Bamboo Tips - Contributors
Parmenter, John

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I joined the forum within the last year and have posted a bit in that time, but have never taken the opportunity to introduce myself -- so now is a good time I think. I'm John Parmenter and I live in Southern California. I've been fly fishing since the mid 1960's and have been tying flies for about as long. I became interested in making bamboo rods about 4 years ago and have made about 30 in that time, all on a Morgan Hand Mill. Most end up in my own collection, some go to my friends and my sons, and some have been sold.

I've had the opportunity to meet some excellent rod makers along the way and cast some great rods. I've been to cane rod gatherings in the Eastern Sierras over the past two years, and for those who have never been to a bamboo rod gathering, I suggest you investigate one in your area and try to attend. It's been a great experience for me. When I'm not building rods, I still enjoy tying flies, writing (I've written some articles for California Fly Fisher and Power Fibers in the past few years), and getting out to fish with long-time friends.

I just bought a quad cutting head and was given a penta cutting head for my mill, so I'll soon be off in different directions soon. I haven't figured out the ferrules for the quads and pentas yet, so if anyone has any tips or suggestions on where I can purchase ferrules for them, please let me know.

I enjoy reading many of the posts on the forum and keeping on top of how others make rods. Like many of you I suppose, I'm still searching for a better way to do things to make a better rod. Ater reading posts following the "great rod-glue debate", my latest venture is to depart from using Titebond III as my glue of choice and try URAC 185. I'm actually looking forward to making a comparison!