The Art Of Splitting Cane

Imagine you have 6 triangular strips of a wood-like material, and you want to taper each piece such that when you glue them back together, the size at the tip will be one sixteenth of an inch. All the pieces must be exactly equal in thickness throughout the length, and each piece must fit each other, meeting at the edges without overlap, all along. Further, your taper is such that you have made adjustments for casting a particular weight and distance, and the finished blank requires enough strength yet be flexible to land large fish. This is only one part of the very long process of constructing a split cane rod.

Before investing 40 hours or more of labour into a cane rod, the builder must inspect the stock of cane. Like any other material that must undergo the rigors Mother Nature imparts, the cane may have been subject to disease, insect infestations, bad growth years, and improper harvesting, among other problems. It must be seasoned well before it maybe deemed suitable for use as material for a rod. Imperfections in the raw material will certainly show themselves in the finished product.

After a culm has been selected, it is often flame treated or oven tempered before the crafter splits it apart. The inside membrane must be removed and the outside bumps are filed away. Split pieces are then selected and then placed in metal forms that have grooves of exacting depths and shape. High-quality planes are then used to remove the excess remaining above the groove. Generally, (there are exceptions as many builders continue to experiment and build rods with more or less than 6 sides) 6 strips are then glued together and wrapped with string while the glue cures. If all went well, and the blank passes a further inspection as to its performance, it will not need to be discarded and the further work of cutting it into sections and attaching ferrules, usually of high-quality nickel silver may commence. A grip of cork rings with a reel seat is attached, and guides are wrapped with silk thread.

There are many more steps of an 'art' type that go into completing a rod. An art which cannot be merely described in word, but an art that maybe only appreciated by watching a true craftsman at work, admiring his skill and love for his craft, holding the rod in hand, then casting a fly to rising fish, waiting to test its elegant strength against the equally graceful leaps of the hooked prey.