Power Fibers is an on-line magazine of interest to bamboo rod builders. The April 2011 issue just came out, and you can download the .pdf file here. I mention this because I authored one of the articles, “Small Machine Tools for Reel Fabrication”. Classic styled reels like mine are probably of the most interest to people who build/fish with bamboo.

My intent in this article is to show the crafty and artistic rod builders what minimal tools they would have to buy in order to make a reel that superficially resembles those of vom Hofe. I did not consider what tools would be needed to produce reels at a profit, because I don’t know very much about that.

The article is heavy on pictures, but I can find only one slip-up: a picture of some reamers and drills got used twice while one picture was left out. This is my error and not that of the magazine editor. Here is the missing picture.

This goes in at the first occurance of the reamer/drill picture, where a brass arbor is being discussed.