Part 2: Cutting and Drying the Blank

Once you have decided on which sapling you want to use as a rod blank, cut it with a small hand saw and trim off any unusable sections at the base and tip. Small branches, knots, or bumps are also carefully trimmed off flush with the main stem using a sharp knife (avoid peeling too much bark at this stage). Once complete, the main stem should be fairly smooth with no bumps or bulges – slight bends in the blank will generally straighten out when the blank is clamped for drying.

Close up of a knot shaved down flush with the blank – this will eliminate high

spots that may interfere with clamping the blank straight

Most woods, if left on their own, tend to warp as they dry. Saskatoon berry will warp more than most due to the way the fibers twist as the tree grows. To keep the blank from warping, it needs to be securely clamped between several lengths of tubing to hold it perfectly straight as it dries. The best tubing to use for this is two 10’ lengths of ¾” electrical conduit and two 10’ lengths of ½” conduit. You will also need about 20 hose clamps big enough to go around all four lengths of tubing and the rod blank. The rod blank is placed between the tubing so that it runs down the groove formed by the two ¾” lengths, and the two ½” lengths are placed on top forming another groove to hold things straight. The whole thing is held together using hose clamps place every 6”.

The entire setup needs to be stored in a cool dry location for a full year before proceeding to the next phase (garage or basement rafters are ideal for this). There is no way to speed up the drying process, nor do you want to; a good slow dry with the bark still intact will minimize cracking and allow the blank to dry evenly through to the center. For the first month, check the hose clamps every few days – as the wood dries, it will shrink and the clamps will need to be tightened a little. After the first month, check the clamps every week or so. Avoid over tightening the clamps. Over tightening the clamps will result in the clamps stripping (they will need to be replaced if this happens), or flat spots in the blank where the wood is over compressed by the tubing – the clamps just need to be snugged down enough to hold the blank straight.

While you are waiting for the blank to dry you may want to spend some time thinking about what sort of rod you want to build. The dimensions of the blank you cut will ultimately dictate the limits within which you can work. Generally it is best to stick to lighter action rods from 3 to 6 weight. If your blank is short and on the skinny side a quick action 3 or 4 weight rod would probably be your best choice. If you are fortunate enough to find a longer blank (8 to 9 feet) you could consider  a 5 or 6 weight, or perhaps a longer 4 weight.

So that’s it – it now becomes a waiting game until the blank is dry. As spring 2013 approaches, I will continue with posts on the materials you will need to acquire to continue with the build process.

Part 1: Selecting the Blank

As I have already mentioned, the making of a wooden fly rod is a long term project – there is just no way to do a good job if you are in a hurry. In fact, some of the best craftsmen who build split cane rods by hand build only a small handful of rods each year, and sometimes take over a year to complete a single rod. Native artisans in centuries past were also known to take a year or more to construct quality wood hunting bows that would be passed down through the generations. The native elders believed that the attitude of the person building the bow would be imparted into the final product – if the builder was impatient (or experiencing any other negative emotions) the bow would be “cursed”, resulting in many unsuccessful hunts. Fly fishing itself is a sport of patience and positive engagement; an approach that if applied to constructing a wood fly rod, should result in a rod that you will be proud to fish with.

The first step in selecting the blank is deciding what wood to use. All of my rods have been built using Saskatoon berry (Amelanchier alnifolia). I chose this wood because it is common locally, is a moderately hard wood with long fibers, and under the right conditions grows relatively straight and tall with minimal branching. This wood is sometimes called serviceberry and was also used by local natives in the construction of arrows, tool handles and sometimes hunting bows. There are many other potential wood options – with yew, cedar, juniper, fir, ash, cherry, greenheart and lancewood being the most well-known candidates. While some of these woods are ideal for multi-strip rod construction because they can be easily split into long, thin strips, Saskatoon berry is not conducive to this method because the fibers tend to grow in a slow spiral, making it impossible to split the wood properly. But because my build process involves the relatively simple approach of sanding a sapling to the desired taper, this is not a barrier. Unfortunately I do not have any experience with these other woods so the best approach would be to do some research to see what grows in your area. Whatever wood you choose, it needs to grow straight and tall as a sapling with minimal branching, and needs to attain a length sufficient to build the desired rod length (the maximum length of the rod is often limited by how tall the chosen wood grows).

The next step is finding and cutting the rod blank. The best time of year to do this is when the sap is down; usually from December to early March. At this time the leaves are off the trees and there is usually snow on the ground which makes it easier to spot a likely candidate among the many other saplings present. The process of finding a good blank can involve many hours of searching. Like the rod building process itself, there are no shortcuts to this step – taking the time to find a sapling with a minimal number of flaws will ultimately result in a rod that is less likely to fail while casting. The criteria to look for are:

1.      The sapling needs to be almost perfectly straight. Minor, very gradual bends in the wood can be straightened during the drying process, but anything beyond this should be rejected. Look for something that appears to be almost arrow straight through its full length.

2.      The sapling should be at least 6” longer than the desired final rod length. As the wood dries, some cracking may occur at each end – these parts will need to be cut off at the start of rod construction.

3.      The sapling should have no significant branches or knots. Branches and knots cause weak areas in the main stem of the sapling and need to be minimized. Look for a sapling that has no branching through its length and no knots where dead branches have fallen off. A few minor branches (tiny side shoots less than ¼” in diameter at the base) and knots are OK if there are not too many of them. Knots or branches that are less than 1/8” or less will pose no problem at all, knots or branches that are close to the ¼” limit need to be at least 6” apart – anything over ¼” renders the blank unsuitable.

4.      The sapling should be fairly close to the final rod taper. Look for a sapling that is between 5/8” to 1” in diameter at the base – 3/4” would be about ideal. The closer the blank is to the final rod dimensions, the less material that needs to be sanded off.

These criteria may seem rather stringent, and the possibility of finding a blank that meets these demands near impossible, but they are out there, and there are a few guidelines that will help you. Start by looking in areas where there is a high concentration of taller saplings. These areas are usually characterized by either overcrowding, or competition for light with other taller trees. Conditions such as this result in a sapling that is forced to struggle through most of its life – growth rings are tight and the fibers are more compact and stronger. The intense competition for light also results in a sapling that grow straighter and with less branching as they focus their efforts on reaching higher than the competition as quickly as possible. My approach is to spend a few weekends slowly and methodically searching several areas, flagging those trees that I think have the best potential. I then go back later and re-assess each flagged sapling and decide which one (if any) to cut. Once cut, the blank needs to be clamped in such a way as to keep it from warping as it dries (note that the drying part of the process requires a full year to complete) – something I will cover in the next post.

Connecting with the Past

I spent some time over the holidays searching for the perfect stick to make another wooden fly rod. One of the most recent wooden fly rods that I built (and my favorite – an 8’ 6”, 5 weight) started to split last summer, so I thought it was time to start on a new one. I have built a few wood rods over the years; mostly for the personal satisfaction of catching trout on a rod that I built from scratch, but also to develop a connection with the early era of fly fishing. I have experimented with several simple rod construction techniques that I imagine may have been used by the pioneers of the sport in the 14^th century, and have finally worked out a system that produces good results. Each rod typically requires about 40 hours to complete but the overall process stretches out over 12 to 18 months, starting with the search for a usable rod blank.

There are many other people out there who also build wooden fly rods using a wide variety of materials and techniques, the most common of course being rods constructed of split cane (bamboo). Bamboo has been used in fly rod construction since the early 1600’s but it wasn’t until the mid-1800’s that the multi-strip (split cane) method was perfected. The multi-strip construction technique allowed rod builders to build stronger, lighter rods by laminating triangular sections of split cane together to make a rod that is (usually) hexagonal in cross section. Bamboo was the rod material of choice by most fly anglers up to the early 1900’s. Many people today still follow the old traditions of building split cane rods, and with the addition of modern glues and finishes, the end products are fully functional, durable works of art.

Other types of wood have been used in rod construction prior to the advent of split cane construction. The earliest woods were hazel and aspen, but fir, hickory, ash, greenheart, and lancewood (among many others) have also been used. There are a small handful of rod builders who have adapted the multi-strip technique to these other woods to produce fly rods every bit as functional and aesthetically pleasing as those produced by split cane artisans (see for example: Making Strip-Built Fly Rods from Various Woods on a Lathe by John Betts). But my goal was to reach back even further to a time before the multi-strip design. Little is known about rod construction during the earliest era of fly casting so much of my methodology has been developed through trial and error.

One of my wood fly rods that is still used regularly - a 6' 6" 3 weight

I was successful in finding a usable stick – and at 9 feet long, it is one of the longest and straightest blanks I have ever come across. It does however have two knots that are close enough to each other to cause me some concern, so I plan to continue my search until spring and if I do not find anything better, I will have to go with what I have. My plan is to follow the progress of this rod on my blog for those of you who may be interested in building your own.  

One thing you do need to be aware of is that these rods, although fully functional and aesthetically pleasing to fish with, tend to each have a character all their own (for me the imperfect nature of the rods is another part of the attraction). The build process is not an exact science, the materials have natural variations that one must work with, and the rod never comes out arrow straight. Each rod will possess certain casting characteristics that the angler will need to compensate for. In addition, to simplify the process, and avoid dead spots in the action, I build these rods as one piece units – it does make them more cumbersome to transport but I feel the trade-off is worth it. If you are looking for that perfect light weight fly rod that casts as well as all of the fancy descriptors used in most fly rod ads (and sometimes beer commercials), I suggest sticking with your favorite graphite rod. If however you enjoy a challenge, and have the desire to escape from the commercialization of the sport, give it a try and see where it takes you.