My Rod Restoration Project

[Sportsman]

If you can't find one try here

 

http://www.guidesnblanks.com/product.php?product_id=334

[Rusty]

What bore size do you need for the tip ring Rusty?

 

3.5 - 4mm I think, hard to measure exactly. I've had a good look at guides'n'blanks before (thanks again Sportsman) and they've come closest to what I want but can't provide lined intermediates and a threaded tip as a set.

 

None of the original rings were lined (the Fujis were replacements) so in keeping with that I think I'll compromise my original plan and go for a set of these replacing the tip ring with Sportsman's link;

 

http://www.guidesnblanks.com/product.php?product_id=525

 

Gratitude to Chavender too.

[chavender]

There you go then! You got a screw in end ring amongst that lot Chavender or am I going to still need to have a look?

 

 

best too keep looking ,as i can't be sure until i get me hands on the bits ,to find out the sizes and types for sure .

[Rusty]

The rings and thread I ordered arrived today so the whipping stage had to start, I’ve run out of excuses.

 

As usual I made life difficult for myself by ordering much thinner thread than I’d used previously. Eyesight which is probably a bit worse than it was 33 years ago meant I was in for an interesting and frustrating time.

 

First up were the two re-enforcing whippings on the female joints. I did these first to get a bit of practice without having to worry about lining up rings. After a few attempts (and one really annoying faux pas when I forgot to put in the loop of thread) they were done. Not too bad really and a lot better than the whippings I took off.

 

The butt section female joint before;

 

and after;

 

 

The mid section female joint before;

 

 

and after;

 

 

Once these were done the rod was assembled and given a good waggle in the garden just to make sure it wasn’t going to break. All was well so on to the keeper ring.

 

I tried to be clever here and whip the ring in one go rather than the two legs separately. I’m not sure it’s worked out very well so might have another go at it but it’s a lot better than it was.

 

before;

 

 

after;

 

 

On to the butt ring. This introduced a couple of issues and was a pain in the backside quite frankly. Firstly ensuring the whippings are of equal length is a bit difficult. Doing the first leg is ok, you just start the whip where it looks about right, but then making sure the other leg whipping starts in exactly the right place whilst trying to trap the initial loose end is tricky. The other problem I had was pulling through the final loose end, if you do this too close to the rod ring leg the end just pulls round to where the whipping is arched (where it goes over the leg) and it all comes loose. After lots of ‘hilarity’ I finally got there.

 

before;

 

 

after;

 

 

That’s it for the moment, a few fluffy stubs which I didn’t manage to cut back well enough but overall I’m fairly pleased with the thread twiddling results. I’ll do the tip section next and if my technique improves sufficiently I may go back and re-do a couple of the butt section.

[Dick Dastardly]

Just use the "burnishing" dodge I showed you in the picture post Rusty and they will be perfect. You can also use this to a degree to "adjust" the length of the whipping so they match exactly ie opening up slightly or compressing them.Once the hi-build/varnish is on you wont notice any difference.

 

To avoid being able to see the tag end under the whipping (as seen in the reinforcing whipping) you can "taper" the thread by cutting a few of the strands away.This is only really necessary with very fine tightly braided threads on "loose" whippings as once again the coating covers all.

 

Looking good though.

 

Did you get a tip ring and have you decided on multiple layers of varnish or a hi-build for your whippings yet? I ask as Ive still not done the post with pics about using hi-build but Ive got several rods in that I need to do so could get a few pics if needed? Oh and Ive found a couple of different sized bore tips but none of them are chrome they are all black.

Edited May 14, 2010 by BUDGIE

[Rusty]

Hello Budgie, yes the burnishing dodge is brilliant but my starting point (pre-burnish) was a long way off the standard of yours. I'll continue to fettle them.

 

I think I'll try the high build whipping finish so if you wouldn't mind taking a few pics that'd be great. I was unsure at first because I've been told that I'll need a rod rotatating device but I've googled a bit and that might not be the case, I plan to practice a bit on old rings whipped to bamboo canes to see how difficult it is.

 

Yes I have a threaded chrome tip ring thanks.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Rusty

[Dick Dastardly]

Thats good.No need for anything other than your hands and a spare hour or so for hi-build! No need for a "proper" Hi-Build either a pack of Standard (or Precision as I believe its now called) Araldite will do just as good a job. I will do a photo sequence this Sunday using DIY stuff.

[Andy Macfarlane]

I'm well impressed with how your rod is turning out Rusty. Your blanks were pretty war-torn and I didn't think you were going to get that good a finish to be honest. Inspirational.

[watatoad]

Stunning just stunning you are a great rod restorer, keep it up

[Rusty]

Thanks for the kind words gents but it’s Budgie and all of the other contributors who really deserve the praise. I’ve just followed instructions (several times went it went wrong) and I’m very grateful for all of the help and advice.

 

On the home stretch now, all of the rings are on and just the whipping finish to do. Some of them have been on and off few times and I was beginning to wonder whether a 100 yard reel of thread was going to be enough.

 

The tip section was by far the most difficult, the small diameter made it hard to fasten the rings with tape and align them at the same time. Then when I’d achieved that whipping the first leg would inevitably skew the ring so I’d be back to square one. This usually occurred when I managed to whip a perfect finish and it would all have to come off again. In the end I had to resort to taping one leg and using a small blob of super glue on the other. When I was happy with the alignment I then removed the tape and whipped that leg, the glue was sufficient to stop it moving.

 

How rod builders whip rings onto today’s super fine tip sections I’ll never know.

 

Anyway, enough bleating, some before and after pics of the whole rod;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a bit more detail the tip ring. This looked ok when I’d finished but the close up tells a different story so I’ll be doing it again. Budgie’s burnishing trick is a really good way of evening out the whipping but it can only do so much, you have to start with something presentable and in this case I didn’t;

 

 

 

Other tip section whippings weren’t too bad;

 

 

 

 

The mid section is probably the best of the lot, it’s the last one I did and I was getting into a bit of a rhythm by then. Dinner guests and visiting relatives will be shown this section;

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve bought some slow drying Araldite ‘precision’ epoxy for sealing the whippings and I’ll fix some old rings to some bamboo to try it out first. The Roses will have to cope without support for a while.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Rusty