didn't know it took me that long to get another one done. Hope I can finished it by this year..

It's already July and I have 6 months to go..

Boo No. 5 tip section

Did some work on the bamboo over the weekend and completed the bamboo tip section.
This will be another integrated bamboo ferrule system bamboo rod.

NS ferrule is just to expensive. Guess I'll just have to stick with this integrated bamboo ferrule for awhile.

Next will be the butt section....

In the process.................

Just finish my 60º rough strips over the weekends.

There are quite abit of molds on the enamel layer and I decided to darken the strips by heat treatment. The mold and dark spots are now being camouflaged by the dark color of the strips.


 My toasted rough strips...

Next process....  planning!

A slow start in the middle of the year..

Things have been going pretty slow....
I have just finished straighten 15 bamboo strips for my up coming rod....
Hope things will pick up in July...