Now I have a small vintage hoop net in the crabtree style ,that i'd refurbished a year or two ago ,at the time the only net I could get for it was a medium net ,its mesh a tad too big for the size of fish I tend too catch ,so as its in near new condition my plan is to transfer the medium net too the new frame and re-net the small one .
So first job is to remove the net from the frame ,simple process of cutting the retaining cord
then pull the cord back out through the nets loops ,I have another net for the small frame ,but that'll wait for now
I've Took this net and offered it upto the new frame ,and drilled the top dead centre hole
then taking a boilie hair rig tool and pushing it through the (test) hole
and pulled the middle loop through the frame to check the fit
all looks good ,i'll do a proper fitting & marking/spacing the holes for the loops after the first coat or two of varnish / clear tuff coat .but I noticed that after nearly two years of the frame ends being taped together ,I doubt they was expected to be this way for this long ,but somethings you just can't rush .So a little light sanding of the area to remove any tape residue was required
I'd brought some wood dye ,to darken the pale wood up a bit and chose Indian rosewood as I wanted a lightish brown finish
theres two good ways to apply wood dye ,one is ragging ,using lint free rag to rub the dye into the wood ,I had some disposable gloves for this job .as I've used wood dyes in the past and things could get messy & nobody wants brown stained fingers smiley: embarrassed ,just tip a bit of dye onto the rag .
Then rub that into the wood forcing it into the grain ,and spreading it evenly along the wood.
or you could tip some dye into a pot or re-use a cake base (ummm cake) and using a stiff nylon artists brush to apply the dye
then using a lint free rag ,rub the dye in ,and in the process remove any excess ,getting a nice even covering
well I gave it a full all over covering
and when dry (its dries really quick but I left it overnight anyway) the colour lightens as it dries showing all the grain detail
next job is to add some protection for the wood to guard against being knocked & chipped i'm going to use ez-kote A laminating and finishing clear resin ,I normally only use this for floats that need a extra hard finish (blue Styrofoam etc ) that lines may cut into otherwise ,its not cheap at nearly £20 for a small bottle ,but it is good stuff ,its a little glupey but levels as it cures ,best applied by brush (with long strokes to even it out)
I've given the frame one coat so far
although its touch dry in a matter of twenty minutes or so ,i'm leaving it a couple of days (ok i'm waiting for the threading twine to arrive and the (bsf 3/8ths) tap to arrive) Then i'll mark out and drill the remaining holes for the nets loops to fit through ,then one or two final coats of the resin ,before I fit the net and lash it too the frame.
I try to be funny... but sometimes I merely look it! Steve
,so i'm still at square one ,I didn't order a bsf tap as I didn't think it would work trying to cut new fine threads out of coarse threads . so I've ordered a bsf tap now so I can try that (but don't hold out much hope) I have some bolts that are the correct threads so if the bsf fails to work ,I can make one of the bolts fit by brute force and ignorance . 
