With the recent upsurge of interest with regards to the Walker carp nets in previous posts , I was particularly interested in Beresfords initial enquiry regarding the posibility of having parts made for those wishing to keep the costs down for a built net and having the choice to build their own . I am in no way connected with Beresford in his enquiries but I have spoken to him regarding the matter and it has been suggested that I could run a step by step guide to help those who may wish to build their own set of arms should they decide to purchase any sets of the parts .
The walker net is a classic design but as I have mentioned before , they are expensive to produce commercially , hence the short production time initially with B.James and latter day makers . I too found that they were not a practical product to produce and with few makers prepared to build them and with the costs involved it does put them out of reach cost wise to many . With Beresfords idea , which is a good one , it would appear that if enough interest is shown it could give the opportunity for those wishing to own one as a cheaper alternative .
The step by step guide is aimed at those who feel competent to have a go at making the arms with minimal amount of tools and an idea into what actually is required to make them . I make no excuse of saying that it isnt a five minute job , it is a very time consuming process but also very rewarding . There are other ways of making these arms and of course other timbers but in this method I will show you how they are made using Tonkin . It really is a guide and my way may not be the right way and others may find quicker more practical ways of making them , but the idea is there . This will be an" in between jobs " project due to time so it will be spread out over the next few weeks .
Making of Walker Net Arms
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Mark
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Re: making of Walker net arms
Looking forward to seeing the step by step progression over the coming months Paul. 
Mark (Administrator)
The most precious places in the English landscape are those secretive corners,
where you find only elder trees, nettles and dreams. (BB - Denys Watkins-Pitchford).
The most precious places in the English landscape are those secretive corners,
where you find only elder trees, nettles and dreams. (BB - Denys Watkins-Pitchford).
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Mushy
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Loop Erimder
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Re: making of Walker net arms
I can knock up a few floats, restore a rod or two and even make a landing net handle, but the other things like the reels, nets and net blocks and arms i've no chance but always wonderful to see the more skilled making these items from scratch.
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish
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Barbulus
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Re: making of Walker net arms
Well I am looking forward to this "teach in" as it will marry nicely with the work that Bereseford has done on the metalwork and offers some hope to some of us that we might be able to make a RW styled landing net during this year.
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Beresford
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Re: making of Walker net arms
Me too I want to see what we might be letting ourselves in for!
The Split Cane Splinter Group
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Paul Cook
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Re: making of Walker net arms
For those who wish to make their own set of arms from Tonkin , it would be advised that to keep costs down it would be preferable to use a low grade culm rather than the more expensive top grade supplied by Andy Royer for rod building . The low grade culms will have stain and watermarks within the enamel surface and usually these marks will have penetrated the bamboo itself . Personally I would not be too concerned as the bamboo will be heat treated by use of a flame so the surface will be darkened down considerably hiding most of any surface imperfections . As the arms will start from 3/4 inch and taper straight down to 1/2 inch at the tip end of the arms , careful selection of which part to cut to rid or at least minimise any marks found in the culm is another option .
From the above photo you can see a pre cut section of the culm to be used . The culm is split initially as I do with all culms and as the arms are to be 36 inches long , the piece of Tonkin selected has been cut at 40 inches to give a few inches either side to play with .One of the most important aspect is to choose the thickest end of the culm which should be approx 1/4 inch or thicker , this will be the end where the brass hinges will be attached with rivets once the arms have been finished.
Culms will naturally become thinner walled as you go down from the thick end toward the top of the bamboo . It is this thinner end which will be the end of the tapered arms .
From this piece of bamboo we should get at least 6 good strips , 4 of which we will be using . The arms should be built from two strips to each arm however if the walls are thin in your chosen piece of bamboo you can use three strips . It doesnt really matter , it is just down to how you wish to build the arms . For this project though , two strips will suffice .
This view shows the bamboo ready to split . You can roughly mark out on the edges where you intend to tap and split the sections . At this stage I would recommend you wear some good gloves to save any nasty splinters or cuts that will occur at some time of the process . Bamboo splinters as well as cuts are nasty little affairs and can be quite painful , so great care must be taken when splitting cane .
A sharp tap on the splitting tool with a hammer will be enough to get the bamboo going in a continous split . You can prize apart the bamboo by hand or even wedge to cutting tool and twist left to right to carry through the split , but to err on the side of caution for those not familiar with bamboo , I would play it safe . In this case I would lay the culm on your bench and tap in any old tool such as a screw driver etc and open up the split and then in sequence use another old screwdriver etc all the while giving a little pressure along the split until it moves along in its intended line .See photo below .
Once this procedure is complete , just repeat until you have succesfully split the culm into the strips . In this case , and with the diameter of the culm there are six strips . Normally , if all goes to plan I should be able to get 8 strips from one culm , enough for two sets of arms , but this is aimed mostly for those who have little or no experience ,or who are just interested to see how it all done . Tolerances are quite fine with 8 strips so in this case though , it is better to have a little more to play wherer mistakes cannot be rectified . The two spare strips will also come in handy just in case there are mistakes , at least you have some spares to re - work upon . I wouldnt panic though , even experienced hands make mistakes so it is always good to have some back up .
The four strips in their raw state ready for the next stage . These strips show the internal soft "pith" interior of the bamboo . This is the two faces that will be glued together once all the pith has been removed and the faces have been flattened prior for gluing up . The most important faces or sides of the bamboo is the enamel exterior . These are where the important power fibres lay just under the enamel skin , more of this later .For now we will deal with removing the pith and knode stuctures and getting these two faces nice and flat . More to come later .
From the above photo you can see a pre cut section of the culm to be used . The culm is split initially as I do with all culms and as the arms are to be 36 inches long , the piece of Tonkin selected has been cut at 40 inches to give a few inches either side to play with .One of the most important aspect is to choose the thickest end of the culm which should be approx 1/4 inch or thicker , this will be the end where the brass hinges will be attached with rivets once the arms have been finished.
Culms will naturally become thinner walled as you go down from the thick end toward the top of the bamboo . It is this thinner end which will be the end of the tapered arms .
From this piece of bamboo we should get at least 6 good strips , 4 of which we will be using . The arms should be built from two strips to each arm however if the walls are thin in your chosen piece of bamboo you can use three strips . It doesnt really matter , it is just down to how you wish to build the arms . For this project though , two strips will suffice .
This view shows the bamboo ready to split . You can roughly mark out on the edges where you intend to tap and split the sections . At this stage I would recommend you wear some good gloves to save any nasty splinters or cuts that will occur at some time of the process . Bamboo splinters as well as cuts are nasty little affairs and can be quite painful , so great care must be taken when splitting cane .
A sharp tap on the splitting tool with a hammer will be enough to get the bamboo going in a continous split . You can prize apart the bamboo by hand or even wedge to cutting tool and twist left to right to carry through the split , but to err on the side of caution for those not familiar with bamboo , I would play it safe . In this case I would lay the culm on your bench and tap in any old tool such as a screw driver etc and open up the split and then in sequence use another old screwdriver etc all the while giving a little pressure along the split until it moves along in its intended line .See photo below .
Once this procedure is complete , just repeat until you have succesfully split the culm into the strips . In this case , and with the diameter of the culm there are six strips . Normally , if all goes to plan I should be able to get 8 strips from one culm , enough for two sets of arms , but this is aimed mostly for those who have little or no experience ,or who are just interested to see how it all done . Tolerances are quite fine with 8 strips so in this case though , it is better to have a little more to play wherer mistakes cannot be rectified . The two spare strips will also come in handy just in case there are mistakes , at least you have some spares to re - work upon . I wouldnt panic though , even experienced hands make mistakes so it is always good to have some back up .
The four strips in their raw state ready for the next stage . These strips show the internal soft "pith" interior of the bamboo . This is the two faces that will be glued together once all the pith has been removed and the faces have been flattened prior for gluing up . The most important faces or sides of the bamboo is the enamel exterior . These are where the important power fibres lay just under the enamel skin , more of this later .For now we will deal with removing the pith and knode stuctures and getting these two faces nice and flat . More to come later .
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Mushy
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Hovis
- Tench
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Re: making of Walker net arms
Try a billhook.
http://www.bulldogtools.co.uk/gen/thumb ... medium.jpg
Thats what I am now planning to use.
http://www.bulldogtools.co.uk/gen/thumb ... medium.jpg
Thats what I am now planning to use.
I have laid aside business, and gone a'fishing.
Izaak Walton
Izaak Walton
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Barbulus
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Re: making of Walker net arms
I was going to use a machete and hammer !