Sowerbutts Kenavon 13ft

[RicGough]

Hi all.

My wife bought me a blank of the above rod as a birthday present and I am generally looking for information. The rod has a partially refitted handle though this is badly done and about to come off in favour of set of shives from ted oliver. I've managed to match the intermediates with light green silk, also from ted oliver. The ferrules were toast and I have replacements also from olivers with a butt cap, hook keeper and universal winch fitting from the same source.

The blank came with black metalled double foot snake style guides with brown ceramic linings and I have sourced a full set of agate stand-offs.

Basically this is a general post as to the general nature of the rod. It is hollow built with a powerful butt and the tip is about the same as the dorset I'm working on at the moment. I would like to know whether the threads of intermediate I found still on the blank are likely to be the same as the guide whippings and the most likely original handle shape.

This is a blank I'm willing to pull out all the stops for, and am looking for any advice from the forum. Luckily the guide spacings and intermediates are still marked on the rod as the blank is very slightly darker where the originals were.

It was advertised as a "match" rod blank but this feels about as heavy the dorset 12ft and possibly more powerful.

Just a rod I cant find much info on so I'm throwing it open to the forum.

I will psot pics in due course.

[Nobby]

Sowerbutts rod were expensive and perhaps for that reason they are quite rare and I can see why you would want to try and keep it original in appearance. It's something I wholeheartedly approve of btw, if we don't keep some of them original we'll soon forget what they used to look like.


I expect you already know of Adrian's site:

http://www.inthenetuk.com/pages/Vintage ... erbutt.asp


They don't seem to have a 'style' of their own, unless it's everything black!

Adrian has a rod by them, a special commision for a Norfolk tackle dealer, but he has yet to upload any pictures of it.

A Google Image search seems to confirm black is best and they did like their multiple 'inters'

https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q ... 8QOYnMGaBw

[RicGough]

There are about 150 inters on it. Whoever stripped the blank left the varnish around the ink along with 2 of the inters which were in light green silk.

I have a pretty good match for these and plenty of it. The previous owner replaced the handle with preformed sleeves and tried his hand at a doughnut top, but the ones on inthenet.uk have a flared handle which I'm going to try and do.

I guess there will be a certain amount of educated guesswork. I don;t know if the agate rings throughout would have been plausible on the original but they are not going to harm the aesthetic of the rod I don't think - unless you are an ardent purist.

[GloucesterOldSpot]

I guess there will be a certain amount of educated guesswork. I don;t know if the agate rings throughout would have been plausible on the original but they are not going to harm the aesthetic of the rod I don't think - unless you are an ardent purist.

Forget purism - think practicality. Do you need all agates on a thirteen footer? Weight will be an issue here I think.

[RicGough]

Just weighed two ringsets - a lined butt and tip/ hardchrome stand-off set and the agate/agatine set.

The difference is 1/4 of an ounce. (7 grams).

I'd save more than that by taking my watch off.

Also, they look stunning.

To be honest, the inters on my rod look to have been the same colour and spacing as these - http://www.inthenetuk.com/pages/PhotoSl ... ispPhoto=4

[GloucesterOldSpot]

Just weighed two ringsets - a lined butt and tip/ hardchrome stand-off set and the agate/agatine set.

The difference is 1/4 of an ounce. (7 grams).

I'd save more than that by taking my watch off.

Also, they look stunning.

To be honest, the inters on my rod look to have been the same colour and spacing as these - http://www.inthenetuk.com/pages/PhotoSl ... ispPhoto=4

Nice experiment! I was thinking more about how the heavier rings affect the action; bear in mind there will be more of them on the tip than the butt, and that's where any added weight will have most affect. Imagine taping a 1/4oz bomb halfway up the top section and you'll get an idea.

[Nobby]

I suppose there must be a method for calculating the load of a rod ring at seven feet out and the same ring again at thirteen feet out? I somehow feel that it would have an enourmous effect?

It'd certainly make the rod more 'bouncy' and increase the risk of tangles...and a sore wrist, I feel.


Might there be some mileage in taping the rings on temporarily and attempting to 'feel' for a change in action, I wonder? I did this with a recent re-build whose blank felt so good when stripped I really didn't want to change it. I ended up fitting smaller rings to the middle and tip sections. I doubt I could measure the weight difference between the new tiny rings and the originals, but what a change to the rod!

So much for me being a purist about re-builds, then

[RicGough]

Taping the rings and having a play/cast around around is a good suggestion, thanks.

I have the opton on either lined or unlined - I have the rings anyway - howerver, one consideration might be that the larger rings will carry proportionatley more weight and be at the butt section. Where the blank meets the handle, although hollow built it is a smidge over 17 mm and very stiff. The agate's at the tip go down to an internal diameter of 2.5 mm and will literally be a feather's weight more than a standard high-bells.

It is not going to be a light rod regardless of the guides, also, although beautiful and perfectly sturdy the replacement Olivers ferrules are noticeably lighter than the ones which have come off, which does allow me the luxury of lined guides without adding to the overall weight of the finished rod. Haven't weighed these yet though.

It is however a noticeably better balanced blank than the 12ft dorset - those extra few inches on the handle, heavier butt and lighter hollow built mid section makes a lot of difference.

I will see how it feels with each set of guides and see if there is a noticeably slower action before I whip them on.