Rebuilding a bamboo rod can be a ton of fun! Start by assembling the rod and making a chart of where all the guides are/were. Decide if you want to replace the grip and reel seat or just replace the cracked reel seat.

Remove all the remaining guides. You will get a bazillion opinions on how to remove the old varnish but I like to scrape it off. I use a single edge razor blade leaned in the direction you are pulling it. The old varnish chips off remarkably fast with minimal damage to the underlying cane. Once the varnish is off, I give the section a few swipes with a scotchbrite pad and it is ready to finish.

Now check all of the ferrules to make sure they are tight with the cane. If one is loose, apply a little heat and remove it. Clean it up and re-glue it.

At this point, I give all the sections a couple of coats of wipe on polyurethane to seal the surface. Then I go to my chart and mark out and wrap down NEW guides. You do not want to use the old ones and new guides are cheap. You can use nylon. Very few can tell the difference when you are done. Varnish the threads and give the whole thing a couple more coats of wipe on and you are done.