Old Bamboo Rod--Wrappings and Epoxy?

[TroutTackler]

I have an old bamboo rod that I am going to do some work on. The wrappings around the rod guides are all coming unraveled, so I want to re-wrap them. What is the best way to do this, and what products should I buy. By the way, I'd like to just buy from Home Depot for convenience, so any suggestions on wrapping material and a glue or epoxy to hold it in place?

Also, is there any way to clean or restore cork without replacing it?


Thanks.

[GonetoSeed]

There are a couple of important things you will not be able to pick up a Home Depot. One will be the wrapping thread. If want to keep it authentic, you most likely need to buy silk wrapping thread. I think one of the best sources is Golden Witch ( http://www.goldenwitch.com/ ). If you contact Russ at Golden Witch and provide him with the make and model he can usually provide you with an exact or very close to original thread. Runner or one of the other boo guys may have other sources.

If you just want to re-finish it for fishing purposes and not trying to take it back to close to original, nylon rod wrapping thread (size A) will work. A local source for Gudebrod nylon is the Fish Hawk. There are any number of Web sites, one that I use a lot is Custom Tackle ( http://www.customtackle.com/ ). H&H is also excellent ( http://www.hookhack.com/ ). You can use Sulky thread available at most sewing centers, but make sure it is nylon and not rayon.

As far as finish, one of the high quality Spar varnishes (Helmsman for example) from Home Depot will work just fine. Do not use one of the commercial epoxies available at home improvement stores. These are for bonding (glueing) and not finishing. Finish "epoxy" is a special formulation. Fish Hawk carries Flexcoat high-build and light. The Web sites carry two part finish as well. If you go this way, do a search here. There was a great thread a few months back where a number of the builders shared their technique for application.

As far as tools, you will need a way to hold and tension the thread and a stand to hold the blank while wrapping (although some people can do it without a stand). I'm pretty sure that one of us would be glad to loan you a thread tensioner and stand.

Do a search here for Web sites that have the basic instructions for rod building. They will have instructions for starting a wrap and completing a wrap. Or, if you would like to work with someone, post where you live and maybe one of us could help out.

As far as cleaning the grip, I've always just used warm water with dish washing detergent and an old tooth brush. It gets the big stuff off, but leaves the "well used" look that I actually like.

[TroutTackler]

GTS,

Thank you very much--that is all extremely helpful. I already purchased the Helmsman--I use that on every piece of furniture I build that sees daylight. I didn't know anything about the rest of it, though. I will take your advice. I'm 23, and don't know much about anything, so I really appreciate it.

David

[TroutTackler]

I live in Athens and work in Madison, so if anyone is in that area and feels like teaching, I feel like learning. Thanks again.

[Robert Hicks]

TT,
I too live in Athens, and work in Madison. I haven't done restore work, but I know a thing or two about wrapping boo, and how to finish it out. I have some extra silk I would be willing to let you have, if you like the colors that I have on hand. And I can show you how to do it all if you like. Drop me an email. rhicks925@charter.net I use Helmsman as my last few coats on wraps and it works just fine. Just remember that the silk will darken, and in the lighter shades start to go clear..... I have a test stick that I can show you, I think it has all of the colors that I own on it. I use no color preserver, so they are all clear, for the most part. I'm on the north west side of town..... Jefferson road area.

[fishnpreacher]

Be prepared to strip and refinish the whole rod. I have done a few, and I found out that (for me, anyhoo) it was just as easy to completely strip the whole rod, wrap and refinish. Use the Orange stripper from Home Depot. I have brushed on the finish and dipped. I've used Helmsman and Man-O-War varnish and like the finish I get from both. I also made a wrapping stand out of 1X6 and put two thread tensioners on it. I live in Elbert county, not too far from you. I'd be glad to show you what I've got and let you borrow any of it since I don't have anything going on right now.
What brand, model are you refinishing?

[GonetoSeed]

fishnpreacher makes a great point. If you are refurbishing the rod to be a regular in your rod rotation (and not refurbishing as a collector) "starting over" is a viable option to improve on the rod. Depending very much on the rod (there are some that just can not be improved upon), removing the old guides, stripping and refinishing the blank and then replacing the old guides with a new set of lightwire guides will most likely end up with a finished rod that has noticeably improved performance. The new guides will be lighter and slicker. Also, depending on the original maker, the rod may benefit from an additional running guide(s). The current thinking on guides is that more smaller guides is better than a few "oversized" guides. Either way, if you start over, you can use one of the "modern" guide sizing and spacing charts. Then I like to tweak the "chart" suggestion using static testing to give the best guide number and spacing based on the actual blank bend under load http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/staticguide.html .