Thinking "Out of the Box"

Now seeing from my Shop window is easy to bring some thoughts about that days when I began making bamboo rods. My pond water knows about many rods that were tested there. I think that this pond own memories of great and bad days... casting new tapers and selecting the best to be made.
At that time, nothing was easy. One of my challenges was that I want to make rods from my own experience, so I decide to start from the beginning, designing my own tapers, my own ferrule system BOBFS (Bamboo on Bamboo Ferrule System), using native cane, making my grips as they were made in the past with fine 3/16 cork discs and many other approach to rod making.
At the bench, many decisions were taken, a lot of hours working to learn "the secrets" of planing, the sounds of the planes going along the rod, the different way to convince the cane to be modified.
At that bench also, I made my first injury with bamboo angles, nothing will teach you better than this. I made my two planing forms, so I know about their most kept secrets, I talk there with nodes and their let me revert their revolt.




Also at any fishing trip you would find me looking at my son fishing... and trying to understand tapers properties, the best and the bad things to achieve, and also many others things needed to be found.
This "trial and error" way, gave my the feeling of what I was doing... and comparing then with all the rods that I have had the privilege to use, the certainly that I was doing my work in the right way.
All this push me to think "out of the box" and this journey push me also to found some new approaches to rodmaking.
They work for me and I found interesting things along the way. New actions came out "magically" and this really makes me happy as a fisherman because I can fish bamboo now in places were I couldn't.
For examples my new SSS's let me start fishing again for Dorado a fish that I had forgotten to fish many years ago.
Looking for new action into my own designed rods I found new ways working with the flame applied to the cane.
I combined dark flamed strips with blonde ones (BiPower Series) and got a very good looking rod with a particular action. Dark strips usually are fragile but supported with the blonde ones add to the rod a great feeling and resistance.
I made this rod Series from 6' up to 8' 6" without any trouble and all off them got this particular feeling

Bi Power Rod Series



Another found was years ago doing some flame into a rod. It was a rod that I was making for my personal use and I just want to keep it different. So I start making lines with the torch and getting some new look. That was the beginning of the Jaguar Flamed Series.



Thinking "out of my own box"

Some months ago a friend from Singapore, call me and ask for a special rod. He wants a mix, a BiPower rod with Jaguar Flamed strips instead of Black ones. Why not? I said and made the rod as a test. I also go out of my traditional tapers so this was a CF7104JBP, 7' 10" 2/2 Jaguar BiPower Rod. Here's how the rod looks.