The April issue of Power Fibers is now available!

Power Fibers is published in Adobe Acrobat format.  To view the magazine, you must download the Adobe Acrobat Reader.  You can get it here.  If you’re having problems downloading the issue, try to do a Right-Click on the link, select “Save Target As” (or something like that) and save the issue to your hard drive.  Then, read the issue that has been downloaded to the hard drive.

The Current issue (April, 2009) of Power Fibers contains:

Miramas Gathering
(By Alessandro Brunelli)

On Saturday and Sunday, the 15th and 16th of November 2008, a sunny but cold week-end because of a Mistral wind blowing from the North, a group of 14 Italian bamboo rod makers all belonging to the IBRA association met with French colleague Pierre Perrot, the head of the local Miramas Fly Angling Club, along with his fellow members...(Download the issue here)

Product Review:  Maxwell Rough Mill
(by Scott Bearden)

I must confess, I am a tool junkie. This roughing mill most certainly scratches that itch that I had been feeling for a long time. I appreciate fine tools just as much as fine rods. This rougher is the Ferrari of roughers. In addition to roughing out strips, it also does an exceptional job at rough tapering them down far enough that I barely have any work left...(Download the issue here)

Dreaming Stage
(by Marcelo Calviello)

Every time I start a new bunch of rods many things flow around my mind. In the first part of this work, I selected each cane, trying to listen what each piece of cane is trying to say. This part of the work (when you split the cane and then work over the nodes) is very special...(Download the issue here)

Splitting Cane
(by Tony Spezio)

The first culm I split looked like a bunch of spears with tapered points. I was trying to split 1/4" strips off the half culm. As I now know, this method does not work. I then saw somewhere to split half, half and half. That worked ok till I had three strips coming off a section. Then I had the same problem with at least one strip tapering off. Then someone mentioned....(Download the issue here)

Development of the Two String Binder
(by Dennis Bertram)

The binding operation completes a rather irreversible phase in rod building. After meticulous and exacting work the six strips are now bound together. Like in marriage for better or worse. They had better be right or you start over. Bends and twists can be corrected....(Download the issue here)

Making a Wooden Plane
(by Ron Petley)

I decided to build a wood plane to use in my bamboo rodmaking. So I first read David Finck's book Making and Mastering Wood Planes. This book is very good and goes into extreme detail, well worth the read, as my directions just scratch the surface. He also sells plane blades if you are going to purchase...(Download the issue here)

Fishing Bamboo - The Twins
(by Kathy Scott)

Labrador! My mind raced when I finally grasped that we were going, we were actually going. Granite shield, stunted black spruce, a remote lodge on sparsely fished waters, float planes dropping easily out of the clouds and onto an angler’s paradise. How could it get better...(Download the issue here)

BJoe’s Rod Shop Tutorials
  Scraper Blade Sharpening
    (by Joe Arguello)

Here are the things we will need:

First some sandpaper. I like to use the 3M self adhesive or PSA paper that comes in a roll. This stuff is readily available at any auto body paint store and yes, it is 150 grit. You can use 180 if you please. You can use any sandpaper...(Download the issue here)