Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

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Nigel Rainton
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Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by Nigel Rainton »

I bought a couple of cane rods at a boot sale a few weeks ago, they both looked old and tired but I thought the fittings would be worth a few pounds on eBay if they were beyond repair.

One rod was a 3 piece fly rod, with no name and no rings ! I removed the intermediate whippings from the butt section and the cane just below the ferrule immediately came apart. It was only the intermediate whippings holding it together. I waggled it and it felt very soggy. Bin.

The other rod was a 2 piece fly rod, 9’ 6”, made by Fosters of Ashbourne and according to the engraving on the butt cap, “Steel Centered”. It felt quite heavy but had a nice action. I loaded it with an AFTM 6 line and it cast very accurately.

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I contacted Stephen Woolley who recommended a light refurbishment; new rings and a coat of varnish. I therefore removed the rusty rings, including the tip ring which would have suited a heavy sea rod ! While removing the rings I noticed the female locking ferrule was badly split near the reinforced end. I also saw delamination in the butt section near the ferrule. Plan B. A full refurbishment now looked likely.

The tip section had a bad set. Stephen said the steel core would not prevent the set being corrected with heat, it should spring back. Gas ring turned on. 'A feint heart never won a fair woman'. I kept my hands near the cane and kept it moving over the flames. After several gentle warmings I thought it needed to be warmer. I moved the cane lower and slower over the flames and I felt the cane suddenly go 'soft'. I held the cane in an opposing bend and held it still for several minutes allowing it to cool slowly. Magic. When I released the bend, the tip section returned to straight. I couldn't believe I had done it. In answer to my original question on TFF; it is possible to straighten steel centred split cane (see later).

At that point, flushed with success, I decided to do a full refurbishment myself. How hard could it be ?

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I stripped the intermediates and ferrule whippings carefully with a sharp craft knife. They came away easily because the varnish was old and brittle. Those of a nervous disposition should now read another thread. Nitromors varnish remover. Blunt knife. Soft cotton rag. Bottle of White Spirit. Paint on the stripper with a brush, wait a few minutes, scrape it off, wash of the residue. Repeat until completely clean. Job done.

The cane of the butt section looked like new. Strangely, what had appeared to be delamination just under the ferrule on the butt section turned out to be just a split in the varnish, the cane was good. I checked every seam, inch by inch, under a powerful magnifying glass. Everything was sound. I noticed shadows in the cane from two lots of intermediate whippings. The rod had already been refurbished, many years ago. I could see from the curve of the cane that the butt had been turned. There were also dark marks left from the repositioning of the first ring. The reel fitting had also been turned through 180 degrees. I was keen to start on the tip but I know that it is best to take time over a refurbishment so I left it alone for a day or two.

In the meantime I ordered Pipers 4/20 twisted silk for the intermediate whippings and Pipers 90/2 twisted gloss silk for the rings, both in Red. I don’t understand the grading of silk, it is not logical. I ordered what was recommended on the Pipers website. I don’t intend to use dope on the whippings before I varnish the rod, I want the silk to darken considerably to match the original colour which was very dark claret.

I looked at the H and H website which I found a nightmare to use. The American sites are easy to use but I'm not paying the Royal Mail import duty of £8+ for a set of snake rings costing £10. I telephoned H and H and ordered a set of snake rings and a tip ring. The old butt ring was covered in varnish and slightly bent. I removed the varnish with a scouring pad under the tap and straightened it out using pliers. The metal looks like silver and the agate is a nice pale orange, lovely :-)

I contacted Chapman’s who agreed to try and match the old ferrules if I sent them in the post, very helpful.

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A few days later I carefully removed the intermediate whippings from the tip section (more Nitromors) and wiped the section down with White Spirit. The intermediates were 1/4" apart and only 3 turns at the tip. I checked the entire length of the tip section under a powerful magnifying glass, there was no delamination. The tip needed turning as unlike the butt section it had never been flipped over.

The handle was next. The cork was a bit chewed and had been badly filled with Polyfilla. Yuk. The corks were very good quality when the rod was new and after sanding it looked even and a very nice colour.

I used Brasso to restore the cap on the bottom of the handle and removed the female locking ferrule which was split in 3 places. It was probably not man enough for a heavy steel core rod. I removed the male ferrule with a bit of heat from the gas ring and sent it to Chapman's who had offered to match the size. Chapman’s were very friendly and helpful. Highly recommended (but see later).

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While doing all this stuff I couldn’t help wondering how I would tie 3 whip intermediates. It's more of a knot than a whipping. I will have to experiment with some old nylon and a pencil. All the fittings have been sourced and will take a few days to arrive so I have plenty of time to practice.

Research on the internet suggests that the steel centre is confined to the butt section ! I checked the cross section of the rod tip, no sign of any core. The ferrule end of the tip section has no core. The tip does not react to a magnet. Conclusion: the tip does not have a steel core. I scraped the ferrule end of the butt section and revealed a very thin (needle like) steel core. I imagine it is tapered up towards the handle. The butt is very stiff, more like a small snooker cue.

The brass ferrule arrived from Mike at Angling Supplies (very friendly and helpful) but it was 2mm too big. Nevermind it might come in handy on another rod refurbishment.

Chapmans telephoned to say they had matched the old silver ferrule with an 18/64” classic design, cost about £50! Gulp ! This rod had better catch a lot of trout.

The rod rings arrived from H and H, the tip ring was the wrong size, my fault.

The Very Expensive Ferrules arrived from Chapmans. The male didn’t fit the female. I discussed this with Chapmans who said the male needs polishing AFTER it has been fitted to the rod. What happens if it still does not fit ? Pardon me for expressing my disappointment but for £50 it should have been polished and checked before it left the factory. Ten seconds on a buffing wheel would have saved me hours of polishing. Think positive; it’s a hobby without time constraints.
The silk has not arrived yet.

A few days later the silk arrived and I whipped just above the handle. Then I put a couple of coats of varnish on the whipping to see how the colour would change. It darkened to exactly the shade of claret that I wanted. Perfect.
The varnished rod won't be glossy. I like the finish on my Sharpes 'The Carp', understated not flashy. I tied 3 intermediate whippings on the butt section. However, while whipping the fourth, I inadvertently undid the third ! It slipped and came untied. Shall I whip over a coat of varnish or just not bother ? The Scotties don't have intermediates, RW didn't like them. I'll have to think about it. Meanwhile I whipped on all the rod rings except the tip ring which didn’t fit ! I found an old agate tip ring and started to whip it to the rod but noticed that it was badly grooved. I ordered a ‘hay fork’ ring from ebay.

It took me about 2 hours to polish the male ferrule. I taped the male ferrule to the wrong end of a drill bit and used ‘wet and dry’ followed by tooth paste to get a nice fit. When I was happy with the ferrules I used normal Araldite to fit them and left the glue to set for a few days.

More to follow :-)
Last edited by Nigel Rainton on Tue Aug 05, 2014 12:37 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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AshbyCut
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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by AshbyCut »

A nice find, Sir.

Mr.Woolley is making new ferrules for my Foster Bros. 5' 6" brook rod, which I'm collecting at the autumn Redditch Fair.

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"Beside the water I discovered (or maybe rediscovered) the quiet. The sort of quiet that allows one to be woven into the tapestry of nature instead of merely standing next to it." Estaban.

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Nigel Rainton
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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by Nigel Rainton »

AC,

Do you know how old your rod is ? I have searched the internet and eBay for information on Fosters of Ashbourne but I can't find anything on their very old rods :-)

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Nigel Rainton
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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by Nigel Rainton »

I think the colour of the whippings is close to the original i.e. the colour immediately before the refurbishment. Was the silk bright red when the rod was first made ? I doubt it, the whippings would have faded over the years not darkened.

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I will await the arrival of the tip ring, fix it on the rod and try it out before I decide on the intermediates :-)

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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by AshbyCut »

SofaSurfer wrote:AC,

Do you know how old your rod is ? I have searched the internet and eBay for information on Fosters of Ashbourne but I can't find anything on their very old rods :-)
In the thread on my little ros Mr. Woolley kindly posted this :-

"thanks for pics, seems by the fittings to date around the 1930s, the tapered butt cap will be stamped with makers name, these ferrules the collar on the male ferrule, would fit over the female ferrule, I could make an original set of ferrules for this, this rod could have been a special travellers rod made for a customer, or part of the dual rod that fosters made, with two handles, thanks stephen,"
"Beside the water I discovered (or maybe rediscovered) the quiet. The sort of quiet that allows one to be woven into the tapestry of nature instead of merely standing next to it." Estaban.

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Nigel Rainton
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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by Nigel Rainton »

I have finished all the intermediate whippings and I learnt a lot. Whipping over 1 coat of varnish helps stop the silk from sliding about. I used fly tying wax on the silk thread which 'stuck' the silk to the rod and didn't discolour the silk. It helped me to see the whipping if I wore a white shirt, I managed 20 whippings at a sitting before my eyesight failed :-(

The action of the rod with whippings and varnish has changed, it is slower. That should improve my casting. I can't wait to try it out, photos to follow.

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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by Nigel Rainton »

The finished rod. The varnish is Satin, I tried to recapture some of the patina of the rod. I didn't think high gloss was appropriate. The varnish has hardened and I toned it down by polishing it with bees wax.

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This rod, which is about 100 years old, was one step away from the bin. I will try it out next week and hopefully catch a few trout with it :-)

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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by SeanM »

Lovely job Sofasurfer. I think you'll enjoy using it.
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StalkingLuke
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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by StalkingLuke »

Great job Nigel and it makes you wonder how many old tatty cane rods have ended up in the bin over the years, when they could have been rescued like yours.
Good luck with catching some trout.
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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by CrayCane »

Lovely job Sofasurfer, the finished rod looks superb.

As far as your new ferrule is concerned I'm afraid nearly all nickel silver ferrules are supplied like yours was. It's left up to the rod maker/builder to lap the male ferrule. I've read that this is to allow the maker to decide how tight he wants the fitting but personally I could do without the stress. It only takes a little too much haste and you've ruined an expensive ferrule and also have to remove it from the rod.

Pete

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