Refinishing a bamboo fly rod

[Shawn Siegrist]

I purchased a used bamboo fly rod a few years back, the finish on it looks horrible. I'd like to sand it down and reapply a finish but I don't know what type of finish to use. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Shawn

[Steve Schoene]

Be careful sanding--the strength in bamboo fly rods is in the outer fibers. small changes in diameter can mean big changes in action. I'd use paint stripper to remove the old varnish, or if it is really in bad shape you can remove it with a dull bladed table knife used as a scraper.

The varnish on many of the classic rods was dipped, with the varnish in a ltube with the blank dipped and then SLOWLY withdrawn so that the varnish is pulled evenly down the blank. Dry in a dust free environment.

I'd use a traditional resin varnish. You would think that a spar varnish would be ideal, but that's not what Garrison used. As I recall his book, with Hoagy Carmichael, one varnish he used was Pratt & Lambert 38, but off course that was in the early 70's I believe and the product has certainly been reformulated by now.