So I built a bunch of graphite fly rods this winter. Really enjoyed the experience and I'll continue doing it for fun and cuz one can never have enough rods. I'm certainly a long way from mastering the craft, but I've become competent in the basics. The question is, how far can one go with these skills toward refinishing or restoring old cane rods? Not interested in building them from scratch mind you. Again, just for my own use and statisfaction. Anybody out there do both graphite and bamboo? Tips? Pitfalls? Expensive tools?

It's all very similar once you get past the blank making part. Stripping, refinishing, wrapping, etc., are pretty the same on cane as on graphite.

What I would recommend, is getting a good book on bamboo rod making, and going through it to learn the basic finishing process there. If you know how to make one, you can probably restore one.

Fundamentals of Bamboo Rod Making by Bernie Elser and George Maurer is a good one.

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You can contact me privately if you wish at : mrparramoure@yahoo.com

I may be able to give you some tips.

Tight lines ~ ~

Jim. I recently switched over to bamboo blanks and it is an easy transition. I use Wipe On polyurethane or Tru-oil to pre-finish the blank. Art can explain to you how dipping is done, but I don't regard that step as being necessary or useful. After wrapping, you will need to use thin coats of a varnish or poly for the wraps, as epoxy "rounds out" the hex shape of the blank. You can do it all with Wipe On Satin Polyurethane. I rarely use double foot guides, but that is the more traditional style for bamboo. I do use cap and ring seats more often on bamboo than on graphite.

There is a book by Michael Sinclair about restoring old bamboo rods that is considered the standard reference for doing that. Unfortunately, this book has gone out of print. While it was reasonably -priced just a few years ago, the typical price for it is now ridiculously high. If you can manage to locate a copy and it's a good deal, I wouldn't pass it up.

There is also this guy named Bamboo Mike that sells stripped down old rods. These rods make good starter projects for people in your position. You can probably locate his web site with a Google search.