butterworth power rods

[Donnyboat]

Hi every one, hope your all catching fish, and in the best of health, I have tried to get a contact, on Len Butterworth rod company, with out succes, I have also surched this site, My question is, I have a rod with all the varnish starting to peal of, can anyone tell me, what is the best way to remove the old varnish, before revarnishing, I have found a you tube on removing 2 part epoxy, but nothing on varnish, thanks, cheers Don.

[exp2000]

Acetone would have to be worth a try?
~

[Swami805]

acetone, laquer thinner, MEK, try it on a small spot first and see what happens. Pretty sure they used different kinds of varnish so you might have to try different things. Sometimes patience and a small sharp tool and just pick off the loose spots if your not going to strip the whole thing

[Donnyboat]

Thanks Brett & Sheridan, I have both on hand, I will experament with an old broken rod first, cheers Don.

[oc1]

If the varnish is brittle and peeling I would start by scraping it off.  Use a scraper blade that is thick (1/16" or so) but with sharp corners and pull it along the length of the rod.  This is unlikely to gouge.  Use a light touch until you find how much pressure can be applied without removing any of the fiberglass resin or bamboo below.  Scraping will not get it all off but will get most of it.  Then follow up with the solvent.

Solvents will make the varnish gummy and if you start with solvent you will have to scrub it off a few microns at a time.  Once it gets gummy it cannot be scraped or sanded.  If you scrape the varnish while it is still old and brittle most will chip off and leave little ridges that are easy to clean up with the solvent.
-steve

[Donnyboat]

Thanks Steve, the acetone & paint thinner & turps did not do anything. cheers Don.

[gstours]

I have used some butane heat with some success, butt now you are "playing with 🔥 fire", no pun intended,  heat will make most epoxies give up.  Butt use care and caution, as the heat is transferred and held in the rod.  Use very carefully.  It's worth a try?   You will learn something and that's what makes you smart.🤦‍♀️

[Donnyboat]

Good I picked up a couple of paint scrapers last night, haven't tried them yet, getting back to the raw flame, would a het gun do the same job, thanks everyone for you help, cheers Don.

[basto]

Hi Don
I have done this before with paint stripper. Used to own a few butterworth rods years ago. Never broke one. I broke a few carbon rods though.
Never broke an Uglystik either.
I picked up a nice little ultralight 2 piece Len Butterworth recently. It has an alloy reel seat and stainless guides with no inserts. The brass ferrule which joins the two pieces is very well fitted and so is the cork handgrips.
It reminds me of a little ABU Duet Zoom rod I bought in Singapore over 30 years ago. It had 2 top pieces, light and ultralight.
cheers
Greg

[Swami805]

give the heat a try but it might make it gummy so try a small section. If the solvents don't work gentle scraping might be the ticket followed be wet sanding.

[Donnyboat]

Thanks Greg, your ultralight 2 piece sounds like a good find, I don't have any paint stripper on hand, so will try the ulturnitives first, & thanks Sheridan, what ever the results, I will post them, we are all learning at, sorry I left out the A in heat gun, cheer Don.

[Donnyboat]

Okay I used a heat gun to  soften the varnish, then scrapped it, then, removed the deep scratches with sand paper, then smoothed it, with 400 wet & dry, then 600, then 1200, then 2000, after rapping, I cave it, 4 coats of thread binder, then two new coats of varnish, it looks great, cheers Don

[Donnyboat]

I was looking at a you tube today, on varnishing, the chap said not to use sand paper any finer than 200 grit, that gives the varnish some thing to grip to, if that helps anyone, cheers Don.

[Donnyboat]

Just for the record, I managed to rewrap this rod, then used colour preserver hardener, 3 coats, and 5 coats of varnish, quite happy for first rod, learnt a lot, such as, keeping hands clean, also not to rush, steady steady, over 3 weeks, cheers Don. used heat gun to remove air bubbles.

[Cor]

It's always gratifying to do a job yourself, especially if it came so nice!
Congrats!