A gentleman wants me to refinish his grandpa's 9' 3 pcs. cane rod. The problem is this rod was made up from 2 different rods. The tips and mid sections are blonde in color and the butt section is caramel. This gentleman would like the tips and mid sections to be as close as possible in color to the butt section. What would be the best way to darken the tips and mid sections to match the butt section? He has a sentimental attachment to this rod. Thank you in advance, John

You can mix stain with varnish and try that.. What was the Butt section suppose to be????

John,

If it were me, I think I'd try some ammonia toning. The process really is simple. Buy a gallon of ammonia for $1 at the local market. Rig up some sort of tube over the mouth of the jug in which to hang the rod sections. I use clear plastic tubing from Home Depot designed to hold flourescent tubes.
Now here's the trick. Brew a strong pitcher of tea. Wipe the blonde rod sections down with tea. Get them good and wet. The tea will not actually stain the bamboo, but it does add tanins to the fibers. Now hang the tea soaked sections in the tube, place the whole thing in the sunshine, and let the ammonia fumes do their work. I suspect it will take from 1/2 day to 3 days of good sunshine to get things as dark as you want them.
Ammonia fumes work with the tanins which occur naturally in the bamboo, and with the tanins added through the tea, to create a darker color. The process is the same as antique fumed oak you may see in old furniture.

Good luck,
Harry Boyd

Thanks Harry and Dave, I'll practice on some old pieces of bamboo that I have laying around and let you know the results. John