the stripping guide on every rod is handmade (not by me) with a piece of Oregon agate inserted into the eye, I choose the color and character of the stone to compliment the colors of the cane, the silk guide wraps and the reel seat wood.
Shuksan is the only bamboo rod shop I’m aware of with custom dyed silk. The secret color recipes are the only way I know of to ensure these rods are truly one of a kind and can’t be replicated.
the taper numbers are all measured out to 1/1000’s.
sighting a raw culm of tonkin bamboo
hand planing is the heart and soul of the rod, 18 strips in all, all by hand.
sanding down the cork grip
cross sectionals of rod blank at tip (on the left of the dime), butt, and mid; six equalateral triangle strips run the entire length, at the tip each strip hand planed to nearly 30/1000th’s of an inch.
…split and glued
rod blanks; six strips are glued together then bound and clamped in twine to cure to form a rod section. at their tip, rod blanks are hand planed to nearly 5/100ths in diameter.
endless engraving options available
spalted maple reelseat with blue’d hardware
Gossamer clarlet silk, tipped with gold wraps; and the ‘signature wrap,’ two parallel thin wraps
signature tip top wraps; silk colors are reversed
river rocks
…a good friend.
the guides can be ‘blue’d’, using a gunsmithing technique, to bring out a deep blue, almost black hue, on the nickle silver
Shuksan Rod Co.
brass cap on the rod tube, engraved; monogramed
a mixed aesthetic; espresso, coffee and honey tones highlight the cane
‘Shuksan Rod Co.’ inscription
flamed treated; an even honey tone rod, java silk wraps with black tipping, and bronze guides
rod in a traditional aluminum rod tube, brass caps engraved with “Shuksan Rod Co.”
monogrammed butt cap, with the owner’s initials
wrapping bench; Pearsall’s Gossamer silk is used to tie and hold guides onto the rod
raw culms of tonkin cane (below), and above hand split strips of cane after the culm has been flame treated
shuksanrods.com 