SHOP NOTES | C.J. BOVA RODS

Both chrome nickel hardware and blued nickel hardware hardware can keep its integrity and finish indefinitely. Nickel for fly rod hardware is either machined from 18% nickel or 12% nickel. Nickel is highly corrosion resistant and certain grades when polished have a more bronzy luster to a more highly chrome luster. Nickel silver is named for its silvery appearance, but contains no elemental silver unless plated. Other common names for this alloy are German silver, paktong, new silver and alpacca (or alpaca). A form of German silver was invented in Birmingham, England in 1832. Nickel Silver was (and still is) widely used for the commercial production of industrial components, marine grade hardware, housewares, flatware and cutlery, and as the metal substrate for silver-plated goods, hence the term EPNS = Electro-Plated Nickel Silver. Nickel Silver was formerly widely used in costume jewelry and as the substrate for silver and gold plated jewelry. Due to the high propensity of nicke...

A customer of mine asked me recently what I enjoyed most about making rods, and my canned response is “fishing them”.  I usually follow up that response by saying that the actual handling of the cane in the early stages would have to be my favorite part. Manipulating the cane is more physical, and the raw medium is really being altered in a somewhat complimentary way. Meaning the best attributes of the bamboo in the manifestation of a fly rod come to life the more you handle it.   I purchase cases of Co-Flex tape, it allows my fingers to grip the cane  while in the forms and keeps moisture out of the cane while I handle it. The resilliency and strength of the cane is felt directly in the hands and you gain a new respect level for the medium every time you start planing. There is no room for error because you can take off material but you cannot put it back on. So there needs to be total focus on your part. Its this focus that is somewhat relaxing and I may go as far as saying that it...

Above: My finishing room a.k.a “clean room”  has everything I need at my fingertips When considering the process of turnkeying a bamboo rod from start to finish there are literally hundreds of steps involved. From handling the cane, to turning of the hardware, to final dipping or spraying there is a multitude of specialized tools as well as common shop tools being used. Parts of these processes are highly coveted among rod makers like myself, but my basic setup (as seen in the above photo of my finishing room) is fairly commonplace. You'll find various rooms full of metal lathes, planing forms, various block planes, binders, cane oven, bevelers, bandsaws, and drawers full of hardware, blanks, and turning stock. The list goes on and on.  Honestly I don't purchase equipment anymore. I make all of my equipment short of reels, and waders. I suppose if I was proficient at sewing and gluing Gore-Tex I'd try my hand at making a pair of waders. Growing up my father had a work bench...

Low-anchored cloud, Newfoundland air, Fountain-head and source of rivers, Dew-cloth, dream-drapery, And napkin spread by fays; Drifting meadow of the air, Where bloom the daisied banks and violets, And in whose fenny labyrinth The bittern booms and heron wades; Spirit of lakes and seas and rivers, Bear only perfumes and the scent Of healing herbs to just men's fields ~Henry David Thoreau