I recently acquired the rod shown in the attached pictures and have a few questions. I am trying to ascertain the year of manufacture but the hardware,
grip configuration, and wrap colors does not seem fit into any of the specs listed in my Bamboo Rod Restoration Handbook. I.e. reel seat is uplocking, I
would call the grip full wells and the wraps are tipped black. Can anyone shed some light?
Also I was able to strip the old varnish which was in just terrible condition and save the original wraps. (The winding check and hook keeper were re-wrapped
with black sewing thread .) Previous owners seem to have applied all kinds of stuff, like shellac,lacquer, and varnish in various combinations. I was able to
scrap a lot of the finish off with my thumb nail. The picture of the stripper shows the worst discoloration left by all the bad things applied over the years.
I applied one coat of lacquer and what you see is the result. Would it be better to keep the wrap as is or try to re-wrap it since I am going to have to match
the thread when I wrap the winding check? Any opinions or insights would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
I have just finished with the work on this rod. The WC wrap and one guide foot wrap are new(the bottom wrap on the first mid section guide), the rest are
original. Over all I think it turned out OK. The short tip is going out next week to be scarfed back to full length and has not yet been varnished.. An other
interesting thing about this rod is that the cork rings are 1/4". Thanks again to everyone who sent me input.
