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I've had so much joy in refinishing bamboo rods and was thinking if I should put my name or handle (Wednesday Caster) on the rods. What negatives do you see in doing such?
Do any of you put your name on rods you've refinished?
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God Blesses!
A wing & a Prayer! ----*<(((><~ ~ ~ ~
Quinn
Wednesday Caster;
I think it's a great idea. It's difficult to say the least. I managed to sign a couple of graphite rods that I gave as Christmas presents. They were a big hit.
Caster,
It's not something I would do.
If I kept the rod I would know...
If someone else ended up with it, I wouldn't want any confusion about it's origins.
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"The man who knows all about trout does not exist,
although you have probably met him"
Samuel G. Camp 1911
Ever plan or think you may want to sell the rod...If there is a chance of this..I'd not do it..I have two that I have singed with my name..1 I'd never part with..as I'm handing it off to my Daughter in due time!!...The other I'd sell had I not done this...
I put my initials and the date I finished the rod.I in no way try to be misleading but I am proud of what I did to bring this fine old dust collector back to life for someone to enjoy.
I was given am 1942 SouthBend 291 4 pc 6 wt bamboo...My ol' Army buddy, "Dleo6446" restored it & it is BEAUTIFUL! I will keep that rod until I croak & then my son Ben will get it. Leo & I were together at Ft Benning, Georgia in Spring of 1966 & he put the following on the rod...."Mike Flanagan A-4-1"...That, of course, is my name & A-4-1 was our unit. That may diminish "resale" value, but it made the rod "priceless" to me.
BTW...Leo & I "found" each other again right here on FAOL & haven't seen each other in almost 40 years...if you want to see one "HELL" of a re-union, come to the Michigan Fish-In in August of this year....Leo & I (AND the 'boo) WILL be there!
Sorry for the long post, but I hope you can all understand. This is about a very special bond.
Mike
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This site's about sharing!
Thank you Gents for your views and I am in agreement with both sides. Unfortunately every new project rod I pick up for restoration, I consider it a pass-on-down to the kids rod. I will have to select just 2 special rods for memories of their "4F" (fanatic fly fishing father) and 1 to honor my fishing partner.
OHTuber-
There's special meaning to my handle and rod signature "Wednesday Caster" too as the Scottish gentleman I fish with is 90 years old this year (50 my senior) and we fish regularly on yes Wednesdays. He's taugh me a great deal, told me amazing stories, and always has a kind word about my casting and the 7.5' HI bamboo pack-rod I refinished just for our special water. I fished with him this past Wednesday- first time in 5 months due to his age finally catching up to his legs. That rod will mean a great deal after he is gone. Funny thing, he would never think to go back to a bamboo rod though, an engineer who loves technology advances.
Quinn
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God Blesses!
A wing & a Prayer! ----*<(((><~ ~ ~ ~
Quinn
I have thought long and hard about putting my name on a rod that I rebuild and discussed it on several forums concerning bamboo rods.
I, too, see both sides of the equation and will not debate which is right or wrong. My opinion is quite simply this. If I take a bamboo rod that was built a half century ago and rebuild it, the credits for the bamboo will always be to the original maker of that rod, when and where it can be determined. Sometimes that just isn't possible. But I also will put my name and the date that I rebuilt it on there so that there is no question in anyones mind that the rod was rebuilt and does not mislead anyone into believing that it is "vintage" original.
On the other hand, a restoration, where everything is put back like it was originally will not have my name on it, but it will be tagged with the date of the resto, my name, and sometimes my contact information so that a possible buyer may know exactly what was done to the rod.
If I am building a set of blanks from a rod maker such as AJ Thramer, Tim Zietac, or anyone for that matter, I will always contact that person and obtain their permission to put a credit on that rod to their work, along with the original makers taper identification, and my name as the builder of the rod. There is a very thin red line that exists with many makers on what you may and may not put on one of their sticks and it is advisable to seek their permission first.
With many of these old "production" rods that are out there, the Montagues, South Bends, H-I's etc., well those guys contributed just as much to the bamboo and fly fishing industry as did the Hiram Leonards, Paul Youngs, and Lyle Dickerson, but in a different way. The great names in bamboo appealed to a different clientele, to those that could afford them primarily. But the production rods, filled the void by allowing the every day working man like me the opportunity to fly fish and to do so with a tool that would do the job very nicely. I would never take away that valuable contribution that they have given to us all, and as one great rod maker in the Pacific North West put it, "it pays homage to those that gave us these great old rods when we put them back into service and they can once again be offering pleasure to its user".
Dleo6446,
Yes as many of you have read my love is for the "blue collar" rods as they were made available to the masses- meaning a father back then could share in the joys of fishing with their children without having to save up $ for months just to buy a couple fishing rods. And sharing my rods with my children when they are old enough is very important to me.
I like your idea of adding the date with my signature as to not confuse anyone with my restorative contributions to the rods- and still keeping the heritage of the original builders! I always look for rods with intact maker labels and take great care to preserve it in my restoration to give them the credit which is well deserved.
Quinn
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God Blesses!
A wing & a Prayer! ----*<(((><~ ~ ~ ~
Quinn
If I could not find the name of the original manufacturer, I may sign the rod myself, but if the sticker is still present, or I knew who made it, I do believe that I would not sign it.
FTFool et al,
You know what, I'm starting to rethink this with all the rods I have with labels. I probably shouldn't sign them. I think I'll write a little note and put it in with the tube. A nice surprise for the kids or a very dear friend later on. It sure would have been wonderful if I had a handwritten note that gave a little history/connection to the owners of the rods I currently have.
Great thoughts and views. Thanks.
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God Blesses!
A wing & a Prayer! ----*<(((><~ ~ ~ ~
Quinn