The Roach

[MGs]

Those side mounted rings are very tricky. Trying to get the feet flat on the rod and whipping takes ages. I have the butt ring on, but it took an hour

[MGs]

Oh well, it was only a matter of time. My Gudebrod black has run out and the Piper's has yet to arrive. The butt section has the first coat of varnish drying. The logo was virtually complete. There was enough of the lettering left to identify the rod, so I took the liberty of completing the missing bits (it needed a 0.05 drawing pen).
I have managed (hopefully) to repair the bent and slightly broken tip ring (a standard Sealey with the white ceramic insert). I also got it and the top two rings on before the thread ran out. Two more rings to do when the silk turns up. More pictures to follow when it gets light.

It is never going to be perfect but the water staining is less evident now that it has been cleaned up a bit

[MGs]

OK, here goes, a few pictures of work in progress. Only a couple of coats of varnish on the butt so far, some way to go.


Before

And after, awaiting varnish

[AshbyCut]

Excellent, Sir. Looking forward to seeing the next stage.

[LuckyLuca]

A lot of work, but I'm sure you'll be rewarded in the end!

[MGs]

This rod seems determined to cause me as much grief as possible. I was just about to put the 3rd coat of varnish on the butt section when I noticed something odd with the previous one. A section of the rod (about a foot in total) running down from the butt ring whipping, looked as if it had chicken pox. Whether is was some contamination on the blank or something else, I don't know. Luckily, I managed to remove it without damaging the remaining sound stuff. The subsequent coat seems to be blending in OK, but that section is going to need two more coats, to catch up with the rest.

[MGs]

Nearly there. The Piper's silk arrived yesterday afternoon, so the last two rings are now on the rod. Just waiting for the varnish to dry on the tip section before posting some pictures. 3 coats on so far

[AshbyCut]

Keep going, Sir !!!

[Wallys-Cast]

10/10 for determination MGs, its looking really good.

Wal.

[MGs]

Finally, after much work with the heat gun and glue the rod is finished. By no means perfect, the black staining remains but is mostly covered by the ring whipping. Considering the delaminations, broken ferrule, bent and twisted cane, I'm pretty happy with the results. Another rod rescued from the scrap heap and all for about £35. It just shows you can still obtain reasonable cane for sensible money. Providing AC doesn't snap it up first