I see Delta will be coming into Springfield, do you still have a connection.
Tony
Tom Davenport wrote:
Gee, Tony, what a great post! Having you lame with nothing to do but read and respond to e-mails is your loss but our gain! Thanks for all of that great information. You da MAN!
Tom
On Jan 19, 2004, at 12:25 PM, Tony wrote:
Tom,
If you plan on re wrapping the rod here is what I would do. First I would shy away from any paint strippers. If I did try to use one it would be the water base type. This is how I strip bamboo rods that I want to refinish. If I feel it is worth restoring to original, I save the thread that is removed from the wraps. This is used to match wrapping thread. List the guide spacing and if you are going to use the original guides I would remove each starting at the tip and stick them on a piece of masking tape in the order they were removed. If you plan otherwise, I would not worry about the guides. Most HI's had poor quality guides and not enough of them on the rod.
After I remove all the guides and wraps, the varnish is removed with a new single edge razor blade. The blade is held at an angle sloped away from the cutting edge in the direction that you will be scraping. I always scrape from butt to tip. Keep the blade square on the flat as not to scrape the apexes of the hex. Keep the scrapes in the same direction and don't scrape back and forth. You will feel when the varnish is gone and you start scraping bamboo.
When done with this, rub the flats with 0000 steel wool. The blank will now be nice and smooth. Wipe the blank with a damp cloth using denatured alcohol. It will dry almost immediately. I apply a coat of Formby's Tung Varnish to seal the bamboo. After the first coat is dry I check the blank to see if the blank is straight and is any thing else has to be done. To straighten the blank, use a heat gun or a high powered hair dryer. Move the bent area over the heat source and rotate it.
CAUTION don't let it get too hot. You can feel the bamboo relax over the heat. At this point, remove room the heat and hold in an over- flexed bend in the opposite direction and hold it till it cools. This is all done by" feel".
When you are satisfied with the straightening or removing twists. Steel wool the blank again , wipe and apply another coat of Formby's, Let dry and steel wool. If you plan on writing on the blank, now is the time to do it. Apply Formby's and steel wool for five or six coats, don't steel wool heavy on apexes.. You will see a nice sheen build up on the blank. At this point the blank is wiped and wrapped. The Formby's is applied with a section Bounty paper towel.
If you want to keep the wraps the same color as it comes off the spool, I would use Gudebrod's water base rod wrap finish. That is Gudebrod 840. I have never had any luck with color preserver. What I normally do is apply a soaking coat of Minwax Helmsman Urethane varnish to the wraps. Before the varnish sets up it is wiped off with a section of paper towel. This flattens the wraps and works the varnish into the thread. It also wipes off the excess varnish. I usually apply four coats. If you are in a hurry, Apply one coat of the varnish, , wipe, let dry for two days and then apply the Gudebrod 840 to build up the wraps.
The wraps can be LIGHTLY sanded with 0000 steel wool. Let the rod sit for a couple of days wipe with a tack cloth and it is ready to dip, almost. The ferrules need to be plugged and wrapped. I use Teflon plumbers tape to wrap the ferrules and tip top. I also use it at the winding check and cover the grip with plastic wrap. You also have to come up with a way to hold the section in place and keep it from hitting the sides of the tube. I use tape and quilting pins. I also add a string hanging loop on the top end.
I made a drain tube from a section of plastic fluorescent light tube protector. It can be found at Lowe's or any Electric sales stores. Make a 1 1/2" plug for the bottom and install a drain petcock. If you have a three piece 9' rod, each section is about 37" long. The tube only needs to be 36" long. This will accommodate a quart on Helmsman Poly real well. Fill the tube allowing space for the rod section. Let all the bubbles come to the top and dissipate. Install the rod section, let is sit for a while, 5 minuets is OK.
Drain the varnish from the tube back into the original container at about 4 " a minuet, stopping at each wrap and guide to let the varnish drain back to level. If this is not done, you will end up with a run at each guide.
When the varnish is drained, carefully remove the section from the tube and start on the next section.
I find one coat of varnish with the drain tube is sufficient..
Tom, You have seen a couple of my bamboo rods, That is how I finish them.
If you would not want to use a drain tube, You can coat the blank with Helmsman varnish instead of Formby's and finish the wraps with Helsmans. This can be done instead of dipping but I am never satisfied with the results and end up dipping anyway.
Tony
Tom Davenport wrote:
I have recently purchase 3 bamboo fly rods in as many eBay auctions. All were inexpensive Horroks-Issakson rods, and the first two were quite pretty and performed much better than I thought they would.
The third one turned out to be a lemon. Listed as a probable 6 weight rod it has the heft of a 8 or 9 weight and was varnished by a previous owner with a dark, walnut varnish that makes it look like it was made out of the hardwood.
Anyway, I've decided to make a project out of it and strip off the varnish, try to straighten out a slight bend in the middle section and rewrap the guides.
Since I have never done anything with bamboo, I have a few questions:
1.Any cautions for stripping the varnish? I was planning to just use a generic varnish remover.
2. I know heat is used to straighten out sections before they are glued, but is it possible to use heat to straighten out a finished section?
3. Can I use regular rod thread for wrapping? Do I just seal the thread with the varnish?
4. What varnish do you recommend, and can it be applied with a brush? I read somewhere that the ideal would be to dip it.
Thanks, Tom
On Jan 18, 2004, at 4:39 PM, Michael B. Bliss wrote:
I was reading somewhere and can't remember where that Antron has been
changed. For some reason I am thinking that is no longer trilobal but four
sided. Can someone confirm this and tell us what that means to the
reflection quality. Or take me out of my misery and tell me I am all wet.
Mike
