Ipe - it rhymes with ebay

[Alto Mare]

 Wow, what a great video Sal.  I tried turning a piece yesterday to make a  tip section.  That was after planning a square taper.  All I had to use for cutting was some emery cloth and a file so that tapering tool would sure be nice.-steve

Although you're doing just fine with your tools, I have no doubts you could make that same exact tapering tool for yourself.

Sal

[Crow]

    I'm thinking it's just an adaption of a "rounding plane' (or dowel maker's plane) that is "hinged" so the ID is adjustable. The problem is, the "raw stock" *should* be round in section, before you start the "tapering" process. Although, perhaps "octagonal" would be close enough ? !
    I'm also thinking that ash would make a suitable wood for rod construction....very "flexible", and quite strong. If I removed the tailstock from my wood lathe, and "chucked the butt end in the three jaw....I could turn the "blank", just as that fella' in the video is doing......now, if I just had one of those old , Stanley dowel making machines !  I always felt I couldn't aford them when they were just "old tools", and now that they are *antiques*

[oc1]

I wonder if you could use a router table with a fence or some sort of jig.  There are some choices of round-over bits but a lot of it would still have to be by eye.  It might provide better control than the planer though.

I tried the ipe tip section on a piece of Calcutta cane.  The Calcutta had a Chinese cane tip section but the tip was getting soft; as they always do.  The soft spot in the tip section is just above the splice.





This was a mock-up with the ipe tip section.  It won't break as long as it can transfer all the power to the Calcutta and point straight at a running fish.  





This is roughly the amount of flex you would expect when casting.  The Calcutta is flexing too.  



It would be nice if it was parabolic.  But, the tip top can not be made any smaller and the large end of the tip section cannot be made any larger or it will be stiffer than the Calcutta.

The splice is always a problem.  The ipe and Calcutta could both be tapered to an sharp edge over three or four inches to make a scarf joint that looks great.  There would be little or no swelling of the diameter.  But, it would not be as strong as the area on either side of the splice.  A simple lap joint (like in the mock-up) would be very strong, but looks terrible, is stiff and has edges where the line can catch.  Any trade-off between strength and looks can be used.  I forego the looks and don't do much scarfing.  The splice should be put along the spine though.  Sorry the final photo is out of focus.





The ipe tip is about six inches longer then the Chinese cane tip was.  It also has two more guides than the old tip.  The rest of the rod, the reel, line and jig are all the same though.  The reel (a steam punk thing that was described elsewhere) had been tuned with magnets for thumb free casting with the old tip.  But now the reel is too hot, it backlashes badly and needs more magnets.  It also casts further.  

I forgot to weigh the rod before changing the tip. but the balance point only moved about 1/2 inch forward.  The extra length and extra guides could account for most of that.
-steve

[sdlehr]

I'm not pushing Mudhole, but ferrules can be purchased here and various other places, I'm sure. They won't be home-made, but this may be a place you wish to compromise; I bet ferrules were first used in the 1800's some time....

Sid

[oc1]

Sid, I once connected a Calcutta base to a Chinese cane tip section with a brass tube.  The Chinese cane needed to be slightly larger diameter so it took some swedging.  Then when the tip wore out the replacement was a different diameter and wouldn't fit.  

On whole cane rods you do not want to remove the skin or grind down the nodes because that's where the strength is.  If you smooth down a node, that is where it will break.

But, I'm getting the ipe figured out.  It works much better if the corners are shaved to make an octagon before the tapering begins.  It makes the tapering more tedious though because now there are eight sides to plane instead of four.  

Starting with a uniform diameter octagon the first swipe of the taper began a foot from the butt.  All eight sides are planed from the one foot mark to the tip.  In the next round, each side is planed beginning two feet from the butt to the tip.  Then three feet from the butt and so on until you get to the end.  The final pass was for smoothing out the irregularities from starting the swipe one foot, two feet or whatever feet from the butt.

It helps to plan it all out on a spread sheet beforehand so you know where to set the depth gauge on the power planer.  I wanted a straight taper from 5/8 inch at the butt to a 1/16 inch tip.  If the depth of cut wasn't right it would not have worked at all.  The one foot increments was arbitrary.  It could be six inches or four or whatever if the depth of cut is adjusted accordingly.

After each round of cuts it may be a good idea to take measurement to make sure you are where you are supposed to be.  Then, when you are getting close test the rod so you do not over-shoot the mark.  Waggle it, bend it, tie a short piece of line and weight on the tip and pretend like you're casting.  I put a halt to it before the last round of cuts and before getting to 1/16 inch because the action felt pretty good.  Just some clean-up with the depth gauge at the lowest setting, some filing and sanding.

It sure isn't perfect, especially if you look closely,  But it is a vast improvement over the first two attempts.  Ten feet.  The 9.6 ounce blank balanced 34 inches from the butt.  Six ounces of lead in the butt cap to bring the balance point back to 21 inches.  Right at one pound total weight finished.

Fishing poles are impossible to photograph.





   

The first test casts were encouraging (actually, I'm stoked) but the reel was too hot, the wind was too high and it was getting dark.
-steve

[sdlehr]

Wow, Steve, I like that arc! Looks like you've made a nice, medium-action tip there! No doubt with a few more trials you'll have this method down. I'd be stoked, too....


Sid

[Crow]

      Excellent job....and "craftsmanship", Steve !

[Dominick]

I am absolutely impressed by this whole thread.  Steve you are truly patient and talented.  Dominick

[Decker]

That picture of the rod with the octagonal profile looks a lot like a violin bow.   Let's see you tune a fish with that rod.


[Sorry, couldn't help myself]

[RowdyW]

That takes extreme patience. Great job.       Rudy

[swill88]

How are your planer blades holding up?

Ipe is tuff stuff.

steve

[oc1]

That's a good question Steve and I don't know.  The cut does not seem to have changed yet but it's brand spanking new.  Trouble is though, I've got the fence going to keep the plane to the side of that darned chamfering groove in the front foot.  It's filled with epoxy now but the texture is different so the plane wobbles a bit when the wood hits that groove.  That means all the wear is occurring on one side.  Maybe next time I can use the other side to try to even things out.

The winds were light today so the rod and I got a good work out.  There's also a rising swell.  Sometimes a rising swell will catch an inattentive crab off guard and wash it out of it's crevice.  The fish will be there waiting for them.  But no fish today.  It seems I was the inattentive one and was broadsided by a wave that flipped the canoe.  I was holding onto the precious octagon and trying to sort things out but it was under water for several minutes.  The calcutta rod with the ipe tip did not fair as well.  It was in a horizontal holster thing but the leash caught the tip and broke off about six inches.  It's funny about the old knuckle buster reels and bushings instead of ball bearings.  You can fill them with water and afterward they cast exactly the same.  Maybe there's nothing wrong with using water lubrication.  A lot of industrial bushings were water lubricated.

After the cane poles, the hardwood rod has made me feel like a new person.  Not so much a Depression Era jetty roach any more, but a Progressive Era country gentleman.  My rightful place in the world, don't you think.  Maybe the next one will have better guides, a reel seat and monogramed butt cap.

-steve

[Decker]

Maybe the next one will have better guides, a reel seat and monogramed butt cap.

Good, you deserve it

[oc1]

Thank you for the tip Mike.  That book Salt Water Fishing Tackle by Harlan Major is pretty good; weird, but good.  Weird because it's a collection of magazine articles, was first published in 1939 and was heavily updated through the third edition in 1955.  So, the period covers the synthetic revolution for rods and line.

The hardwood rod section has some good information but it seems that by 1939 hardwood had been largely replaced by split bamboo except for big game hickory sticks.

The thing that shocked me the most was to find that the first fiberglass Harnell rods were impregnated with bakelite, not polyester.  That makes the revolution more of a evolution.  From split bamboo, to bakelite impregnated split bamboo, to bakelite impregnated fiberglass, to polyester impregnated fiberglass.  I wonder when, or if, Harnell stopped using bakelite?





The description of Ashaway Line and Twine rope walks was good too and I learned how to properly tie a leather thong.  It's fishing stuff guys 

This photo was worth the price of the book to me:







The guy reminds me of my grandfather.  He went to Eighth Pass several times before I was born and he had the same stature, same stogie, similar split cane rod with oak handle and agatine guides, and similar baitcasting reel.  He would have worn his old fedora instead of a Penn Reel cap though.

Another photo.  Anyone recognize the reel?





Thanks again,
-steve

[oc1]

Another ipe rod.  This one felt too stiff in the tape mock-up so the edges of the hexagon were planed off and a drum sander used to made it round.... err, roundish.  



I haven't used a reel seat in a while but made this minimalist one.  It is only as long as the reel foot so there is not all that annoying reel seat threaded area.  Still don't like it.  It feels slick and cold.



The grips are an old style composite from back before they called stuff "composite".  Cotton twine impregnated with orange shellac. The soft cotton twine was untwisted as it was wound onto the grip so it went down like a ribbon instead of rope.  Every so often it was saturated with shellac and allowed to dry.  When it started getting close to the desired shape the high spots were filed down with a coarse wood rasp. It can be sanded too but if the sand paper/belt/disc/drum gets warm the shellac will gum it up.



The plan was to then wrap the grips with rattan.  It was more difficult than wrapping rattan on a chair leg or something.  It's impossible to tuck the ends under more than about two wraps.  I did not want to use a brass tack to secure it like you would do on a chair leg and never could find a way to make the end of the rattan secure enough and neat enough.  If I were to do it over again I would make metal collar winding checks.  Anyway, after failing with the rattan I just wrapped the grips with some old cuttyhunk line.





Home made german silver ring guides and butt cap.



The reel is discussed here:

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=20986.msg266751#msg266751

Narrowed spool, add-on centrifugal break and Koph clutch.  It feels good except for the cold reel seat.  Works well too.  



I can't catch a thing though.  The bone fish have been few and far between all winter.  Did get these on the previous ipe rod with an early knucklebuster.





-steve