Reviewed by Bob
Petti
"Tom recognizes
the fact that sometimes information
is more valuable than instruction."
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Rod-Building
Guide
Tom Kirkman
Frank
Amato Publications
February 2001
Paperback, 51 Pages
ISBN: 1571882162
Suggested retail: $14.95US
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As the title
suggestion, Tom Kirkman's book "Rod Building Guide" is not a hand
holding, let's walk you through your first project, do it my way
type of book (in spite of what the subtitles on the cover would
lead you to believe).
How refreshing.
What this
book is, in fact, is a cover-to-cover brain dump of Tom's experience
building all manner of fishing rods. He doesn't tell the reader
as much how to do things, as he does why, and almost as importantly,
why not. While there is plenty of basic instruction, the book
earns its cover price with the in-depth information passed along
to the readers so they will be ready when they stumble across
their own rod building problems. He demonstrates with ease that
in many cases, information is far more valuable than instruction.
Take the
chapter on spine, for example. It would have been easy for Tom
to say "bend the rod, find the outside of the curve. That's the
spine. Place your guides along the spine". That's how it's done
in many books and instructional materials. Tom goes the extra
mile, however, and explains what the spine is, how it is created
as a side effect of the blank construction process, and how it
relates to the performance of a fishing rod. Not once does he
tell you where to place the guides on the blank. He gives you
enough information to decide for yourself, based on the intended
use of the rod. He also takes the time to deal with some common
conceptions (and misconceptions) of rod spine - how it may (or
may not) affect the stability of a rod under stress and how it
can influence a rod's casting performance. This is the most clear
and concise dealing with rod spine I've ever seen in print, or
anywhere else for that matter.
 The
discussion of modulus is similar. He tosses aside all the marketing
mumbo jumbo and gives a practical meaning to "modulus" in the
world of fishing rods to help people select blanks that will best
fit their fishing needs. He boils down all the physics and hype
into clear, concise, easy to understand ideas. You won't see Tom
ever make the claim that "IM6 graphite rods are the best".
I could go
on, but you get the point. Tom isn't going to walk you through
your first rod building project, filling in every detail along
the way. There just isn't enough space between the covers. He
chose the "generic" approach to rod building, not so much concentrating
on one facet such as fly rods, but treating rod building as a
general craft and supplying knowledge and information that's applicable
across the board, while offering specifics where necessary and
appropriate.
Some fly
anglers who might be interested in building fly rods might look
at the cover of this book and sniff "that's for the fancy butt
wrap metal flake bass boat crowd", which would be a terrible injustice.
Not only does he present fly specific information, but the book
as a whole contains information absolutely appropriate to all
manner of fishing rods - fly rods included.
If the book
has a weakness, I'd say it's the very characteristic I applauded
earlier, the abundance of background information and the thrift
of specifics. Beginners especially might wrestle with "finding
the forest through the trees" with a book filled with so much
information. It may have been worth Tom's (and the publisher's)
time to put a little summary box of "trees" at the conclusion
of each chapter, offering a specific recommendation of a technique,
tool, or material that Tom knows won't lead a new rod builder
astray.
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