Last year I treated myself to a split cane brook, custom-made by Luke Bannister. He kindly shared photographs of the rod as it took shape and in this blog post I show the final stages of the build, from hexagonal strips of bamboo to a finished rod.
The last blog post showed the planed and tapered blanks ready for gluing. Once glued, the strips are bound with string while the glue sets.
Going through the binder.
Binding with string.
The next step is fitting the ferrules. The hexagonal blanks are first turned where the ferrules will be fitted.
Turning the ferrules.
Fitting the ferrules.
The next stage is to form the handle from selected cork rings.
Selecting the cork.
Adding the handle.
Then, the rings are whipped into place and the blank varnished.
Adding the guides.
The final touch is the fitting of a custom reel seat. Luke collects samples of interesting hardwoods, each with a unique burl pattern, for the reel seats of his rods. Here’s the final product with reel and line loaded, ready to catch a trout or two on the River Coln.
If you are interested in a bespoke split cane rod, you can contact Luke via his website: bannisterrods.co.uk
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