This project started way back in August. The owner told me he wasn't in a big hurry which is right up my alley. First bunch of pictures are the way I took it in. I searched everywhere on the internet for info on this and found virtually nothing. Pompanette does make some of the most incredible fighting chairs out there but zip for info on the old rods. I took the rod down to the blank, left the grip, and started back from there. The thread wasn't too much of an issue because I still have a bit of old Gudebrod kicking around. The only real problem I had was the gold on the ramp to the grip. I gave it 4 coats of color preserver and I still got a bit of discoloration when I put on the finish. To keep the finish thin I mixed up 12 cc's of Classic coat rod finish with 2 cc's of acetone to thin it out. It went on perfect but really discolored the decal so the area between those 2 guides got redone and I used a different decal paper. I have to thank my wife for the hours she put in on making this decal. We pieced together a photo of what was on the rod and then she got creative.
another batch
I finally got my butt in gear and tried to finish this.
last of them
WOW Dave that turned out GREAT! Love the decal please give your wife a high five gor me!
Really great job on that one,like it went back in a time machine to the day it came out of the shop.
Nice Dave !!! And the decal looks mint. I am gonna have to have you wrap one for me someday !! lol !! John Taylor
Beautiful restoration job, Dave! You and your wife make a good team...very nice.
Sal
Wow that is some job there :)
Thanks! The red really is red. My phone doesn't take the best pictures and this time the red turned out pinkish.
Flying out to Orlando Tuesday and when I get my business done I'm hoping to make it out of Canaveral for a trip or two. If not casting on the Indian river will have to hold me over.
Dave
Very Sharp!!!
Dave, I love bringing an old one back around, and you killed this one. fantastic work on a very worthy, cool old project....I don't think I knew Pompanette made rods and this one is asking for a classic Tycoon 9/0 or 12/0 to match those guides.
Dave, that is some really sweet work. I love the attention to detail and the matching is extrodinary!
Regard's, .. Lou
Beautiful rod and restoration. Swivel tip and bent butt means it was most likely used as a heavy wireline trolling and/or deep drop rod prior to the invention of spectra. These were commonly used in the Bahamas.
Dave you & your wife are a great team, but your rod restoration, is in a class well above us all, a true master, cheers Don.
Wow, awesome rebuild bud! Darin
Beautiful restoration!
You're a magician Dave. You must have freaked out about the decal but it could not have turned out better. Could you tell who made the blank?
-steve
I'm really not sure of the blank. I didn't take the ferrule off so I'm not sure of the wall thickness at the butt. It did have an interesting weave pattern with a heavy white pigment I found under the large roller. I'm assuming it was a fairly good blank as were the hardware and grip. I sure wish I knew more about the rod. There were so many different brands that came out of Florida over the years.
Next project is a 7'-9" Gator-Glass that has been hanging up in my cellar for the last 20+ years. I love those old gators. This one will be used for jigging pollack in 250-300' of water. Think I'll get carried away with the butt wrap on this one.
Dave