My first cane fly rod, so far so good.

[Barbelseeker]

think the snake offset oval rings date it to an early rod

[Cane Newbie]

Will try and print that catalogue off later on.

Been shopping. I did try to varnish some whipping on another rod with nail varnish which didn't work so well, so went to the nearest fishing tackle shop which i know carries some fly tying bits and hoped they had some proper varnish, which they did, and thinners, also picked up a pack of the smallest braided loops i could find as the ones fitted to my lines may be a bit fat for the tip-eye. Some brushes too and a rummage through grandmothers old sewing box has yielded some green silk threads.

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The agate butt section ring has cleaned up nicely, the old varnish came off easily so first job is to re varnish this.

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I know the varnish will alter the colour but just comparing shades of green.

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Chuffed to bits with the catalogue link as it's shown up a few other parts of the package, like a wood box/tube for the tip sections and the Acorn style ferrule plugs, something else to look into.

Being of an age where you tend to keep things for other uses, like old toothbrushes for cleaning. These "Bamboo" handled brushes are now looking like contenders to see if they fit in a drill chuck and can be turned down to a ferrule plug instead.

[Cane Newbie]

Had the worst guide whipping off as it needs redoing.

Tried a close up of the guide/ring and it appears to match the catalogue of a Bridged Oval guide, not sure on material steel/brass/bronze.

I carefully picked off the old green thread and had a pleasant surprise (less work to repair).
The black outer edge of the whipping is self contained and has remained intact, the guide is also black whipped on, which has remained, only the green thread has been removed.

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The guide is still firm in place. I have scraped around the edges and added some extra varnish to the guide feet.
Hopefully i can just rewhip in green to fully secure the guide and the black outer edges can stay as cosmetic flair.

So far the cleaning and revarnishing has lifted the look of the rod and it's taken less work than expected, which is nice.

[Cane Newbie]

think the snake offset oval rings date it to an early rod

I belive so after looking through the catalogues and the 1939/40 lists Round bridge guides where as the 1937/38 lists Oval bridge guides.

Have printed off the 37/38 catalogue now and the Hardys breakdown of line ratings, cracking source of information that link was Barbelseeker.


Also been looking at various sales photos of the collectors end of the market and it appears that Milwards did either chemical blacking or painting of the brass ferrules. I wasn't sure on mine as it looked like rust and pitting but turns out to be residue of a blacking and many layers of varnish being chipped and damaged and varnished and years of grime. Nice to know i don't have rusting bits.

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Did clean the ferrules up and polished but can't get all the staining out so they appear to be pitted but are not. I assume the ferrules where blacked for a purpose, maybe bright brass work glinting in the sun spooking fish away.

After a clean and gentle rub with a scotch bright pad i have ink washed the brass but left the rim clear. As it's dried the ink has taken on a semi textured surface which is going to get a few coats of varnish next.

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Looking quite smart now.

[Crucian]

That’s coming along very nicely

[Barbelseeker]

You can get chemical blacking for ferrules, I'll have words with my friend as to what he uses, and how.

[Barbelseeker]

Coming along nicely

[Cane Newbie]

Just went to move the butt section, all the others are dry, just caught the ferrule and it's still soft varnish.

Had a bit of varnish left in the pot so hopefully smoothed over the now fresh finger print.

At worst i can remove it all and try again, now to put it somewhere safe and not touch it for a day just to be safe.

[Cane Newbie]

Start with @Barbelseeker, i intend to leave the cork handle alone, i have given it a gentle wash/scrub with warm soapy water and a nail brush then a buffing with a soft cloth.
I think going too clean would look wrong.
With the power of youtube i found that various kitchen cleaning pads work well and if needed it should go back to it's natural finish with some elbow grease.


The varnish drama.

I finger printed the soft varnish last night, so added more and left the rod with ferrule pointing down, i did move it later and left it ferrule pointing up.
The varnish has sagged over night and made a run across the whipping. A slight mess that i don't intend to touch until it's fully cured but i think i can diamond stone it back and then just gloss over the whipping again. The actual blued brass ferrule has sorted it self with gravity and looks smart.

It will be easier to attempt to fix the run than strip back the ferrule and try again.

I went off on a tangent last night and maybe i should have started this thread in resto-projects if a Mod-Admin feel that is correct and wish to move me then that is fine, kind of lurking in Fly Fishing because fly rod and wasn't going for a full resto....

The tangent then.
I noticed from geeking out on the old Milward catalogues that the rods with 2 tips came with a wooden tip-carrier-protector, but no images.

I started searching and not really anything to match that came up.
I did go down the rabbit hole of Cane landing rod handles..... that also carry a spare tip..... and got thinking.

I have a pile of garden cane removed from father in laws garden bamboo forest.

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I wonder is there a bit straight enough, long enough and of a large enough diameter to take 2 tips.

I did some checking and have some PVC plumbing pipe, i think it was 18mm internal diameter and 20mm external diameter.
The 2 tip sections quite happily sit together inside an 18mm pipe.

This is now worth an experiment. I selected a bit that looks about right, cut it down so it's as straight as possible to start with, then attacked the growth rings and planed them down.
So far so good.
I now have a length around 35" and can i bore it out with what i have to hand.

So far i have managed to bore it through and just keep nibbling away at the bore.
Once i can see daylight, then i can start trying to steam the cane and chase out some of the bends, then rebore and nibble a bit more away and steam again.

Getting to the point of being able to try and fit 2 tips, just a process of rebore with a waggling flat bit wood drill bit on an extension bar and keep chasing straightness.
May or may not work but so far promising.

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All this kettle boiling and time for a mug of tea and have a few more goes at it.

Now thinking i could make a cane priest as well

[Cane Newbie]

Came out better than expected.

After several steamings and bendings and many reamings i don't think i can get it any straighter on the outside, however the bore has improved and enlarged each time.

First go to clear out the growth rings and you could see daylight but also the bore (by design) had followed the curves, so stepping up a drill bit size and allowing it to wobble with gentle speed and minimal force then the bore has opened up and i have chased out some of the bends, which in turn allows a wobbling bit to nibble away more.

I finished off with a shotgun cleaning rod and Bronze brush and while that dosen't drop through it does go through with a push and after a test fit with the rod sections yes they both slip in together and can be removed as a single and should be safe from getting a forced set. A nice slack fit.

I think a rod bag from guides and blanks and if i go to a beach rod 3=piece that should have the room to take the cane-tip-carrier and the other 2 sections of rod.
Not original, but practical and hopefully will look good when finshed. Thinking of a 1/2" long wine cork glued in the bottom and a push fit stopper for the top end.
Still lots of sanding and some planing to do and decide final length and cut down. Tempted to do a wanted advert to see if anyone has a very rotten Milwards bag but the sew on Company branding patch is still usable.

Scared to check out the varnish situation on the butt section of rod, hopefully it's stopped sagging and is "drying" will leave that alone until tomorrow.

The bore rig is a standard flat wood bit, and extension bar, started at 20mm just to recess the ends, then break through growth rings with a 12mm bit then go to a 16mm bit. An 18mm may have been quicker but i didn't want to risk blowing out the cane wall. To just get that extra bit of drilling overlap i used 2 driver bit extenders, this also has the advantage of allowing the flat wood bit to wobble and follow the cane-walls rather than a rigid bit ripping out the wall.

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