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Waara V-block

I usually check my strips for dimension (both correspondence to the design thickness from the taper plan and consistency flat to flat) by carefully taking measurements with a digital caliper. I know that this is less than accurate, since the apex, which is always one of the reference ‘sides’, is very easily crushed, resulting in an undersize reading (the actual crushing of the apex itself is not so much a problem). There are better, more accurate ways, to measure dimensions of a (equilateral) triangular strip. The most common approach among bamboo rod makers is to use a so-called Waara v-block, named for the rod maker (and machinist and inventor) who popularised it and manufactured them for sale. The principle behind it is that you put a strip in a 60 degree v-groove in a block that has a cutout for a pair of calipers, supporting the apex side of the strip with the groove, rather than by its apex alone, and measuring the thickness of the strip-plus-block. If you know what the net thick...
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Bobbins

Quick random message. I ran out of empty plastic bobbins/spools to refill with Gütermann Skala 240 (UNI 6/0) and Skala 360 (UNI 8/0) for making furled leaders, and for fly tying. Fortunately I have a decent supply of locally grown Buxus - too thin for ‘real’ woordturning, but more than adequate for making fly tying bobbins…
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Update hollowing jig

 Some time ago I showed my hollowing jig for (female) bamboo ferrules. That version consisted of a small slab of wood with a groove, the depth of which defines the resultant wall thickness, and a spokeshave to remove material from the inside of a strip, down to the desired wall thickness. While functional, that small jig wasn't completely satisfactory, for a number of reasons. In addition, the (unmodified) spokeshaves were less than totally satisfactory, as they kept digging into the surface of the jig when reaching the final wall thickness. So I updated my hollowing jig, making it from a large, heavy slab of well seasoned European oak (from a 50 year old discarded table, sawn to length and planed to thickness (using a large workshop jointer and a lunchbox thickness planer). I made a number of grooves with a plunge router, of different depth (wall thickness) - on one side for general hollowing (wall thicknesses roughly between 2 and 3 mm), and for female ferrule hollowing on the ot...
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Klosjesspoeler

 Ik koop mijn garen - binddraad, wikkeldraad, en lijmgaren - op bulkspoelen. Dan kost het garen een fractie van wat het kost als je klosjes bindgaren in de hengelsportzaak koopt, je grijpt nooit meer mis, en je hebt ook altijd genoeg voor toepassingen waarbij het garen er in grote hoeveelheden doorheen gaat, zoals het maken van getwijnde leaders en het onder spanning binden van gelijmde splitcane-blanks. Voor gebruik moet het garen wel op handzame spoeltjes overgebracht worden - voor vliegbindgaren, het maken van leaders, en het wikkelen van geleidingen op 'oude' bindgarenspoeltjes, en voor het binden van blanks met mijn 4-draads winkelmachine op zelfgedraaide (diepe) houten spoelen. Dat deed ik altijd met een oude naaimachinemotor, uit de hand. Dat was niet altijd heel handig, met spoeltjes die van de as af schoten, draad dat niet onder voldoende spanning werd opgespoeld (don't ask) of draad dat tijdens de reis van bulkspoel naar motor in de knoop raakt.  Enige tijd gelede...
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PID controller

After forgetting my simple heat treating pipe oven with a set of strips inside and finding them a little too dark when I finally returned, I decided to make a PID controller for the oven, so that I could run it unattended without a risk of overheating. Today was the first run of the PID controlled oven:
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Net frames are ready

 Now all I need to do is wait for the (silicone rubber) net bags to arrive...
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Nets

While browsing Youtube, I came across a video showing a Japanese craftsman making wooden wading nets. Since I had made a few net frames in the past I was intrigued by some of the techniques he showed, and decided to make a few more nets myself. I chose to make a small offset-shaped net, with a cherry handle and a three-strip contrasting wood frame, soaking, rather than steaming, the strips to soften them enough to form them, and shaping the frame loop ‘freehand’ rather than using a frame jig. A first frame has now been assembled and glued and is waiting for final shaping, sanding and finishing, while a second frame is waiting for glue-up.
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