I'm replacing all the wraps on a G Loomis spinning rod (SAR1084S) that has been heavily used by a local guide.
All the wraps are cracked. The question is, how can I clean up this blank without sanding and recoating it?
I've wiped it with denatured alcohol 3 times and acetone twice. It's getting better but it is still funky.
Just keep wiping it down, or does anyone have a secret sauce to speed up the process.
Thanks.

Well, it wasn't one of the older matt finished rods, or the finish would be already gone. A friend got the egg goo off a guide's rod with Goo Gone, but I have no idea how many layers there may be, guides tend to have the worst personal looking gear out there with all the dyes and chemival concoctions they use. The reels get equally decorated.

I restored one of these rods a year or so ago. If I remember, the rod was not painted it had a natural graphite finish. If you are just trying to get rid of built up grime and slime, then a cleanser/degreaser like Clorox cleanser, simple green, Mr Clean magic eraser, even soap (Dawn) and water will work well for both the blank and the cork handle. I have even used a Brillo pad for the handle. If you want to remove scratches then wet sanding with 800 or 1000 grit wet/dry sand paper will work. This is easy to do by hand and is almost like polishing the blank, you will get a matte finish. If you want a bit of gloss you can certainly wipe on some permagloss. Again this is quite easy to do and works very well. If the rod is painted, and the paint has chipped then things become a little difficult, and may require removing the paint and refinishing it to get it to look like new.
Once you clean the handle you can fill the pits with an outdoor use Golden Oak wood filler, or cork dust mixed with an outdoor use wood glue, or pit paste. Then sand smooth and coated with Cork Seal.
Norm

Thank you Spencer.
I'll try the goo gone / goof off.
There was salmon egg goo all over this rod, among other nasty things. I think he used it mostly for bobber fishing on the Alsea River here in Oregon.
It is an old rod but it does not have a Matt finish (maybe it just looks old from the heavy customer use).
I'm told Gary Loomis did not make this particular model until this guide asked him for 6 of this model (don't know if that's true or not, but they were friends).
Thanks again,
Jon

Thank you Norm.
I like the magic eraser idea.
Jon

Jon,
You have already stated you are replacing the thread wraps but are you replacing the guides as well or reusing the originals? Also, are you going to reinstall the guides (original or new) where the manufacturer decided to put them (with the same length wraps) or perform a 2-line static load test for guide placement so they are mounted at the optimum location for that particular blank? Is the blank painted (colored) or does the raw blank have a clear-coat of sorts or possibly left “natural finish”.
Without knowing exactly what you’ve got and, more importantly, what you (and your customer) expects, the refurbish process can be as abbreviated or involved as you want (or required). Note that often the seemingly abbreviated approach ends-up taking as much time and the end product is sub-par (or is that actually over-par lol).
For the ultimate result (whether refurbishing, restoring, rebuilding, replacing), remove the wraps and guides, scrape the finish off the blank with a razor blade held 90* to the surface and length, possibly wet sand with 600 or finer, apply a coat of Perma Gloss (or not), static load test for guide placement, thread wrap to your fancy, apply thread finish to the wraps, and you are left with a rod that looks and feels (possibly better) as if brand new.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Jon,
You have already indicated that you are replacing all of the guides.
Bite the bullet, in spite of the fact that you did not want to bite the bullet and use very gentle heat to first soften the finish a bit and then use a straight edged razor blade held at 90 degrees to the blank to scrape all of the finish off of the blank.

Then, start with 220 grit paper and go on up to 1200 wet and dry paper to sand the finish to a a very smooth finish. Now you will have the same non finish that Loomis used on their rods for many many years. Go ahead and put the new guides on the rod and thread finish as usual on the thread wraps only and you will have a wonderful rod that looks new and will stay that way. When you do a wet sanding operation, just take a 5 gallon buck and put a gallon or two of water into the bucket, put the butt of the rod into the bucket of water and go to work. NOTE: when sanding, sand ONLY toward the tip of the rod. As you know, the rod gets smaller toward the tip. If you sand from the tip toward the butt, it is possible that you might catch a graphite fiber from the rod and rip it off the blank and really leave a damaged spot in the blank. But, by always sanding toward the tip, your sand paper will never catch the end of a piece of graphite or fiberglass, depending on the construction of the rod.

By the way, simple green cleaner and a hand scrub brush will quickly take care of any nominal dirty spots on a rod blank like fish scales, dirt or salmon eggs with little or no hassle.

Best wishes

as always, good stuff Roger!