A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

The A. E. Rudge and Son Rods forum.
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Northern_Nomad
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A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by Northern_Nomad »

I went on a round robin trip home last night to pick up two different rods. First stop was a 99p Octofloat De luxe with a damaged tip followed by the second stop to pick up a £4.90 Octofloat standard, which had a perfect tip to replace the other rods dodgy one.

All sounding good you may think. It was at the second stop when it all started to unravel a bit. The seller was a nice elderly chap who was clearing out some old fishing stuff that he’d acquired on a friends death some years ago but had never got around to actually starting fishing as a hobby. Laid out beside my Octofloat was 4 fibreglass rods, an Apollo steel spinning rod and two absolutely decrepit cane rods, at least I thought they could be cane under the years of accumulated detritus which adorned them. Cleaning them off, I saw that one was a whole cane rod with a broken split cane tip, no name but quite cheaply made and totally uninspiring, apart from being in absolute rag order with electrical tape whipping holding an assortment of mismatched rusty rings. The only thing which could be said in its favour if you were very generous was it didn’t have Chinese writing on it, other than that it was a dog.

The second rod was in even worse condition and look as if it would break or crumble when moved. The name badge was visible and it rather forlornly said E. A. Rudge and a handwritten diagonal script proudly stated “The Champion” which was rather optimistic when it was new, never mind in the clapped out condition it was currently in.

I politely declined the offer of the extra rods telling the seller that I wasn’t interested in fibre glass rods and showing him the two piece boat rods and the two piece kiddies sold spinning rods. I declined the cane rods as too far gone also. As I was about to go he said the cane rods would go in the bin if I didn’t want them, so I bought the pair for 3 quid as there was a pair of pink agates on one and a set of white porcelain tip and but rings on another. I thought the rest of the bits would be good for the runner beans.

Back at home I gave them a quick once over before consigning them to the scrap parts pile and I found myself looking again and again at the Rudge. Not an expensive rod when new, but it was ultra light (probably due to rot!), it had twin splices to get the profile and fine tip installed. I took a good look and looked at its bad points:

Varnish gone
Mildew mottling on the cane
Rings gone or rusty
Whipping falling off at the touch.
Splits in the butt and Mid sections
Ferrules coming off at a touch
Bent.

The good points:

The handle was intact
The handle was intact
The handle was intact

That was about it for the good point other than butt and tip rings were original.

I didn’t have anything like this in my collection and it would be a nice roach rod if it wasn’t knackered. I spotted the warning signs as I tried to justify resurrecting this heap of junk and slowly but surely I set about convincing myself that this was a viable project.

A quick look at the sad thing below.

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Because the whipping was actually falling off and it was a reasonably intricate whipping pattern, I sketched out the rod to size on a sheet of paper prior to stripping it down, so if I could repair the blank then I would have an idea how it should look, as judging by its state, if on the remote chance if it could be fixed, it would take a long time until I was in a position to rewhip it by which time I wouldn’t be able to accurately redo it, even from photos.

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Well that’s it for now. I’m off to lie down in a darkened room or to see a shrink.
Next instalment I’ll look at stripping it down and probably admit defeat, but for the moment I’ll remain upbeat…..ish.
"We knelt side by side looking at it. I knew it was big, and suddenly it dawned on me it was more than that. It was tremendous!" - Richard Walker

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LuckyLuca
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Re: A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by LuckyLuca »

Nice handle :Thumb:

Have you planted those beans yet :whistle:

Seriously good luck, hope it works out :Hat:
I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete.

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MaggotDrowner
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Re: A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by MaggotDrowner »

What I would do is strip the rod down and repair those long splits in the whole cane. After that I'd try to bend the whole cane. (Just a bit, don't expect it too bend much). Assuming it isn't rotten and is strong the rod will be good to restore. Only then would I buy rings and ferrules.

If you'd like to know how I repaired a similar split in my Lindop, just ask!

Good luck!
"I'd rather be fishing!"

MD

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Loop Erimder
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Re: A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by Loop Erimder »

Good luck on this one you never know and you won't know unless you give it a go :Thumb:
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish

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Kingfisher
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Re: A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by Kingfisher »

I'm still restoring my one of those rods.

I've been a long time in the restoring of it but duty calls and I keep getting taken away from it.

You can see how far I've got in the thread below, I'm now on the mid section.

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=8290&hilit=A+E+Rud ... n&start=20

They do look a nice roach rod to be fair. I think Rudge rods were often made to a price but the cane and guides look decent enough.

Good luck with yours. :Hat:

God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling.

Izaak Walton

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Kingfisher
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Re: A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by Kingfisher »

Incidentally, mine had "The Champion" written on it by hand in white, so I would suspect that was done in the factory and is completely original.

God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling.

Izaak Walton

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Northern_Nomad
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Re: A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by Northern_Nomad »

Thanks for the positive replies gents.

I started on it early this morning and the sections are now stripped and the butt section has been glued.

KF - mine won't look a fresh as that as the cane is pretty stained in places by the rusty rings on it. The patches are being bleached as we speak. Depending on the overall look it will then dictate if a bit of staining will be carried out to make them blend in a bit more, although it will make the overall rod blank a bit darker. It really has been neglected badly.

MD - thanks for the tip. I'm going to use my compressed air and clamps techniques as per my Octofloat repair as it was 100% successful, if somewhat unorthodox.

I'll post sometime over the weekend on progress
"We knelt side by side looking at it. I knew it was big, and suddenly it dawned on me it was more than that. It was tremendous!" - Richard Walker

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MaggotDrowner
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Re: A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by MaggotDrowner »

Compressed air and clamps? Sounds intriguing.

I open them up, fill with expanding gorilla glue, bind tightly in nylon garden string and then wrap in electrical tape until set.
"I'd rather be fishing!"

MD

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The Old Buffer
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Re: A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by The Old Buffer »

I wish you much success in the resurrection project. You may wish to change the name of the rod to the Lazarus when you are finished.
The coiled line travels from the reel, it brings up at last, the hook goes home, and then begins the test of skill. "BB"

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Northern_Nomad
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Re: A. E. RUDGE...A Champion or a Basket Case Too Far

Post by Northern_Nomad »

Well time for a quick update but not in the way I thought.

I have pushed ahead today with this rod, but that’s not what the update is about.

I think all of us dream about the “Barn Find” …..a genuine one not an Ebay variety. :drool:

Having escaped the skip on two occasions by two different people over a 7 hour period it was then decided to give this rod a second chance. :surrender:

Early this morning I started the stripping process, an account and pics of which I will post in due course. This narrative is to explain the unfolding events on what is a very nice but unremarkable rod, but also to serve as a cautionary tale to all traditionalists in keeping ones eyes open at all times!

Ok, this morning at 0600 I went down to my cellar workshop and had probably my first detailed look at this rod. I had noticed previously that the handle was in good nick and appeared to have been sanded down to bring it up to good order. However why would someone do that to such a decrepit rod? So I started looking more closely. There were no sanding marks. Any marks were of the production type and were around the handle not down it; ie done by a lathe and very, very faint as per a pro rod build. Intrigued I then looked at the reel bands and butt cap. Although both had suffered some alloy corrosion, they were unscratched and other than the effects of time showed no indication of being used. I looked back at the handle and could see it was in original condition and had a very (and I mean very) small amount of staining around the top of the handle where it had been held, maybe once, twice, certainly less than a handful of times.

Now I was completely perplexed. A new handle, totally knackered rod, in very poor order including splits to two sections, droop, mildew damage, rust stains, ferrules coming off at a touch and whipping disintegrating of its own accord.

I had also noticed the ferrules were in good order when I first viewed it. Because it was generally in such poor condition I just assumed these had escaped the ravages of time and it was probably down to a good batch of blueing being used. Now on closer inspection they were pristine, the whipped band at the top intact on both females, which showed that on metal at least the whipping and varnish had survived. They came complete with two plastic ferrule stoppers and not knowing anything about Rudge rods I presumed initially someone had just stuck a pair that were to hand in them. Checks of the handle button showed it to be pristine with absolutely no marks to the rubber. If you check out the first pic I posted of the three sections propped up and use the zoom in feature you can see an absolute shed of a rod with a new handle and fittings plus new ferrules with stoppers!

So everything about the rod which wasn’t cane screamed new, hardly used. Everything to do with the cane said knackered, possibly beyond repair. The final clue came with the rings and the rod bag. There were three rings attached to the rod. The tip and agate were in first class order being of the pink agate variety which is actually why I eventually was persuaded to buy it, the other one was rusted and fell off in my hand. When I picked up the rod (bearing in mind I had gone to pick up a pre paid ebay buy of an Octofloat) the rod bags for half a dozen rods were on the garage floor. On agreeing to buy the additional two cane rods I asked if I could grab a couple of bags for them. As non had makers labels, I quickly held them up against the rods to check rough length and selected two of the better quality ones according to material thickness. These were now in the cellar ready to go through the washing machine when enough “utility” items made up a full load. I grabbed the both of them and the rationalle was if I could match the rust patterns on the rod with corresponding patterns on the bag, I would then have the correct bag for it as well. On inspection that wasn’t to be the case but on inspecting one of them I felt the unmistakeable outline of a couple of rod rings. Sure enough on squeezing them out of the bag a set of middle section and a single tip section ring fell to the floor in a cloud of rust, varnish flakes and bits of whipping. The bag was in perfect little use condition showing just storage damage.

So there we have it. A new hardly used rod which was perfect apart from the cane blank and rings. However cane wise it was till a basket case, 60/40 (against) if it can be salvaged – what an absolute crying shame! It had probably been stored as nearly new in a shed or other damp enviroment which had attacked the cane, varnish and glue of the rod. :hairpull: :hairpull:

I’m now in the process of contacting the seller to see if he can contact the person (widow) who gave him the rod to see if I can find out the story behind it and the gentleman that owned it. I would love to find out more about it.

So now I feel that this has all changed somewhat. I really want to get this usable. I feel that I’m now the custodian rather than owner. I’ve already got the venue and swim sorted in my mind for a few roach and even better some nice crucians. I just need a bit of time and good fortune to breathe a new life into it. :holmes: :fishing1: :fishing2:

So….next time you are offered something out of the blue…look closely. :holmes:


One of the ferrules ( nude modelling courtesy of the Director of Finance Housing and Discipline)
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3 Pics of the rings that were found inside the rod bag.
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"We knelt side by side looking at it. I knew it was big, and suddenly it dawned on me it was more than that. It was tremendous!" - Richard Walker

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