Chapman 500 - "Styles" Of Restoration

[Barbelbonce]

Following my remarks in the previous post:

I have had for a while an early 500 de luxe. I am now re-doing it completely, to match, not copy, the 500 I did a dozen or fifteen years ago.
I have read, fairly often, of members who have rigged 500s with high bells, as opposed the the standard, as built, full-open bridge rings.
This is my dilemma: to high bells or not? I like the idea of one of each style used in my normal manner of fishing: one rod on the float, the other on the bottom.
BUT; originality......Is it more important?
Any opinions will be gratefully received.
Cheers, Mike

p.s. John Chapman was perfectly right to chuck into the envelope a few extra old Chapman gold water-slide labels. He said they are very fragile. Some understatement, John!! Despite extreme caution, I wasted 3 of them before eventually getting one to work - nearly properly......

[Wallys-Cast]

I always thought of the 500 as a good heavy float rod and the 550 as the leger rod. My 500 has High Bells Life rings to help prevent line stick in wet weather. The 550 of course has full open bridge throughout.
Plus don't forget Mike, rings are not permanent and if originality is preferred further down the line then it will be easy to re-ring it with the original Low Bells Life rings. (if you can find a nice set of course).

Wal.

[Harry H]

If it's for you to use Mike I'd go with the high bells, would make a great all-rounder. I did the same to a kit Mk 4 Avon and it makes a great rod and more than capable of landing any fish in any swim on my local river.

[Olly]

A 500 with high bells is very similar to the 600 Ledgerstrike!

[Barbelbonce]

Harry H, Olly and Wally's Cast; thank you all. You have confirmed me in my inclination.
Yes, only for me to use. Strangely (or stupidly), I have never sold a rod that I have restored and all are used - some less often than others!
I will go the high bells route, without any qualms. It is what I want and if things don't work out (but why shouldn't they?), the option to revert to cradle rings is always there, as you say, Wal.
Olly: mmmmm. Not too sure about that, with the caveat that I use both, often to do the same job!
The tip of the 500 top joint is about 25% thicker than that of th L'strike. The LS extreme length handle also makes the general feel and fish-playing quite different. The tapers, below, are an interesting read.
Many thanks to you all,
Mike

The Peter Stone ledgerstrike 10′ 2 piece 1lb
Blank Specifications.
Butt 60″ Tip 60″
0″ 0.360 ” 0″ 0.095
16.5″ 0.424″ 14.5″ 0.158
33″ 0.460″ 18.5″ 0.170
38″ 0.485″ 60″ 0.340
42″ 0.585″
0″ 0.655″


The Chapman 500 10′ 3 piece Avon style rod 1960.

Blank Handle 24″ alloy tube with internal brass ferrule.
Middle section .425 —– .321
Top section .281 —– .123
specifications. Straight tapered blanks six strip.

[Olly]

Ah - I was referring to to the Chapman Peter Stone 600!
Blank specifications. Compound tapered blanks six strip. Test Curve 1 lbs
Tip section.
0” .095 “
12” .157 “
24” .210″
36” .237″
47” .280″
Middle section
0” .321″
47” .455″
Handle: 28″ alloy tube with internal brass ferrule. Cork handle: 28″ x 7/8″ with two 7/8″ alloy sliding reel bands with cork ball butt.
Ferrules: Brass suction ferrules butt 11.8mm middle 8.5mm.

[Duckett]

My only complaint about my 500 and my 500 de Luxe is that neither has high bells. I’m with Wal on this one, they are lovely heavy float rods. I often use them for margin fishing when I know Carp are near unavoidable! I’d use them more often but find them a bit short for most places I target Tench.

Phil

[Catfish.017]

Some time around 1994, influenced in no small part by the Passion for Angling series, I began looking for a cane Avon rod on a small budget. At that time, not far from the Park Lake there was an old fashioned Junk / secondhand shop. One day on a whim I went in and found in a box of old rod bits, a complete 500 in a rather sorry state. Crucially the cane was straight and sound, the handle good, everything else shot! Fifteen pounds secured the rod and so began my first cane restoration knowing nothing about the rod. I found a suitable ferrule quite quickly at my local Rod and gun shop. I just as quickly ruined the new ferrule trying to fit it Dick Walker fashion using heat and moderate force . Luckily the shop had another ferrule which I glued this time after gluing slivers of cane to the flats. I agonised for ages over what rings to fit, eventually ringing Edward Barder for advice. For another fifteen pounds he sent me a set of top quality chromed stainless low bells which are still on the rod now! There is some very slight wear on the tip ring but believe me this rod has done some mileage. I first whipped in a rather fancy style not being aware of the rather basic spec of the original, but after a few years , disaster struck and I broke the top section. I put it aside for a year or so but then got John Chapman to make me a new top. At that point I re whipped the whole rod in plain Garnett thread and also dispensed with one of the two extra rings Edward had supplied. A few years later another disaster saw me break the butt section at the handle ferrule trying to ‘punch’ out light float tackle to some distant Rudd at the ‘Old Res’ ( I posted about this at the time to raise awareness of the limitations of the construction method) so the rod is still going albeit some two and a half inches short in the butt section which doesn’t really impact on its performance in any way.

[Barbelbonce]

Olly!!
Yep, I must have had a senior derrrrrr moment there! You were clearly talking about the 600. My apologies for my stupidity. This happens increasingly...!
AND: importantly, thank you very much for drawing my attention to the ringing pattern of the 600. It was obviously designed for the compound taper of the blank.
So I thought: the 500 is a straight taper, so the 600's ringing pattern should be fine on the 500 blank. No steps to contend with.
Without further ado, I removed the full open bridges and the Aqualite butt and tip and replaced all with a full set of high bells. A bit of tape to try them out and Bob's yer father's brother:

(I seem only to get very low res images when I snap on my mobile [with a 14MP camera!] and then send to my e-mail account. V annoying).
Presently has a threaded tip ring and I need to decide if this is what I really want, having same on my other 500. Will probably revert to an conventional stand-off tip. I have serious trouble making decisions, these days.
The female ferrule on the butt seaction is now "in glue", it having announced a slight knock yesterday. It didn't require any heat at all to get it off. That tells it's own story!
Thanks again, Olly.
Mike

[Olly]

No problem - glad to be of some help! Hope it all goes well.