My 2nd Wood-Strip Fly Rod

[Royce Meritt]

Attached are some pictures of my latest wood-strip fly rod. Some of you may remember about a year ago I made my first wood-strip rod out of white ash. This version is from purpleheart. My first rod was a 6-strip rod. This one is a 4-strip rod.

Turned out pretty well. Casts a 5 wt. line nicely. A little heavier than I would have liked at about 5 1/2 oz.

These are fun (and fairly easy) to make. If you are interested check out the book "Making Wood-Strip Fly Rods from Various Woods on a Lathe" by John Betts.

[Rick Prosser]

Cool - had not seen this type of project before.

[Kirk Miller]

Very Nice Royce. I have thought about making Bamboo rods, but decided I better wait until I had more time on my hands. How well do these hold up? Do you have to reapply the finish regularly? How about warping is that a problem?

[Paul Douglass]

Nice job. Looks like it would be a lot of work but very gratifing.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Royce that is cool. I am looking at making some of those down the line here. I love fly fishing.

[Bob Hallowell]

Royce that is awesome, how does it compare to the ash? what's the action. I would assume it is slow or moderate. I would love to make one. I have made several with bought blanks and turned my own seat and cork. Are they fairly easy to make? how many hours with making the jigs and all? sorry for all the questions but this has me thinking about fly fishing which is my other love.

Bob

[Ron Erickson]

Royce that is a wonderful job. I saw the first one in person and this one looks even better. Ron

[Royce Meritt]

Very Nice Royce. I have thought about making Bamboo rods, but decided I better wait until I had more time on my hands. How well do these hold up? Do you have to reapply the finish regularly? How about warping is that a problem?


Not sure how durable the finish is yet. Haven't had them out in the weather too much yet. I know I used a good quality Spar Urethane finis so should hold up well.

As for warpage, I have had trouble getting my blanks nice and straight during glue up and I'm sure if left leaning in a corner the finished rod could develop a "set" but haven't noticed any warping during normal storage.

[Royce Meritt]

Nice job. Looks like it would be a lot of work but very gratifing.


Thanks Paul. Really not that much work. Much less time consuming than making a bamboo rod.

[Royce Meritt]

Royce that is awesome, how does it compare to the ash? what's the action. I would assume it is slow or moderate. I would love to make one. I have made several with bought blanks and turned my own seat and cork. Are they fairly easy to make? how many hours with making the jigs and all? sorry for all the questions but this has me thinking about fly fishing which is my other love.

Bob

The previous ash rod was a VERY SLOW action. This one, because of the stiffness of the purpleheart and the slightly adjusted taper is much more of a moderate action.

They really are fairly simple to make. Making the assorted sanding jigs will take a hour or so. If making a 6 strip rod the strips need to be beveled so there are some router table jigs to make as well. A 4 strip rod is less work. Cutting and gluing up the blanks is another hour or 2. Forming the taper took me a few hours, mostly to take the time to make sure my hardware would fit at critical places. Then that leaves finishing, installing hardware and wrapping and finishing the guides.

On a scale of 1 to 10, for someone with fairly good woodworking skills I wouldn't rate this any higher than about a 6.

[Royce Meritt]

Royce that is a wonderful job. I saw the first one in person and this one looks even better. Ron

Thanks Ron. Hope to see you on March 14th.

[Jim Burr]

That is amazing Royce. I love flyfishing and making my own rod is gift beyond compare. With out a doubt, a project of a lifetime. That book is on my "Right now" list.

[Wally Wenzel]

Very nice Royce, i suppose it has it's own purple heart case too. Wally

[Jarrod McGehee]

VERY NICE Royce. I love it. I'm just a high school student and I love fishing. yet to lear fly fishing because the lack of spots in southern Cal. but I've been wanting to make one so I can have the pride of making my own rod but so I can practice. Good Job! -Jarrod

[Allen Neighbors]

Would never have thought of it. Awesome!! Looks like a keeper for sure!