Bamboo refurbish

[texfly]

I'm thinking of buying an old "cheap" bamboo rod as a refurbish project. My intent is not to hope to build a work of art like some I've seen from the great craftsman on this board , but to just try and end up with a fishable rod. I know picking the right piece will be a big part of the battle. I'm looking at a South Bend , Shakespere or maybe a Wright Mcgill with components to remain very basic.
I know there's a lot of great builders here so I would vaue your opinion. Am I on the right line of thinking or am I just asking for an impossible headache? It would be great to hear from anyone who has taken on a similar project.
Thanks guys.

[Lotech]

Texfly.
Absolutely a great idea. I did the same thing you're thinking about. I traded a Wheatley fly box for a miss matched 3 piece bamboo rod and converted it to a 6', 6 weight banty rod. I haven't fished it yet because I'm saving it for just the right waters. I don't want to christen it with a scrap fish. I paid about $25 for a Medalist reel and $25 for an S/A 75 foot WF6F second. I get 60 feet out of it while lawn casting and I like the way it turned out. My suggestion would be to "Go For It." Here are some pics;






I can hardly wait to fish it. You'll feel the same way.

[craigd]

What a timely post - I was just going to ask almost the same exact question! I asked a bit about it in the chat a few days ago. I see a lot of info on rod building but less on how to properly strip down the old one without damaging things more than they are.

I was also thinking about going with newer guides to get the larger openings for plastic lines but have heard some say they don't have too much trouble with the old ones. Lotech, did you keep the original guides?

[skondolf]

Texfly -

YES!! Do it!

I've got 3 different "old" bamboo rods in various stages of refinishing/refurbishing. The first rod was a South Bend 359-9 that had some issues with the butt section so I'm making that into a banty. My 2nd is a Horrocks-Ibbotson that appears to be sound but needs some cosmetics; haven't started working on this one yet. The 3rd is an old Crown japanese-made rod which I've fished a couple times now. Throws a 5wt DT line pretty nice.

All purchased cheaply for the exact same reason you mention - just wanted to get my feet wet with bamboo but didn't want the expense. However keep in mind there WILL be expenses although you can control it somewhat. You can decide whether you want to go with the "good" hardware i.e. nickel guides and ferrules, fancy wood reel seats, etc. or keep your costs down and go with cheaper hardware. You may also have to pick up some different supplies like varnish, silk thread, etc. but again, that's your choice.

None of my rods will win any awards but every fish I've caught so far hasn't seemed to mind.

[texfly]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Thats a great looking rod Lotech. If mine comes out half that good I would more than happy. Is there any specific tips or ideas you guys can give me before I start ? I was thinking of going with larger guides and an up locking seat. I'm still undecided on the wraps having had no experience with silk wrapping.

[halomidge]

Go for it, I think it's a great way to figure out your finishing techniques, wrapping (it is different than plastic rods), and familarizing yourself with the material. Nothing like catching a fish on your rebuild!

[Lotech]

What a timely post - I was just going to ask almost the same exact question! I asked a bit about it in the chat a few days ago. I see a lot of info on rod building but less on how to properly strip down the old one without damaging things more than they are.

I was also thinking about going with newer guides to get the larger openings for plastic lines but have heard some say they don't have too much trouble with the old ones. Lotech, did you keep the original guides?

Nope! I went with oversized black snake guides. Love 'em.

[skondolf]

With regards to silk wrapping, as was said you certainly don't HAVE to use silk but here's a suggestion in case you want to try it.

If you have a scrap piece of bamboo or graphite from a spare or broken rod or even a piece of small-diameter dowel, just play around with wrapping your silk on that. You can even try varnishing the wraps to see how they'll look after the fact so you can make a better decision on color combinations.

I didn't do this when I did my first wraps and wondered why they came out looking like ... uh ... well, you know - BAD. I had a scrap piece of bamboo and have wrapped probably 10 different test wraps, both nylon and silk, some with color preserver some bare. I'm waiting for a couple more spools of thread to make one final test and then I'll decide how to proceed.

Like you said, this is a learning experience ... take advantage of it.

[Bigdadyrods]

I've done a few too.
A question came up about removing old varnish. If you have to, you can. I just sand the spots smooth if there are cracks in the varnish. Make sure the sand paper is flush with the flat and don't sand the corners smooth. I also rebuilt one completely and used a razor blade and scraped all of the varnish to get it re-dipped. Not fun...

If that were my first re-build and I never used silk before, I wouldn't. The nylon is so much simpler than silk---fuzzies----uhggg.

I have one rebuilt banty that I take with a lot. I lend it out to guys and they love it. I got a friend of mine(wetflyguy) thats wants me to leave it in car and forget about it. He'll take care of it. I made it faster with a few tricks that I developed.

Big D