OLD bamboo fly and older spinning

Question
I have Two questions. I have a very old bamboo rod that was was my great grandpas it is fairly brittle and I broke one of the two when I tried to fish with it years ago. Can I fix the broken rod and what kind of a finish can I put on or whatever to kind of sturdy it up so I can hang them for decoration. I also have another 40yr or so old spinning rod that I am replacing the guides on but I realised the pole is pretty dull nowadays I was wondering what I could do for a color boost, refinish the whole thing etc? Thank you for your time.

Answer
Hi Anthony,

I assume you broke one of the two tips on the bamboo rod.  I would need to know more about the damage to be able to tell you what to do next.  Perhaps you could take some pictures and email them to me at [email protected] and I'll review them for you.

In general, damage to bamboo rods can be repaired.  The repair needed and the level of skills you would need differ depending on the extent of the damage.

The older spinning rod can be painted using an automotive paint or one of the spray can paints designed for plastic lawn furniture.  The automotive paint would also need to have the appropriate "flex agent" added as is done for painting the plastic parts on cars.  If you do paint, scuff the blank with a scotch pad before to give the paint a surface to kling to...look in the paint supplies section at the hardware store for these pads.  If the rod does not need new paint, only to be brightened up, you can use other techniques.  Once you have the guides removed, you can try one of these:

You can try using a very lightweight compound and rubbing the blank by hand with a soft cloth.  Try the Fine or Extra Fine compounds that are used to restore and refinish furniture...most antique stores sell it.  It takes a little time and some elbow grease, but it works.

Or, you can try applying a few coats of polyurethane clear to the rod.  There are a couple of fast drying water borne brands available that you can rub on with a cloth.  Look at the local hardware store or local big box store for some.  The water borne is easy to use and easy to clean up after.  

Also, you can try products like Perma-Gloss which you can get at any rod building supplier.  This will put a permanent gloss coat on the entire blank.

Thanks,  Joe

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