I have an old Cane rod that I want to restore. The rod has old varnish that needs to be removed before new finish can be applied.
I just have one simply question. What is the best way to remove the old finish?
Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks: Grant
Citristrip, available at most hardware/Big Box stores.
Brad
Just damp a clean soft cloth with it and gently rub off the old finnish… Ya have to be carefull removing the finnish from old bamboo rods because of the adheasive used to glue the blank togather was normally a animal based glue such as horse hide glue or something else…
I did not try to remove the finish on the old rod I just re-did. I carefully sanded the old finish with 220 then 400 grit sand paper to smooth things out and applied 5, maybe 6 coats of a wipe on gloss polyurethane. I used 4/0 steel wool between coats.
It came out just fine.
stop teasing… now put on some more pictures… looks good…
Looks really good! This is how I did a rod in the past and I was pleased with the result. I had just one little (actually big) problem, I sanded a litle too much near the tip which created qa week spot that eventually broke. For this one, I may try the stripping method, I just didn’t know if others were doing it this way.
I’ve read on another board that Zipstrip works well. Just wipe it on, wait a few minutes, and wipe off. Supposedly, it will not damage the glue joints.
Dave
Well, don’t sand so much! That is why I used 220 on the butt section followed by 400 grit and 400 grit on the center section and tips.
The rod is a 3W, 8’6", 3/2 Japanese rod. I call it my Ninja Rod. Haven’t fished it yet. Don’t have a reel for it, yet. Gotta swap something for a reel.
The seat is a sliding band type made of Xylosma Wood. I wrapped the grip in rattan. The thread wraps are metalic black and gray.
The winding check in the last photo is there to hold the rod upright so the jungle cock inlay can be seen. There are 3 JC nails in the inlay.
cane porn… YEA !!! nice work… the nail inlay sets it off nicely… that makes me wanna build another rod… how to go about buildina a grip like on the rod you pictured ?
Follow the instructions in the Rattan wrap thread in this forum. This is 4mm chair cane. I would recommend 2mm or smaller as it will conform to the shape of the grip better. The cork was pretty ratty on the old rod so I simply covered the ratty. It is finished with Flex-Coat Lite, 2 coats and feels nice in the hand. That grip will last longer than you or I will.