I can't believe I'm really doing this...

Equipment Rod Building: Cane and Graphite
1

So a few days ago I’m just sitting here minding my own business and reading the posts on FAOL (yeah, like I ever mind my own business on FAOL :shock: ), when up pops a PM from my friend (?) Montana Moose. I open it and read that George has come into possession of a BAMBOO fly rod that was not exactly what he expected it to be, and he wondered if I might be interested in doing a little restoration project so i could get hooked on boo like so many others here. Long story short, this was what ended up on my doorstep last week:

As you can see, someone smeared shellac all over the rod and grip, leaving it an ugly, bumpy mess that hurt my hand to hold it. Ferrules were cracked and/or crushed, the tip had been shortened 4.7", the winding check was cracked all the way thru and the list goes on & on. In some ways it reminded me of the dog we now have that came from the shelter with a kink in the tail, three toes on one foot and a crooked tongue…yep, her tongue is crooked, but we love her just the same. After some evaluation, and half a can of denatured alcohol, turns out the only thing worth saving is the blank. Once the shellac came off of the grip, it revealed that the cork was totally shot.

Well, now I’m down to a blank that is really in pretty decent shape after it was cleaned up. I hate to admit this, but it was really fun cleaning off years of abuse and finding something left that had some salvage value. (yeah fishbum, go ahead and say “I told ya so”, cuz you did!)

So this is what I have left to work with, and I thought I might just use a RHW grip I had laying around, but I’ve decided to take the stack of cork in the background and turn a full wells grip like was on the rod before. Only difference is the new one will be 7" long instead of the 5.5" grip that came on the rod. That was too small for my hand. I’m also going with straight ferrules, as the rod does not have enough value to warrant having stepped ferrules made for it ($100).

As I said, I can’t believe I let myself get into this. Let’s just hope I don’t start thinking about buying forms and planes and culms and all that other outrageous stuff.

I’ll keep y’all posted as the rod comes together. If I end up going way over to the dark side, you can thank Montana Moose and fishbum for putting the “hex” on me.

Joseph, Imprisoned by Cane (temporarily, I hope)

2

v. nice.
refinishes are fun!

welcome to grad school.

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Awesome, Joe ! From my point of view Congratulations are in order. Restoring quality old things to like new or better is one of my favorite things. I’m looking forward to the after photos. enjoy doing it…ModocDan

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Uh oh…your in for it now…

5

Joe,
Looks like fun.

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HEHEHEHE Joe ya are done for now. Once ya get it all done and take it too test it, Montana may not get it back. Welcome to the dark side 8)

7

Gotchya!

Even if you burn the whole project now, you are hooked. It is too late to turn back now.

fishbum

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MM does not want it back. He sent it to me because it was not something HE wanted to restore, but thought it was something I might want to tackle for myself for my first boo.

That being said, I finished up the grip this afternoon and fitted it to the blank just a little while ago. Had to counterbore the grip to accept the reel seat. I took my time and was able to do it all with my Dremel. It’s all dry fit so I could measure to order the winding check along with the ferrules. I’ll probably order them tomorrow along with new guides. I was going to cleanup and reuse the old ones, but they are just too far gone. I need to order more guides than the rod had originally, and I was told the small agate stripper was actually for silk line, which I will not be using. So that means a new stripper guide as well. Maybe I’ll get one of those fancy holographic ones like Betty’s using on her new boo. :lol: Anyway, here’s the new grip and reel seat:

This grip fits my hand much better than the original than the 5.5" full wells. I modified the dimensions slightly so that it fits MY hand. That’s the beauty in turning your own grips. The cork is pretty crappy, but I’m not worrying about since it’s for me.

I must admit, I seem to learn something new about boo with every day I work on it. I can hardly wait to start wrapping guides with silk. I received my Yosemite Hand & Palm treatment to start conditioning my hands (they’re like sandpaper in the winter).

Joe

9

I wouldn’t burn it, but I might use it for tomato stakes! :mrgreen:

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so far so good…looks nice :smiley:

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Yeah…so far she looks really good! I like that handle config.

Jeremy.

12

Oh, my … !

Joe’s gone over to the dark side!! Welcome home!

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Joe,
looking good. keep up the post. Have wanted to restore a old boo rod my self, but keep talking myself out of it. once your hooked there is no turning back…keep the pictures coming. matt

14

Your doomed Joe… Welcome to the dark side buddy. 8)

Greyrock is June 19-21 next year… See ya there! :lol:

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Jim…Joe INVENTED the dark side!!..do you see “moderation” in his name?? Joe is a very good friend, but when the man jumps into something, he JUMPS!!
Mike

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Just love it! And I think a lot of you are jealous…get your own orphan rod to rescue. Maybe we could have some kind of neat
prize for the Winter of '08 Rod Rehab Project. I’ll bet there is are some real goodies in the FAOL Storeroom. Anyone up for it?

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If yo include conversion of an orphan to a banty, I’ll play.

Brad

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We have some pretty talented people here that would be a shoe-in as winners. I’m doing this for the first time, so I’ll just watch from the sidelines and learn from the experts.

Joe

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Hmmm… Whatcha got in mind LF? How would this go down? How would we do it (judging and all)? I nominate Ladyfisher, Leo and Bob Nunley as the panel of judges.

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Oooo, ooooo, ooooo,!! See my hand in the air??? Com’on Joe!! If I’ll enter, you can too!!! :shock: :lol: