All J.M. Reid Bamboo fly rods are handmade one at a time in my North Vancouver, BC workshop. I hand split and hand plane all of my rods to ensure they follow the natural grain of the bamboo itself. Powered machinery is kept to a minimum and hand tools are used whenever possible and practical. This may not be the quickest, most repeatable, or cost effective way to make a bamboo fly rod, however it is how I choose to make your rod in my shop, by the hands of a fisherman for the hands of a fisherman. All heat treating is accomplished with an open flame and all of my rods are also cosmetically flamed to some degree. Due to the time it takes to make a J.M. Reid Bamboo fly rod my production is limited to between 15 and 24 rods per year with a portion of those being new design prototypes. Below is an abbreviated overview of the major steps that go into making a J.M. Reid Bamboo Fly Rod.
1. Culm choice
2. Initial node prep
3. Flaming the culm
4. Heat treating
5. Splitting, straightening and secondary node work
6. Rough beveling
7. Secondary beveling, rough tapering and final node dressing
8. Final taper planning
9. Hollowing, gluing and binding of the blank
10. Binding string removal, scraping and sanding the blanks
11. Impregnating and curing
12. Splicing or ferruling
13. Gluing and forming grips, turning and finishing reelseats and hardware preparation
14. Guide placement and initial test casting
15. Wrapping and finishing
16. Final test casting on water
17. Delivery of the finished rod
