corlay wrote:
It was my understanding that Peak rolled his own blanks, having access to the Garcia-Conolon factory and equipment.
Am I mistaken?
You are correct. Supposedly Peak had a deal with Conolon where he could use their blank fabrication equipment and would help them with rod design. I don't know if Peak had his own equipment after the Conolon shop closed. Peak was selling graphite rods toward the end of his career, but again I don't know how he fabricated or acquired the blanks.
This discussion has branched into some very interesting directions:
Spruce Creek wrote:
Its hard to give an accurate description of rod tapers.
Absolutely. Mike made the rods, yet it is still difficult for him to describe the difference. How can we describe 'feel' in words? It's really, really tough. Several 'systems' have been proposed (CCS is a recent one), but none are sufficient to fully describe the action of a fly rod in easily understood terms. Forming a judgment about any builder's fly rod is a difficult task, unless we can handle it ourselves.
chform wrote:
IMHO there are three levels of this occupation - Builder/Maker/Designer. Perhaps the most appropriate description for Mr. Harms is "Rod designer and builder".
In our woefully out of date Wiki, I tried to make such a distinction. A limited number of shops can design and produce their own glass rod blanks; Steffen, McFarland, Lamiglas, Scott, South Fork, T&T, and the like. Some shops don't actually do their own fabrication, but specify all the technical details for production; Larry Kenney and Mario Wojnicki come to mind. Other shops work with a production shop to get the blanks they want with their own feel, such as this particular project. Still others work with the blanks available on the market. Sometimes the distinctions are very blurry.
6footrod wrote:
... as good an "investment" as a fishing rod can be taking into account the enjoyment factor of owning a nice glass rod.
A bit of a selective quote I realize, but it gets to the heart of value. A fly rod may not compete with a good mutual fund as an investment, but you can enjoy the rod much more. As always, your comfort with the cost of the investment will vary.
Tom