I am currently in the middle of building spring and summer orders. I will be at the Henry's Fork for almost 3 weeks if you are out there. Then it will be off to Crested Butte, CO for a week. I hope to see some of you out there!
Cris
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Blueing Hardware
Something I have never liked about hardware is the fact it loses its blueing. I have always been interested in applying something to the hardware so that it keeps its blueing for as long as possible. There are several things out there that people suggest. I haven't tried many of them. However, I do have something that a very prominent builder once told me about. In the picture below you can see the light variation in color from the bottom part of the ferrule (where the wraps go) to the top part, which is the female section. I haven't been doing this process for years and years, so I don't know if it will hold up for long periods of time. I hope so based on the knowledge of someone that had been building for over 30 years.
I am currently in the middle of building spring and summer orders. I will be at the Henry's Fork for almost 3 weeks if you are out there. Then it will be off to Crested Butte, CO for a week. I hope to see some of you out there!
Cris
I am currently in the middle of building spring and summer orders. I will be at the Henry's Fork for almost 3 weeks if you are out there. Then it will be off to Crested Butte, CO for a week. I hope to see some of you out there!
Cris
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Fly Boxes
The next 12 rods I deliver will get one of these special Walnut fly boxes. Several years ago I took my family to Yellowstone for vacation. One day we drove up into Montana to go sight seeing. My wife, being the thrifty one, saw an estate sale. The loving husband I am we pulled over and stopped. Inside I found a Walnut mantle. The mantle didn't look like it fit and it just stood out to me once I saw it. So I hauled it back to Missouri and it has sat in my shop for probably around 8 years. I was always looking for something special to do with it. There will be just a few more finishing touches and then they will be done.
My friend Doug Tierney donated the silk line that is used as the hinge.
In the next week or so I will write more about the boxes and my friend that was behind them.
My friend Doug Tierney donated the silk line that is used as the hinge.
In the next week or so I will write more about the boxes and my friend that was behind them.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Business
I hope everyone is starting to thaw out from winter. It has been a very mild winter here in Missouri and I am looking forward to getting out to fish.
I just wanted everyone to notice the price change on my rods. I haven't raised my prices in almost 2 years. I like the price point I am at because it keeps me with plenty of orders. The main reason I am raising my prices is that supply prices keep going up. One item in general that is becoming a problem is cork. The cork supply that is available is not that good anymore. I guess its a personal fault but I refuse to use cheap cork. In my mind it takes away from the beauty of the bamboo. So what I have to do now is buy large expensive quantities of cork and sort through it for the best stuff. I also tend to use wood spacers on my reel seats that are from hard to find or rare woods. Like anything else in this world the word "rare" usually means "costs more".
Also, I have several big developments in the works right now! I hope to announce them by the end of the spring. I am very excited and will make the information known on here once they come to fruition.
I just wanted everyone to notice the price change on my rods. I haven't raised my prices in almost 2 years. I like the price point I am at because it keeps me with plenty of orders. The main reason I am raising my prices is that supply prices keep going up. One item in general that is becoming a problem is cork. The cork supply that is available is not that good anymore. I guess its a personal fault but I refuse to use cheap cork. In my mind it takes away from the beauty of the bamboo. So what I have to do now is buy large expensive quantities of cork and sort through it for the best stuff. I also tend to use wood spacers on my reel seats that are from hard to find or rare woods. Like anything else in this world the word "rare" usually means "costs more".
Also, I have several big developments in the works right now! I hope to announce them by the end of the spring. I am very excited and will make the information known on here once they come to fruition.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Rod Building Class
I started a rod building class at K & K Flyfisher's yesterday. One of the builders is an excellent wood worker. He built everyone a rod wrapper. I am looking forward to getting rid of my old one and using this one!
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays from the Carpenter Bros.!
I hope everyone is having a great holiday. We will be working hard the next few weeks to get the cane ready for our spring and summer orders. One thing that rod builders spend time on is nodes. There are some builders that spend a lot of time on these and are experts with making them very small. There is an importance with these and so much that some builders cut them out then glue the pieces of the cane back together. As a consumer you realize that every thing a builder does to their rods USUALLY is reflected in their prices. Nodeless rods usually cost more because of the the time that goes into cutting all the nodes out.
The medium in which we use to make our rods is not perfect. So we take the cane, which is all different, and try to make it how we want it. I buy my cane from the Bamboo Broker, as do most all other builders. We place an order and take what is given to us, somewhat like the diamond market. I believe Sweetgrass still goes to China and picks out their own cane, but not sure.
To make nodes micro small it takes a lot of time. Again, this would be reflected in the price. I am someone that wants to make rods that are for people to fish. I know I have told this story before, but I owned several Mario Wojnicki rods. I had the 7'7" 4 weight and caught a 9 lb brown on it one day. It scared me that I was going to break it and I would be out the $3200 I spent on the rod. So I sold my rods and began to build. I also want my rods affordable. Sure I would love to sell my rods for $2500 each, but thats not the person I am. Maybe someday through inflation I will be at that price, but I enjoy making affordable rods, if $1400 is affordable.
Attached are some pics of nodes that I am working on now. I have put a penny next to it to give some size perspective. I wish all of the nodes were this size, but with a natural product some will just be a little bigger and there is not much you can do about it and keep the price reasonable. Again I hope everyone has a great Holiday season and I appreciate your business!
I hope everyone is having a great holiday. We will be working hard the next few weeks to get the cane ready for our spring and summer orders. One thing that rod builders spend time on is nodes. There are some builders that spend a lot of time on these and are experts with making them very small. There is an importance with these and so much that some builders cut them out then glue the pieces of the cane back together. As a consumer you realize that every thing a builder does to their rods USUALLY is reflected in their prices. Nodeless rods usually cost more because of the the time that goes into cutting all the nodes out.
The medium in which we use to make our rods is not perfect. So we take the cane, which is all different, and try to make it how we want it. I buy my cane from the Bamboo Broker, as do most all other builders. We place an order and take what is given to us, somewhat like the diamond market. I believe Sweetgrass still goes to China and picks out their own cane, but not sure.
To make nodes micro small it takes a lot of time. Again, this would be reflected in the price. I am someone that wants to make rods that are for people to fish. I know I have told this story before, but I owned several Mario Wojnicki rods. I had the 7'7" 4 weight and caught a 9 lb brown on it one day. It scared me that I was going to break it and I would be out the $3200 I spent on the rod. So I sold my rods and began to build. I also want my rods affordable. Sure I would love to sell my rods for $2500 each, but thats not the person I am. Maybe someday through inflation I will be at that price, but I enjoy making affordable rods, if $1400 is affordable.
Attached are some pics of nodes that I am working on now. I have put a penny next to it to give some size perspective. I wish all of the nodes were this size, but with a natural product some will just be a little bigger and there is not much you can do about it and keep the price reasonable. Again I hope everyone has a great Holiday season and I appreciate your business!
Friday, December 4, 2015
Almost Done
Well I started expanding my shop in July and I will be done with it this weekend. That took about 2 months longer than I thought! At some point I will take a couple of pics and put them on the blog.
I started my spring orders today. I am pleasantly surprised that about half of my orders this year are for rods with composite ferrules. I am still at about a year to year and a half on wait time.
You can see my fishing buggy next to the cane.
I started my spring orders today. I am pleasantly surprised that about half of my orders this year are for rods with composite ferrules. I am still at about a year to year and a half on wait time.
You can see my fishing buggy next to the cane.
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