Bamboo Tips - Contributors Zeitner, Terry |
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My name is Terry Zeitner. I've been building or repairing bamboo rods since the late 60's. I became infected with this obsession as a boy watching grandfather building rods as long as I can remember. My grandfather, a Lutheran preacher, began about 1895 working with cane, experimenting, developing tapers, as a means to supplement his meager salary. It was his work that formed the basis for my interest. I was trained as a mechanical engineer at the University of Michigan and following work on the Alaska Pipeline for Cat Tractor I picked up the craft wherever my wife of some 40 years now and I found ourselves. Our careers took us to Alaska, Ohio, Michigan, Upstate NY, California, Arizona, and for some time now Edmonds, WA. At present my wife has a medical practice here in Edmonds and I work for the Washington State Liquor Control Board. Over the years I've acquired a fairly lengthy list of tools, some purchased, some inherited, and many more manufactured in my garage shop allowing me to build hex, penta, and quad rods using my grandfather's designs as he did. I was directed to this site some 5 years ago and have followed the threads with both interest and at times great amusement. At present I try to build some 24-30 rods annually, many as custom commissions from various customers from around the world, and a few rods to either donate to various charity auctions, as personal gifts, or as tools to play with when I get a few precious hours to fish. Thanks to the continuing friendship and encouragement of retired master rod maker and fishing partner Ray Gould I've tried to do my small part keeping the craft moving forward. For the last few years and the foreseeable future I'm attempting to recreate as many of my grandfather's tapers as possible. I have his old notebooks and I've posted some of his ideas on RodDNA v1.4 for your review. Like my grandfather I prefer penta geometry rods, especially when built hollow. The tapers I've had the pleasure of building seem to be have a faster more tip oriented action than either hex or quads of the same length or line weight and they seem to suit my casting skills well. Of late I continue to experiment with medical titanium alloy as an alternative to Nickel Silver for ferrules and reel seats due to the material's lighter weight, resistance to corrosion, and strength.
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