hello again I have another question,

Im refurbishing a bamboo rod that belonged to my wifes father, Im not doing a restore but I am wrapping the guides the original colors, gold silk wraps with 14 wraps of gossemer brown silk for tips.

my question is what did mfgs use to preserve the wrap color back in the late 40s to say 1952. The original wraps were not but a tad translucent when I Stripped the blank. the thread was definatley gold. I also confirmed the wrap colors in a bamboo rod guide.

I did a finish test on a few wraps one without CP and one with CP.

It was no surprise that the wrap without CP darkened but, it went from very bright gold to brown and dried to a brownish gold (more brown than gold) though a bit translucent. the dried non CP sample did not come close to matching what came off rod .

The wrap with U40 CP kept its color as usual but the the color was opaque though it was closer to the original but not translucent at all.

SO what do most of you do in this situation? its perplexing me!! Im leaning to the CP to keep the wraps true gold.

Any input of course will be very welcome "John"

from my experience, old colors are hard to match. I do not beleive they used color preserver then, but maybe someone else will tell me I am wrong. thread as well as varnish will fade or discolor from the sun. therefore, even if you have exactly the right thread color, it will not look the same as it does now after almost 60 years of exposure. I think you should try some other colors, maybe a lighter tan or gold without CP, and play around with them until you get what is acceptable to you.

John,
I can't adress all your questions about the old ways, but currently for silk thread there is a solvent based color preserver recommended for use. One is called Al's color preserver. Not sure about how the U-40 product will work on silk. I'd be interested to know also.

Rich
Richard's Rod & Reel

Funny you should ask,, Just posted a note on The VFS board on this subject. I don't wish to discourage you from experimenting with CP to achieve the color you want,, but would suggest that you make several test wraps with CP,,both to arrive at a color you like AND to determine that your CP is going to provide good penetration into your silk and not "blotch" when the varnish is applied.

Blotching problems when using color preserver are related mostly to the very old type nitrocelluous laquer variety. Modern day acrylic and acrylic/urethane type color preservers do not have this problem provided they are properly used. As the article in RodMaker stated, one of the biggest problems created by rod builders who insist on thinning color preservers is the lack of solids left in the threads which can allow some finish penetration and thus discoloration in spots.

Other problems from thinning are the time it takes for whatever you toss in there to fully assimilate with the CP. Using a just thinned color preserver before allowing it time to get everything back into solution can create a haze of sorts. Thinning with regular tap water can also cause problems (use distilled water if you simply must thin).

If the manufacturer recommends thinning, then do so. If not - don't. And rarely should anyone have to thin more than 20% at most.

Your color quandry is best decided by testing several colors of thread with and without color preserver. You may find the best match will come from a thread that is not even close to what is on the rod, but finished with or without the CP to get the color you want. Happy hunting.

.............

thanks for the info guys, I put 4 layers of CP on the silk wraps .

I had nasty blotches on 4 out of 9 guides. Im now rewrapping the entire blank and using a bit lighter silk. it will be pretty close to the color I would like using Varathane 900 and no CP.

I think Im going to go CP free from now on unless off the spool color is a must such as for decorative weaves etc but seeing I not doing any weaves I guess I wont need the stuff as this is two out 5 rods that CP didnt work and I had to do the whole thing over.

By the way Im ging to try airbrushing on a rod using nail stencils. Ill try on a practice blank but it shoud be fun and nice looking.

Happy wrapping "John"