Anybody rebuild bamboo?

[jaffrey]

This last year, I picked a fixer-upper bamboo rod on ebay. Took a few weeks, but finally got it back in shape. Anybody else have similar experience?

[Buck Henry]

Depends on what you mean by "rebuild". I have re-wrapped two different rods and both turned out OK (but not great), but have never taken one down to the bare blank and started from scratch with a refinishing project.

The first rod I rewrapped was an old H-I spinner 8.5 foot 5 weight that I wrapped with YLI purple silk. I did not use any color preserver, so the wraps turned almost black when I varnished them. It actually looked pretty cool, as it almost looked like the wraps were painted on.

The second one I re-wrapped was an impregnated Phillipson Preferred model cane rod. It was wrapped with a gold YLI silk and I used a color preserver on this one. I recently sold it to Slowstreamer and I think he still has it.

There are other members here that do much more extensive restoration and repair work and I am sure they will chime in. We also have several very accomplished rod builders as members here on NGTO and they are always eager to answer any questions folks have about building or fixing cane rods.

[fishnpreacher]

I have refinished several, including one auctioned at this past Fall Fling. I have done mostly refinishing as opposed to restoring and using the original threads and colors. Some I have reset ferrules and I have done some minor repair wraps. All received a dip or two of Man-O-War spar varnish. It gives me the best finish of anything else I've tried.
I am now building a rod from start to finish. The experience gained from refinishing will come in very handy later on, but for now its a learning experience.