OLD 1950s SPLIT CANE FISHING ROD

[Lyle]

I bought a fishing rod at a garage sale. Bought it for the old Diawa 9850 spin caster reel.
The rod is interesting to me as it is a 'bamboo?' split cane rod made by a Len C Butterworth.
It is hexagonal (6 sided) and tapers to the tip. Two piece about 6' long.
The rod is in reasonable shape I guess, all the bits are there but needs re-whipping.

Wondering how to best preserve/conserve/restore???

1. strip all old bits off
2. clean old bits and restore/refurbish
3. clean up bare rod (nearly all the makers labels are gone - so strip them off too?)
4. apply some form of varnish/lacquer to bare rod.
4 refit refurbished old bits, whip them in place.
5. store in dusty corner of shed...... :rolleyes:

any suggestions?

Thanks
Lyle.

[dai sensei]

Wow, could this a coincidence :?. I used to own one just like that my father passed on to me as a beach rod when I was a kid. Many years later whilst I was overseas working he gave it away to a local fishing shop for a wall display of old hand made equipment :-, but then when the shop went under, it was sold with all the stock :~. I can't remember any makers mark on it, but it was made and given to my father by a woodworker/carver friend who's name was Butterworth in Sydney.

If it is the same rod I'm glad someone who will appreciate has now got it. As for restoration, I'll leave that to the experts.

[Robson Valley]

Gudebrod makes threads and varnish specifically for fishing rods.
If you can find a shop that sells fiberglass and graphite rod blanks,
you can be certain that they will have everything else you need
like line guides, tips, reel seats. . . . eveything.

Storage: DON'T stand it up in a corner. Cane rods can and will take a "set" from
sagging with changing environmental conditions. Cheap, plastic rod cases are cheap.
Unscrew the ends, lay the rod in and store horizontally.

If this turns out as you hope, there's no harm in showcasing your effort.

[Lyle]

Well I started to clean up the old rod.
Metho on a well used scourer did the trick.
Got all the old lacquer off. Left all the old dings, scratches etc as patina.
Pulled all the ferrules off and will give them a clean up and maybe just a coat of clear to preserve them.

I found out how sharp those 'splinters of bamboo are. Ran a really fine one through thumb, man did that tingle with the metho :oo:
it came from up at the tip. I suspect that the tip is not original, and maybe there has been some length been broken off.

I went to a tackle shop in Salamander and he gave me a replacement which he says is more in keeping with the old Butterworth rods.

I applied a base of clear sanding sealer, and white shellac to the rod handles and butt and then a single coat of satin WOP. Looks OK.

Next will be to re-tie the furrules back on.

There is just a small bit of the manufacturers label, I'll leave it as is and just give the rod a light coat of satin WOP. Or gloss???

Any suggestions on the reel holder and rod joints - just clean up and a coat of clear to preserve?

Lyle.

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[NCArcher]

That's a really nice looking rod Lyle. Good find.
I think you are going the right way about restoring it.
A light clean and a coat of clear to preserve sounds right.
If you haven't done any binding before have a google. Plenty of info out there.
Here's one Rod Building and Repair from Davo's Bait and Tackle, Noosa, Queensland, Australia. (http://www.fishingnoosa.com.au/rodrep.htm)
Keep the pictures coming too.

[Chief Tiff]

When I was about 11 I inherited a load of old fishing gear left to me by my great uncle; an Edgar Sealey Octopus split cane 3 piece float rod being my pride and joy. A couple of years later my cousin Simon was demonstrating to me his brand new Abu-Garcia carbon fibre rod; the tip of which he could bend pretty much in a circle. "How far does your bend then" he asks, grabbing hold of my rod and predictably enough snapping the last 10" off the end. Even over 30 years later he still recalls the look on my face...

Anyway; being a big library buff I found an old book on how to make greenheart and split cane rods from scratch and worked out what I could do to make it usable again. I stripped off the rings and whippings and as carefully as a 13yo can scraped the last section down until it would fit into it's end ring again, using a Stanley knife blade. I then re-whipped the rings and decorative whippings and applied ordinary household varnish via my fingertips.

The rod had changed from being a "through" to a "tip" action, but it was still good enough and gave me many more years of fun.

Simon is still a mad keen fisherman and targets Pike; a quick Google Images with his name came up with this:

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When I visited the family back in the UK about 4 years ago he offered to take me pike fishing. At 3 in the morning. Midwinter. I actually wanted to go, but I'd have had to rug up like the Michelin Man!

[Lyle]

Thanks for the link.
I notice that they put on a layer of binding thread then place the runner on that and then bind the runner.
When I pulled the runners of my rod they were just bound straight on to the rod?
Would that have been the norm back when the rod was made.
Or could they runners have been replaced later.

Is the double layer of binding the right way to do it? It looks good to me.

[NCArcher]

I would double bind. In fact I have a nice old surf rod to do and I plan to use an underbind on that.
I had all the gear to do it years ago including bottles of filler and rod varnish and all the guides but I have no idea where they all are now.
I had better start fresh and buy some more.....I probably should get a new reel to match it as well :D

[Lyle]

I have a BBQ rotisserie motor that I want to use to spin the rod when doing the whipping/binding? Will it be too slow? How tight is the binding put on, ie do you have to keep a really tight pull, or is it just lightly laid on and the glue/thread sealer hold it together?

Have now got two coats of WOP on the rod and it looks OK. May just put on another coat just for 'body'. Photos to come.

[NCArcher]

The binding has to be quite tight. Not so much that you are cutting into the blank but it must not move once in place.
I think the BBQ motor would be too slow for binding but it would be ok to keep the rod turning while the epoxy dried.

[Lyle]

Yep! The BBQ motor is too slow. I doubt that it would even be OK for the epoxy, to stop it dripping off.

Here are a couple of photos. You can now see the bamboo pattern, before it was all just dirty dark brown. One showing the remains of the makers decal. I was careful not to remove any more of it. (my finger is not there to indicate the size of the rod :-

I am happy with the finish so far. Now to try and do the runners and tie them on.
You can see some of the paper in the first photo that was underneath the bindings. I'm thinking that was there to soften the appearence of the bindings around the edges of the corners?

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[Lyle]

A few more photos along the road to repair :)

The tip with the red bit is the one on the rod, which I think is not original.
The tip with the two 'prongs' is the one from the tackle shop.
Which would be the most original-like???
If it is the two pronged one, how would you bind it to the rod tip?

All runners were just overbound, no under-binding. Would that be correct? Some original binding thread is tied to a runner just for size and colour comparison.

Any suggestions for binding thread size and colours??

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[Chief Tiff]

I would use the tip that came with the rod; I have seen many split cane rods with what look like "wrong" tips.

From memory my rod didn't have under binding either.

Why not pick a thread that you like and re-whip all the rings; do a full restoration?

[Lyle]

The tip that is on it has a different ceramic insert than the runners.

The two pronged one is what the tackle shop said was more of the style back when the rod was made.

I'm now thinking the runners may not be original too.
So confusion reigns.

But I think you may be right.
Just put the rod back to as how I got it, but "refreshed" with a good clean up, new bindings and a new clear coat finish.

All evidence points to the binding thread being a deep blue or black.
Would that colour have been standard.
Or should I just choose something that I like?

[HOOKED.UP]

Hi Mate. The tip with the red insert is a later Fuji Tip. Your rod would have had the 2 foot type tip with white insert which was porcelain. Most of your guides would also have been white, with the "possible" exception of the stripper guide, which may have been agate or agatine. These rods were not under bound at all. There were not many colours of binding thread used in that era. A very pale green was the most common or a dark red, maybe a black. I wish I was closer to you, so I could help. I am a professional rod builder. I am sure my "junk" pile has bits you might be able to use. Gudebrode is the thread of choice. Good luck with this rebuild. I love doing up old rods. PAUL. :U

[Lyle]

Thanks Paul.
Now more confusion.
"Stripper" guide.? That would be a runner above where the reel sits, I am guessing? It'd be a lot bigger than the line runners/guides.?

This rod is two piece, and has no runner/guide on the butt end. I cannot see where one was fitted originally, ie no mark or shading where it might have been.

[HOOKED.UP]

Hi Lyle. Yes the "stripper" guide is the large guide directly above the reel. As a general rule the stripper was placed 2/3 of the length of the rod when measuring from the tip to the reel seat position. Hope this helps. It would be very rare for the lower part of the rod not to have had a guide. I can't be sure of course. PAUL.

[Lyle]

Hmmmm.
So on this rod there are three guides, plus the one on the tip.
The three guides are sequentially smaller to the tip. So that would mean the Stripper would be larger than the biggest guide?
On this rod the Stripper would be on the butt end of the two piece rod.

If that logic is good then I am also missing that Stripper guide - bugga.
Oh well it is only a 'interest piece' rod.

I'm going to order some different binding thread to what I have got now and give a guid a go.
Photos of the mess to follow, if I haven't glued myself to it... :rolleyes:

[HOOKED.UP]

I suggest you take the rod to your tackle shop. The should be able to advise you as to the number of guides and possibly where they should be placed. Failing that stand the rod against one of their rods in store, you will get a rough idea where the guides need to go. :2tsup: PAUL.

[Lyle]

Well I have moved only a small bit forward with the project.
I have bought some binding thread and built a rod turner of sorts. :D

Experimented a bit and am about to start binding on the runners.

Here are a couple of pics of the job so far. I used a microwave synchronous motor for rotation, it goes 8 - 10 RPM, then turned up a collett that fit the motor shaft, then a bit of PVC for a split collett to take the rod butt, and there is a hole in the turned collett for the other rod ferrule. The PVC split ferrule I didn't think would work, but it does really well. The other end is just sitting on a soft cloth for support and it works OK too.
A bit of a mish-mash but it all works OK.
I'll practice my binding a bit more then have a bash at it for real. :fingerscrossed:


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Along the way I bought an old Sea Martin Mk II reel at a garage sale. Did the minimum cleanup/maintenance to it. Stuck it on the rod to see how it looks. I'll probably put an old Alvey on it later as I'm thinking that is probably what was on it originally.
It has been fun so far.

[Lyle]

I finally finished the make-over.
I'm not really happy with the clear finish over the bindings. I think my mistake was to not use enough layers of binding sealer. The edges/corners show the binding thread underneath, but only just. So I'll live with it.
Overall I have learnt a lot and had fun doing it.
I teamed it up with the Neptune Tackle Sea Martin reel.
It looks OK. But maybe an old Alvey might look better - Comments.

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[HOOKED.UP]

Looks great Lyle.
I think for a first time job with no instruction , you have done a job to be proud of.

PAUL.