Greetings folks;

I hope, you all, are well,

I've been away for a while (teaching myself how to build chopper-proof wooden Striper lures) and am now back. Theres a lot to the subject, but there has been progress. Not quite done though.

I built the original rod for one, superb Albie/Bonita fisherman about 3-4 years ago.

I am expecting to, first, clean the surface of the blank which is a Lami GLB96 1M and that has gotten covered with dried Albie/Bonita scales.

I usually use a product called "Armor-All" during the season every few days, before the scales really 'dry' on!

If any of you can offer something (slightly more potent) for use in Albie/Bonita scale removal that has 'worked for you' , please advise us.

Secondly, the front-side fly guides (Fuji BLAG8's) are visibly rusted although, structurally, 'sound'.

If any of you can offer something for rust removal that has .'worked for you' , please advise us.

When I am done with cleaning, I will retouch the guide surfaces and lastly replace the 'one' guide which a well-meaning tackle repairer with the proper backend guide.

It is a 43 buck cermet guide before shipping, hmmm!

Its successor is about 3 bucks, hmmm! again.

Finally, a new wax job will hopefully give the owner the readiness for another few hundred more Albies.

Any help will be much appreciated,

Bob Marie

Get a PVC pipe of appropriate diameter and length to accept at least half the length of the rod. Buy two caps to fit. Glue one cap to one end. Fill pipe with white vinegar. First immerse one-half of the rod for a short period of time, remove then immerse the other half. How long is a "short period"? Keep checking the cleaning action of the vinegar on the immersed parts every five minutes and you'll know. The vinegar will clean down to bare metal but will not affect the plating.

Scales come off simply by wetting and letting them soak then scrub off with a brush and soap and water. The vinegar will remove surface rust on guides. I sometimes immerse reel parts in vinegar to clean them - it works great. After a vinegar soaking rinse well.

Lou

Thanks Lou,

I'll give that a try.

Bob Marie