ROD BUILDING?
 

Conan The Librarian wrote:

IOW, why use something that you
have to fight, rather than something that makes it enjoyable.

Money.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

ROD BUILDING?
 

rw typed:
Conan The Librarian wrote:

IOW, why use something that you
have to fight, rather than something that makes it enjoyable.

Money.

That doesn't make a lot of sense. Why spend a dime if it's not enjoyable?
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/

ROD BUILDING?
 

Tim J. wrote:
rw typed:

Conan The Librarian wrote:


IOW, why use something that you
have to fight, rather than something that makes it enjoyable.

Money.


That doesn't make a lot of sense. Why spend a dime if it's not enjoyable?


Most of what I spend my money on isn't "enjoyable".

Part of the reason many people build their own rods is to save money.
(Which is definitely true if you discount your own time) Making a rod is
"fun" in the same way that tying flies is "fun." I also don't think that
Conan's analogy fits rod building (actually rod assembling). I don't
think that in rod building the lack of specialized tools means that
you're going to have to "fight" anything or that the use of those
specialized tools is going to make it more enjoyable.

I've built a number of rods and the only piece of "equipment" I own is a
turner I use when applying the finish and while the rod is drying (it
was made by and given to me by Charley W - thanks Charley). It does
result in "prettier" wraps but I wouldn't say it makes it more
enjoyable/fun.

I often find that using complex tools etc. for small projects can make a
job more difficult because of setup time.


Willi

ROD BUILDING?
 

rw wrote:

Conan The Librarian wrote:

IOW, why use something that you have to fight, rather than something
that makes it enjoyable.

Money.

That's actually funny. I daresay that folks who frequent this group
and have chosen flyfishing as their avocation aren't so strapped for
cash that they couldn't afford to buy decent gear.

If it was about money, we'd be fishing nightcrawlers dug from the
front yard with a bamboo pole, bent safety-pin and twine, and keeping
everything that we catch. It's obvious that we fish for something else;
aesthetic reasons, if you will.

And if you're fishing for aesthetic reasons, why would you limit
yourself? Wouldn't you want the proper tool for the job? It's the same
in rod-building (or woodworking). We have disposable income that we put
into the enjoyment of our hobby.

There's a saying in the woodworking group I follow that goes like
this: "Buy the best and cry only once." Now I'm not advocating that you
have to have the absolute best, but why would you want an inferior tool
that will barely perform its intended function?


Chuck Vance

ROD BUILDING?
 

On 10/21/05 9:35 AM, in article , "Willi"
wrote:

I often find that using complex tools etc. for small projects can make a
job more difficult because of setup time.

Often times the best tools are the simplest. And not always the most
expensive. Particularly for the do-it-yourself'er, complex tools are
frequently NOT what they need. Though occasionally it is what they seem to
want. :-)

To follow Chuck's analogy- I've not built a rod so I can't speak directly to
that experience- if I need to put a chamfer on a piece of lumber trim
(something everyone from a cabinetmaker to a weekend d-i-y'er to a rod
builder might need to do), I can spend hundreds on a Bosch router, router
table, and dust collection system, which I then need to spend a good 10 or
15 minutes getting the correct chamfer bit chocked, correct height of the
bit, set the fence on the table, then finally cut the chamfer amidst the
roar of all that machinery.

Or I can spend a little over a hundred bucks on the best block plane I can
find, take 30 seconds to get the blade advanced, maybe a minute to mark the
two sides of the chamfer (if I even bother), take a few quiet swipes of the
plane and I'm done.

I don't know if that qualifies as "fun", but I for one get immense
satisfaction from completing a task by using a fine tool (and sometimes that
fine tool cost no more than a cup of coffee and the morning paper) in a
manner that my great grandfather might have done. Equally satisfying-
though again perhaps not "fun"- clamping a #16 hook in my simple but sturdy
Thompson vise and tying a fly. Neither tool was cheap, nor particularly
expensive, but both pay themselves off each time I use them.

And the above, of course, does not even speak to the satisfaction gained by
using a tool I've built myself, be that a rod (hypothetically of course), a
fly, a trout net, or the table from which I compose this note.

Bill

ROD BUILDING?
 

From: Willi
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 07:35:07 -0600
Subject: ROD BUILDING?

Tim J. wrote:
rw typed:

Conan The Librarian wrote:


IOW, why use something that you
have to fight, rather than something that makes it enjoyable.

Money.


That doesn't make a lot of sense. Why spend a dime if it's not enjoyable?


Most of what I spend my money on isn't "enjoyable".

Part of the reason many people build their own rods is to save money.
(Which is definitely true if you discount your own time) Making a rod is
"fun" in the same way that tying flies is "fun." I also don't think that
Conan's analogy fits rod building (actually rod assembling). I don't
think that in rod building the lack of specialized tools means that
you're going to have to "fight" anything or that the use of those
specialized tools is going to make it more enjoyable.

I've built a number of rods and the only piece of "equipment" I own is a
turner I use when applying the finish and while the rod is drying (it
was made by and given to me by Charley W - thanks Charley). It does
result in "prettier" wraps but I wouldn't say it makes it more
enjoyable/fun.

I often find that using complex tools etc. for small projects can make a
job more difficult because of setup time.


Willi


Thanks to a poster, I explored Batson Rods http://www.batsonenterprises.com/

I am much encouraged- by their offerings and prices.

How badly could I screw it up? (rhetorical question)
And it's not such a financial loss if I do.

BTW does anyone have plans for a rod turner? It seems that this is a
necessary piece of equipment.

-- Lionel

ROD BUILDING?
 

Conan The Librarian wrote:

rw wrote:

Conan The Librarian wrote:

IOW, why use something that you have to fight, rather than something
that makes it enjoyable.


Money.


That's actually funny. I daresay that folks who frequent this group
and have chosen flyfishing as their avocation aren't so strapped for
cash that they couldn't afford to buy decent gear.

I like nice tools as much as anyone (well, maybe not anyone), but I also
get satisfaction out of "making do" when I don't have exactly the right
tool, especially when it saves me money.

When I bought a Leatherman tool a couple of years ago I showed it to my
daughter, who was about 12 years old at the time. She thought it was
pretty cool and she went all over the house finding things for me to
fix, challenging me to use only the Leatherman. It was a hoot.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

ROD BUILDING?
 

Willi wrote:

Most of what I spend my money on isn't "enjoyable".

But the disposable income you spend on your *hobby* should be to
make it more enjoyable. Otherwise why would you even pursue it?

Part of the reason many people build their own rods is to save money.
(Which is definitely true if you discount your own time) Making a rod is
"fun" in the same way that tying flies is "fun." I also don't think that
Conan's analogy fits rod building (actually rod assembling). I don't
think that in rod building the lack of specialized tools means that
you're going to have to "fight" anything or that the use of those
specialized tools is going to make it more enjoyable.

We've come a long way from original point, which was simply to point
out the irony in Steve's comment that you can get by just as well with
something cheap. If that were the case, I daresay we wouldn't be
fishing with expensive rods and reels, or spending our money on rotary
vises, or any of the other things we choose to do to in pursuit of our
hobbies.

Anyhow, not having "assembled" any rods, I can't speak to the
specialized tools that are (or aren't) needed. But I know that if I
were to take up building bamboo rods, I would care very much about the
tools I was using.

I've built a number of rods and the only piece of "equipment" I own is a
turner I use when applying the finish and while the rod is drying (it
was made by and given to me by Charley W - thanks Charley). It does
result in "prettier" wraps but I wouldn't say it makes it more
enjoyable/fun.

Does it make it easier?

I often find that using complex tools etc. for small projects can make a
job more difficult because of setup time.

Absolutely. I woodwork with mostly handtools these days, and one of
the reasons why is that when I used powertools, I found that I was
spending a great majority of my time doing setup, and very little
actually working wood. Since woodworking is my hobby, I started looking
for ways to maximize my enjoyment of it while still being able to
perform the tasks I needed to.

The right tool for the job doesn't have to be complex (or
expensive), but it will make the task easier. That holds true for
woodworking, flyfishing, fly tying, etc., etc.

And in general, I find it funny that we are discussing "getting by
on the cheap" on a group that is populated by a large number of
self-proclaimed gear whores.


Chuck Vance (not that there's anything wrong with that)

ROD BUILDING?
 

"Lionel F. Stevenson" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
SNIP
How badly could I screw it up? (rhetorical question)
And it's not such a financial loss if I do.

BTW does anyone have plans for a rod turner? It seems that this is a
necessary piece of equipment.

-- Lionel


Difficult top screw up beyond repair. ( Rhetorical answer).

A rod turner is not essential.

You can find some more info here;

http://www.flyfisherman.com/rodbuilding/

http://personal.inet.fi/private/tapa...RODTURNER.HTML

TL
MC

ROD BUILDING?
 

William Claspy wrote:

Often times the best tools are the simplest. And not always the most
expensive. Particularly for the do-it-yourself'er, complex tools are
frequently NOT what they need. Though occasionally it is what they seem to
want. :-)

Well said, my galootish librarian brother.

To follow Chuck's analogy- I've not built a rod so I can't speak directly to
that experience- if I need to put a chamfer on a piece of lumber trim
(something everyone from a cabinetmaker to a weekend d-i-y'er to a rod
builder might need to do), I can spend hundreds on a Bosch router, router
table, and dust collection system, which I then need to spend a good 10 or
15 minutes getting the correct chamfer bit chocked, correct height of the
bit, set the fence on the table, then finally cut the chamfer amidst the
roar of all that machinery.

Or I can spend a little over a hundred bucks on the best block plane I can
find, take 30 seconds to get the blade advanced, maybe a minute to mark the
two sides of the chamfer (if I even bother), take a few quiet swipes of the
plane and I'm done.

I don't know if that qualifies as "fun", but I for one get immense
satisfaction from completing a task by using a fine tool (and sometimes that
fine tool cost no more than a cup of coffee and the morning paper) in a
manner that my great grandfather might have done. Equally satisfying-
though again perhaps not "fun"- clamping a #16 hook in my simple but sturdy
Thompson vise and tying a fly. Neither tool was cheap, nor particularly
expensive, but both pay themselves off each time I use them.

Exactly. On the concept of "fun" -- I don't have any great "fun"
when I'm using my old Spears backsaw to saw just on the waste side of
the scribed lines of the pins of a dovetail, knowing that if I drift too
far I've screwed up the whole thing. But I know how much worse it would
be if I was using a cheap hardware store saw to try to do the same thing.

Of course, if I'm using my Lie-Nielsen IT dovetail saw, it's all fun.

Heh, heh.

And the above, of course, does not even speak to the satisfaction gained by
using a tool I've built myself, be that a rod (hypothetically of course), a
fly, a trout net, or the table from which I compose this note.

Yep. And a fine table it is, my friend.

At the risk of going even further afield -- I wonder if this is
another one of those cases of guys who are process-oriented vs. results
oriented. My hobbies are very much focused on the process.


Chuck Vance