The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

A brother of mine thought I'd lost the plot buying a second hand Merlin for £630 till I pointed out
he p****s about £750 of Fosters down the toilet a year.

ATB Macko

Dear chaps
I am all for free speech and goodness knows
It would be a sad world without it . If we can spare a thought
For the people who we discuss and for there feelings I think it could potentially
Safeguard any future misunderstandings .
Let's not forget how the "sad day for Redmire post " turned out and how it has affected
Those directly involved and those of us work and fish there.

Edward however viewed as at the top of his game for absolute perfection is
After all in business and by definition of that word is to generate money to cover
The ever increasing pressures of financial life and overheads.

Sorry, but what potential misunderstandings, a tad confused?........

To be honest, it's none of my business what anybody charges for their work,
it's my choice as to whether I think I'm getting value for money or not.

ATB Macko

Was it Chris Yates who once asked if anyone ""pickled fudge" ? I didn't understand that either.........

Mr Barders rods look very nice, however looking through the glossy varnish and silk, the blanks are made on a milling machine as are most production rods. The ferrules and fittings are custom made which is where the cost creeps up, then there are the leather tubes bought in plus other commercial costs mentioned.

Bamboo rods are 'a state of mind', many equating the price paid for quality of item. This may be the case, however there are many 'master' rod builders out there, more than ever before I would say, though surprisingly few in the UK. The rods that they produce are at least as excellent as Mr Barders (many also make their fittings themselves), they may be professional as in the case of Bill Oyster (who I think hand planes) and JD Wagner (who mills then hand planes) both in the US.

Your own Paul Cook produces (hand planed) beautiful rods which in my opinion are of equal quality to Mr Barders and ,money aside, fishing with hand planed rods made by one craftsman is a very special experience.

Malcolm, have you ever had the opportunity to try similar rods that are hand-planed or milled?

I ask, because...as I understand it....some builders hand-split the cane, straighten its kinks out and then plane it, thus breaking no, or very few, power fibres, whereas others split and mill and must surely break through more power fibres.

It seems to follow to me, if I have this right, ....that those who mill will produce...all things being equal...softer cane compared to those who split, straighten and then hand-plane. Though I suppose if the fibres were truly parallel one could mill without straightening and breal none....?


I do know that Edward Barder mills, but the few of his rods that I've had the opportunity to waggle didn't feel soft...quite the opposite. And, of course, a mill should enable one to produce perfect strips to build cane back up from.
Modern Arms milled all their cane after WW2 and I've yet to see a less than perfect blank from them...nor a glue line either. Their rods were strong and stiff, though they did tend to be on the bulky side when compared to other builders.

Hi Nobby, the hand planed vs. milled debate often swirls round and round in rodmaking circles. Yes I have waggled and used both and they both feel like, well, bamboo.
Milling puts the angles onto the sections which are then glued together, making perfectly good rods. The strips are usually split using a knife, as indeed Mr Barders are, beforehand.
My point was, that if I would be spending thousands of pounds on a rod, I would like that rod to be (here comes that state- of- mind stuff) imbued with the craftsmanship and 'soul' of the maker who used hand tools to create the blank rather than feeding the strips through a machine.

Out of interest, if one were to hand plane as opposed to mill, how much longer would the process take? And if Mr Barder did so, with his output, would he get tennis elbow?.....

Ps...I wish to point out that I`m not in any way, putting down any other tackle/rod makers, who have been previously mentioned by other forum members, I`ll go as far as to say, I have examples of their work in my collection...

Very interesting Malcolm , I believe that Andrew hand fabricates all his bamboo rods including machining the metalwork ( excluding the rings ) . There are artisans out there , notably Gary Marshall , that also fabricate their rings such is the level of their customisation ....

As you say there's more than one way to skin a cat and get a superb result.... Whether one can afford the indulgence / notoriety of the builder is another matter ...