Something Truly New In Fly Rod Design?

March 14, 2010 By: Marshall Cutchin

The Reuleaux triangle is a constant width curv...

Image via Wikipedia

Wouldn’t it be a blast if someone came up with a truly different idea in fly rod design? Dr. Chris Underwood has taken his experience in designing prosthetic hearts and artificial blood vessels and applied it to a new shape for fly rods: triangular with rounded edges.
According to Underwood, who developed the idea at the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus in England, the shape allows the rod “to bend more readily on one side whilst the other stronger side provides more power and control for casting.”
““There has been no real innovation since carbon fibre came in 30 years ago. But it has taken me three years to get the technology to make the rods.” Barbara Jordan in the Runecorn and Widnes World.
Underwood’s ideas are based on the “curve of constant” width, the best example of which is the Reuleaux triangle — a concept very similar to that used by Felix Wankel in the 1950s for the engine that was later produced by Mazda.

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