Wanting to learn how

[gmreeves]

www.rodbuildingforum.com is where a good bit of my working knowledge came from. It is a great resource. The thing about planes is kind of like fly rods, you can spend as much as you want. Often times, you can fine an old Stanley block plane on ebay for less than $50 while a new top of the line block plane will run you close to $300. The big cost of building a bamboo rod is the planing form. New, a top of the the line planing form will run you about $800 but there are cheaper ones but if you have a drill press, you can build them yourself for less than $100. If you don't have a drill press, you can buy one from Harbor Freight on sale for less than $50 and still build your forms for less than $150.

Also, if you don't want to build all your tools and you just want to build a bamboo rod, you can always build what is known as a PMQ or a poor man's quad. They fish great, look great, and cost next to nothing. It is basically two strips of bamboo that are planed without forms, glued up with common hardware store glue, and complimented with your choice of components. I have built several of these and most for less than $30 in parts. Actually, that is a way I accumulated a lot of my tools. While I was building my steel planing forms, I built my first PMQ. I then sold several of them to my friends and used that money to buy other equipment that wasn't necessary but sure made the rest of the process easier.

[Knothead]

gmreeves, do you know of any tutorials on building the PMQ rod? You have piqued my interest here.

[gmreeves]

Their are several over on www.rodbuildingforum.com. It really is easy and you will learn a lot of the steps involved in building a true hexagon bamboo rod. Head on over and have a look.

Here is one that I made for a coworker that cost less than $30.

[BlueRaiderFan]

GM,

Where do you buy your boo? I can't find any blanks for under $200. Or where can I get some PMQ boo? Thanks in advance.

[gmreeves]

Blanks are expensive but you can get bamboo for alot less. If you want genuine Tonkin cane that is used for "traditional" bamboo rods, you will need to order it from either Goldenwitch, Demarest, or Andy Royer. Goldenwitch will sell you a sample pack for something like $69 and is enough to build a couple traditional hexagon rods. That is about the best deal for the real deal cane. I think Demarest will sell you a minimum of the three 12' culms at about $120 plus shipping. But for a poor man's quad, most people go to the big box stores and buy bamboo used for tomato or garden stakes. It's not the real deal but it is still bamboo and gets the job done. I was fortunate enough to meet a generous builder in town that gave me a culm that he said wasn't "good enough" for one of his rods and let me practice on it. I think I made four or five PMQ's from it and also my first hex. Next time you are at one of the big box stores, head over to the garden section and see what they have in stock. If you can't find anything there, send me an email or PM and I might be able to hook you up with some extra pieces out of my discard pile.

[BlueRaiderFan]

Ah thanks!

[Knothead]

There is a pinned tutorial on RBF under Bamboo- General. I tried a link but it wouldn't work.