Telephone: +44 (0)1635 552 916
Email: edward@barder-rod.co.uk
Email: edward@barder-rod.co.uk
Suitably proportioned grade-A culms are selected for quality
from our large stock of seasoned Tonkin bamboo, and then
tempered by hand over an open flame. This process properly
tempers the power fibres, drives out excess moisture, and
greatly increases the resilience and durability of the bamboo.
Concurrently, the bamboo darkens beautifully, creating rich tones from caramel to chestnut. The tempered culms are hand-split with the grain and the resulting strips are straightened with heat. We also heat-press and stagger the nodes in the 3 X 3 configuration, rendering them neat and strong.
Tapers for the six triangular strips of each section are precisely milled to our exact specifications, maintaining tolerances of +/- one thousandth of an inch. Ensuring that the power fibres are on the outside, these six 60 segments are then seamlessly and permanently bonded together with heat resistant, waterproof adhesive.
Butt caps are discreetly engraved with our logo and finely knurled to match the sliding band and grip check.
Reel seats are made from our seasoned stock of highly figured Provencal olive wood, mortised to accept a reel foot perfectly and finished to a deep gloss.
Handles are turned to a velvety finish from the best champagne grade cork shives. We only use the very rare and highest quality Flor cork. They are then mounted with nickel silver grip checks and elegant winding checks. Silk guide whippings are fully transparent, have the merest hint of olive tan and are tipped with super-fine tan silk.
Non-cracking tan silk whippings secure the ferrule splints. Owing to our varnish, which actually saturates the silk; they are rendered permanently flexible and waterproof. Seamlessly hand-tied, these whippings are never bulbous or irregular.
Waterproof splint-end ferrules are made by us from the best hard-drawn 18% nickel silver. Hand-lapped to a perfect suction fit, they are then oxidized and furnished with a stopper turned from the same wood as the reel seat. Uniquely, the fitting of these ferrules to the blank is so exact that the whippings over the splint ends will not crack.
Varnish is hand-applied to the cane blank and silk whippings, creating a lustrous, flawless, and translucent finish. This enhances the beauty of the rod and will protect it from the rigours of use for decades.
Each rod has its model number and line rating inscribed on its underside in Indian ink, just ahead of the swelled butt. The tips are numbered too, just ahead of the ferrule whippings, and the tippings at the tip-tops are green for the No 1 and red for the No 2.