Nothing wrong with the strips being machine-milled as long as the machine is set up with the utmost care. But of course a machine can only do what it was designed to do. The complex tapers achieved by experts who actually design the taper and plane the individual strips to perform precisely as designed are certainly a far cry from those "milled" by machine - and, like a Parker, it is always the touch of the artisan which makes all the difference. Nevertheless, a Parker Hawes is leaps above a Montague...





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Nevertheless, a Parker Hawes is leaps above a Montague...
.[/QUOTE]

You'll get no argument from me Dean. I have never fished a Parker-Hawes or a Hawes. All I know about them is the couple I have seen on the market and the general opinion of collectors such as myself. In defense of Montague, their "premium" rod the Manitu was a well finished rod. My grandfather's Manitu rod fishes well and I've always liked it. It certainly is not on a par with my Leonards, but it is a decent fishing rod and I like to play with it from time to time on the Housatonic River in Connecticut, my eastern home river.

Just so there's no confusion . . . H.L. Leonard rods were not hand-planed, the strips were produced with a beveler. A beveler is a little different from a milling machine -- a beveler utilizes two blades cutting with one pass as opposed to a milling machine that has one blade cutting with two or three passes. The old Leonard beveler is now owned and used by former Leonard rod builder Bob Taylor.

Years ago, I bought a blank allegedly made by Bob Taylor. I have no way of actually knowing if he built it. I finished the rod and enjoy it today. It's an 8 foot for 4.

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That's exactly why I call them the Parker of cane rods. There was some non-manual work done on them but they were, like Parker, pretty much a handmade product that was built with great care. I consider the early Payne rods akin to the older London best doubles, all hand work. Parkers are not the equal of a London best double and Leonard is not equivalent to an early Payne or Garrison, but I love them both.

The beveler you mentioned was kept in a locked room at Leonard and few had access to it. Ted Simroe was my favorite builder at Leonard and I like the rods from his period the best. Others might disagree with that but I have a fondness for his actions. My collection of Leonard's are all Simroe rods except for a light salmon rod that I use for Atlantic salmon. I have fished Ted's rods from coast to coast. I no longer fish Oregon since I have added the coastal cutthroat to my quest to catch each sub species of cutthroat trout in their aboriginal drainages. But I will have a couple of Ted's rods with me this September on my quest for West Slope cutthroats and Bonneville cutthroats to complete my cutthroat slam.

Just a few more pictures of the Parker of fly rods, Ted Simroe's Leonard's. The first is a 5 wt. 8' rod, the second is a 5 wt 8 1/2 ft rod and the third is a 6 wt 8 1/2 ft rod.

Bob Taylor still attends the Catskills Rod Makers Gathering - he tells some interesting stories of the operation

and i have watched him demonstrate his wrapping technique - even videoed it once - still cannot figure out how he does it he is so fast

I was just given a Weber MONOGRAM bamboo fly rod, accompanied by an Akron-built Pflueger Medalist 1494 ½ reel. Its owner (a neighbor) had inherited it, will not fish it and knew that I have connection, however tenuous, with fly-fishing.

I wasn’t going to get into another sphere of collecting vintage stuff (as per my above post on 6-11-18). But the gifted rod and reel were delivered to my door-step the day before yesterday –- left right there on a block of granite -- like an orphan. So, I guess it is my fate to be the person to render the rod fishable again.

The Weber MONOGRAM may not be the “Parker” of vintage bamboo fly rods, but doesn’t it at least qualify as an evocative, albeit "hardware store", side-by-side?

Then feed it to a panda. Fishing rods are for catching fish, not sitting in a closet.

-Victor

Victor:

You misread my post and thus misquoted me.

It is my neighbor who will not fish it, and who gave it to me because I will fish it.