Whole cane butt Southwell trotting rod.

[Fredline]

Yet more ambiguity with regards to the Southwell legacy.

[Digger]

I dont agree Fred. I've tried to offer information based upon rods bought new from the shop in Station Rd and having been in single family ownership since new. The premise was to reduce Southwell ambiguity, surely it cant have furthered it......

Best wishes

[Fredline]

Ok lets leave it there and wait for the first unmarked rod to be listed as a Southwell because one of its traits is a crack at 90 degrees to the grain that is typical of the pressed nodes as carried out by Bob and his son.

[Digger]

Hi Fred No need to wait..... here is one bought directly from Bob's shop in the sixties, no makers writing and if you look very carefully you can see the node line described towards the top of the butt section; Sorry again to the guys that wanted to buy it but at least I did get around to sharing the pics. For fun I've included the last fish I caught on the Southwell trotting rod, it was supposed to be a Roach but you cant have it all I guess.Peace to all and i'm sorry if they dont load as I am fairly new to this.....

[Fredline]

Nodes? I don't see them. I do see a very nice rod and fish though.

[Digger]

Thanks Fred...agreed, not easy to see. I'll see if a can take a close up when next time......

[Fredline]

No need. The problem with Southwell blanks is they're like all rods, there is no standard.

[Nigel Rainton]

I've just checked all the nodes on my three rods under a powerful magnifying glass, none of them have any suggestion of a crack or mark across the rod. They all exhibit the lack of 'spears' in the node which are the result of using a plane on the node. They are all hot pressed and alternate around the blank, they are not staggered. Some of the nodes are hard to see as the colour and grain has been maintained through the process.

[Santiago]

If the nodes aren't staggered then what's the pattern? Are they in a spiral? How can one tell a hot pressed node from otherwise? Photos of your nodes please, would be very educational.

[Nigel Rainton]

The nodes are on alternate strips on the same circumference, groups of three in a ring around the rod. No spiral. I'll see if I can load some photos. I did load some on another thread but I think they were lost.