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Making A Traditional Japanese Bamboo Fishing Rod 
Here I will describe the process of making my first bamboo fishing rod, with a few photographs. Some of the stages, particularly the lacquering, I was unable to photograph as I had my hands full; also some of the tools and techniques are trade secrets that must remain in the workshop. For beginners it is usual to start with a rod for either madai (red snapper) or shirogisu (Japanese whiting) with a bamboo body and fibreglass tip. Since I go fishing for whiting much more often than for snapper, I went for the latter type. The first step is the selection of bamboo; there are many varieties, of which about six or seven are used for rod making. My teacher showed me a variety from his stores, which is bamboo which has been cut and then dried for a number of years. So long as the bamboo is kept free of burrowing insects, it can keep for decades; some of his best bamboo is from his own late master, whose stock dates back to before the War. Unlike bamboo ‘cane’ that is split and fashioned into rods in the West, bamboo is almost always used whole for Japanese fishing rods.
The bamboo is strengthened with a number of special techniques that are used in all sorts of bamboo craft, not just for fishing rods. Of course, for its weight, properly treated bamboo can be as tough as metal – it is still used for scaffolding in building work throughout Asia – and in the semi-tropical climate of Japan it grows almost anywhere, at great speed. Another difference with Western rods and tackle is that almost everything is done by hand; the only electricity used during the entire process was for the vacuum cleaner we used to tidy up afterwards and most of the tools are fairly basic and can be obtained from any DIY store. Although my rod was a modern type with a reel seat and a fibreglass tip, more traditional varieties such as for carp or goby fishing are made from completely natural materials; aside from the bamboo itself, the joints are wrapped with silk thread, the wood treatment is made from tree sap, the pegs to wrap the fishing line from fish bone or horse teeth and even the solvent used is oil of camphor.
Anyway, once the bamboo is chosen for the rod the pieces are cut into the right size to suit the length, tip and the weight of the rod. Whiting rods are usually two-piece as they are 150 to 180cm in length. One length of thin bamboo holds the tip to make one piece, and the other piece is a thicker bamboo which will comprise the handle where the reel seat is attached. The first step is to straighten the bamboo. The stalks grow in distinct segments and these are never straight (bamboo always seems to droop in a rather melancholy fashion). This stage is widely regarded as the hardest part of the whole rod-making process, and distinguishes the amateur from the professional at a glance. The lengths of bamboo are heated over a fire and then bent into line using a specially made wooden tool called tame-gi. The firing process not only makes straightening the rod possible, but it also dries out and strengthens it. However, too much heat will burn the wood, and over-zealous bending without sufficient heating will break it. I managed to snap five lengths of bamboo and incinerate one – the practice pieces, not the good stuff – before my teacher stopped laughing and set me aside, and straightened out the bamboo that would be used for my rod whilst I watched and made mental notes. Most traditional crafts in Japan are not codified and there is no text-book; look-and-learn is the method that the teacher passes on his technique to the apprentice.
The next step is to wrap the joints of the rod with silk thread. In this case, there is one permanent joint betwixt fibreglass tip and the bamboo holder, and then the joint where that bamboo will fit into the handle. The wrapping is very difficult as the thread is quite fine and there must be no gaps or doubling up of the silk. In the photo, I had to re-wrap the upper and lower pieces as they came out terrible although the one in the middle was, in my teacher’s words, ‘acceptable’ (the upper piece was not for my rod, and I did it as practice). I took this photo to remind myself of the good stuff and the bad.
The joints are then lacquered. This is the same lacquer that is used in all traditional Japanese and Chinese wares like chopsticks, tableware and decorations. Real lacquer is strange stuff, made by drawing the sap from certain varieties of tree, and is actually poisonous when wet. It also has a slightly unpleasant smell, which is remarkably like vomit. Most people suffer a skin reaction to it, which is caused by a substance in the sap called urushiol, but apparently I am one of the lucky few that do not suffer serious dermatitis from it. However, it did make my eyes smart a little and on one occasion, it caused a layer of skin to peel off my thumb after I used it to apply lacquer. Fortunately one seems to develop a resistance to the lacquer, and now I don’t need to use gloves anymore.
The lacquer is applied to the wrapped thread with a brush from human hair, and the rod pieces are then placed in a special wooden box, rather like a coffin, which has been sprayed lightly with water. Real lacquer does not dry but rather cures, absorbing moisture from the air and polymerising into a very hard and inert material. This process takes 8 to 12 hours. Once the lacquer has cured, it is sanded flat and then re-lacquered. This process of lacquering, curing and sanding down is repeated, until a nice even and shiny lacquer is reached. After four or five coats, character can be added to the lacquer by putting on a layer of red or green, or pieces of smashed mother-of-pearl or gold dust. When I was away from the workshop, my teacher put on the final layer, comprising a green lacquer of his own creation that is his trademark.
The lacquer not only looks good but it strengthens the bamboo. Once cured, lacquer is very hard and resistant to water, heat and microbes; this is why it is used in tableware and many traditional crafts such as Japanese musical instruments and scabbards for swords. The next step is to make all the pieces fit one another, by filing down the insides of the joints and the insert-end of the tip. This step is very hard as everything is done by hand, and if you shave off too much from the bamboo surface and the join is loose, the rod is ruined. There are however a number of tricks and special techniques to ensure the fit is good, such as to smear charcoal dust on the insert to see where inside the joint it is rubbing, or to swing the rod in the air right next to one’s head and listen to it: a bad fit will make a squeaking or knocking sound (or ‘talking nonsense’, as my teacher calls it).
Once all the parts fit each other well, the next step is to lacquer the body of the rod. This is done with a different type of lacquer, and instead of using the human brush, it is applied with one’s thumb and forefinger and spread along its length. This is done only once, and the rod is left to cure in its special tomb for the right time. The lacquer used is a raw untreated variety, and even a thin layer, once it is cured, leaves a very rich colour on the rod and it picks out the fibres on the bamboo, giving it a very aesthetically pleasing lined appearance.
With the rod lacquered, the guides and reel seat are wrapped on. The guides are wrapped with the same silk thread as before, and the thread lacquered several times in a reddish-brown colour called shu.
At this point, the rod is ready.
From http://making-a-traditional-japanese-bamboo-fishing-rod/. -
edocarpa.
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proprio come il nonno di Sampei! 
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.CITAZIONE (edocarpa @ 21/7/2010, 16:14)proprio come il nonno di Sampei!
Sì...è sempre bello vedere che anche i cartoni insegnano qualcosa...sopratutto per quanto riguarda Sampei, che oltre ad insegnare molte cose pratiche e il rispetto per la natura e l'ambiente che ci circonda, è lo specchio della società giapponese degli anni 70-80...e che c'è tutt'ora! (come sappiamo sampei non è morto perchè nel 2009 è uscito il film e nel 2004 dei volumetti inediti, e a breve forse anche il videogioco nuovo per ps3)
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edocarpa.
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SAMPEI 4 ERVER! 
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quante poche visite questa discussione...è davvero un peccato xk è proprio un ottimo topic! . -
edocarpa.
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si infatti io e te basta l' abbiamo visitato.... 
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Non vedo l'ora che venga il 30 così ho finito gli esami e sto sul forum x mettere il quadruplo della roba!
(scusate gli avatar ma avevo intenzione di postarli per poi salvarli.). -
edocarpa.
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hahah 
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Scusate, mi sto cimentando anche io alla creazione di una canna da pesca guardando + o - questa discussione e le foto, mi potreste fare la traduzione e sopratutto darmi qualche consiglio? Io ho preso alcuni pezzi di bamboo, alcuni, diciamo "nuovi" e belli resistenti altri "vecchi" e morbidi. Successivamente ho preso il pezzo + grosso per farne il manico e poi ho dosato gli altri pezzi, ma il risultato è molto scadente xD vorrei arrivare a fare qualcosa di simile a quella costruita dal maestro delle foto. Quindi, vi prego, mi fareste la traduzione e mi dareste qualche consiglio utile?? . -
.Scusate, mi sto cimentando anche io alla creazione di una canna da pesca guardando + o - questa discussione e le foto, mi potreste fare la traduzione e sopratutto darmi qualche consiglio? Io ho preso alcuni pezzi di bamboo, alcuni, diciamo "nuovi" e belli resistenti altri "vecchi" e morbidi. Successivamente ho preso il pezzo + grosso per farne il manico e poi ho dosato gli altri pezzi, ma il risultato è molto scadente xD vorrei arrivare a fare qualcosa di simile a quella costruita dal maestro delle foto. Quindi, vi prego, mi fareste la traduzione e mi dareste qualche consiglio utile??
Certo...domani metto una traduzione.... -
.Scusate, mi sto cimentando anche io alla creazione di una canna da pesca guardando + o - questa discussione e le foto, mi potreste fare la traduzione e sopratutto darmi qualche consiglio? Io ho preso alcuni pezzi di bamboo, alcuni, diciamo "nuovi" e belli resistenti altri "vecchi" e morbidi. Successivamente ho preso il pezzo + grosso per farne il manico e poi ho dosato gli altri pezzi, ma il risultato è molto scadente xD vorrei arrivare a fare qualcosa di simile a quella costruita dal maestro delle foto. Quindi, vi prego, mi fareste la traduzione e mi dareste qualche consiglio utile??
Certo...domani metto una traduzione...
Ups...manca la tua presentazione...
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iwana.
User deleted
Che bellissime canne da pesca in bambou!!
Yakuza ho visto che in questa discussione dici che uscira Sampei il gioco per ps 3 ,puoi darmi notizie .......
Grazie. -
.Che bellissime canne da pesca in bambou!!
Yakuza ho visto che in questa discussione dici che uscira Sampei il gioco per ps 3 ,puoi darmi notizie .......
Grazie
Non esce più ormai...è passato tempo e non se n'è più sentito parlare...a mio parere era un'idea in vista dell'uscita del film nelle sale...
avevo trovato il progetto e la cover su un sito nipponico.... -
iwana.
User deleted
Che peccato. -
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re dei cobra divinità delle pescate mattutine!
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progetto andato a rotoli perchè il film ha fatto flop purtroppo .
Making A Traditional Japanese Bamboo Fishing Rod |
