Customer Reviews

Handcrafting a Graphite Fly Rod

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have made several graphite fly rods for myself and my children and every one has turned out beautifully. The simple, easy to follow instructions and clear photos make this book a "must have" reference. My Loomis blanks turned out easily as good as the factory rods in finish and I have the satisfaction of knowing I did the work myself. Plus, I saved about 50% on the cost. I customized the rods for each of my kids so they each have a unique, hand crafted rod with Dad's signature on it. Great book, no question about it. Buy it!!

LA Garcia looks to be one of the premier rod builders out there. The photographs are spectacular and are not lacking. The only area lacking in my opinion is in instruction. I still had many questions after reading this book. It is helpful in the craft, but other books and instruction (preferably from an experienced rod builder) will be required for building rods. Tom Kirkman's book is much more thorough.

LA Garcia does a great job of taking you through the way he builds rods. Close up photographs are great, and the chapters are in sequence of building the rods. He has a great section on all the materials needed too. Garcia includes equipment made of materials at home along with more expensive store bought rigs. He does fail to go into detail the differences between guides (single foot, hialoy,silicon carbide guides) and why NCP thread doesn't meet his standards. I actually found consulting the internet on assembling alternatives easier (material written by a gentleman named Al Campbell).

The layout and photographs of this book are beautiful. Ritzy flyrod shops should have this one lying around for people to read and admire. In general it is a very good introductory book on building a graphite fly rod and I built one using it. I did find the explanation of how to determine the rod blank's spine to be confusing. However, there are several good explanations of rod spine on the net. It has a good description of how to do a two color thread wrap, that is, a one color main wrap with a different color accent. Mine looks mighty nice, cobalt blue accented with gold on a charcoal blank. (St. Croix SC-III 6wt. 9ft.)

I've wanted to build a fly rod but had no idea how to start. This book is a great crash course for a beginner like myself. I have a rod kit partly completed on my bench with no problems encountered, thanks to Mr Garcia. I found that some of the sections required me to physically have the components in my hand to completely understand the directions, due to some of the wordings, but the light bulbs did come on within a couple minutes!
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in building their own graphite fly rod.

I do agree with others that this is a beautiful book with lots of good color photos. But I believe a how-to book should be passed through not only the hands of experts for review, but also to beginners. It's too easy to assume terms and products are well known and do not need to be defined and that's the one flaw in this book. For example on thread winding, what kind of thread? (Cotton, polyester, nylon, rayon, silk, etc.) What size? Does it matter or will anything work?

There was also a chapter on the manufacture of graphite blanks in a factory setting, which added little helpful information to a rod builder, although it was interesting. The space would have been better used to define more terms and to pull back and show the finished products. Almost all of the photos were very close up. (Again - that's great, but just a few overviews would have been beneficial!)

Mr. Garcia has extended his love for the craft through this most passionately written and photographed masterpiece. A must have for the novice and the seasoned professional.