Does anyone have pics of Harnell with burgundy wraps? Sheldon has a sweet batch of the yellow and red rods he did, but I though I recalled some big game rods with burgundy and some having diamond wraps.
Actually any Harnell pics would be cool. I have an Unlimited I'm restoring which had the red and yellow originally, but if I'm rewrapping anyway I may change it.
Sheldon, btw, the rendering from the GA on our label experiment was not crisp, so still trying to figure out what may be done.
Never seen a burgundy factory Harnell but they might have done that. There's some old green and yellow ones with the old Harnell fish logo. Could be Harrington did burgundy. Try Harnell on goggle images and going thru old ebay listings might come up with something there. I always liked the red and yellow with the gold foil, just says Harnell. Sherman
Thanks for the tip! I did see some green and gold in the archives. I went to work on the blank and the white foregrip is stained to the point I can't bring it back, I think I would have to remove enough material that the Harnell deboss would be gone and I still may not get it in shape. Sort of cracked as well. I'm going to shrink over it. I think at this point I will have to take a bit of license in rewrap vs. restore, and I have the label you graciously sent. I think it will be a Harnell with a facelift, green and gold Gudebrod trimar from my remaining stock that will hold true to Harnell old-school color scheme. The originals used green tiger thread over the gold foil and I may work something like that in. It will keep the Mildrums; they are in great shape, and the Varmac detaches easily. This is a rod for a special reel...I bought the rod a dozen years ago and it's been waiting its turn patiently.
I can't wait to see it finished John.
I don't have a Harnell, but I want one.
If I had two, you'd get the mate. You know what's going this one.
Funny thing about those marshmallow grips. They grow some awful looking stains, but do not seem to crack with age. I'd be tempted to go with the red and yellow just so others would recognize it as a harnell.
-steve
The poodle grip cleans up pretty easy. Soak a couple paper towels with bleach and wrap them around the grips and let them sit over night. Repeat until bright white. I've done a few really stained ones and they it works really well. They won't melt or anything
This is really bothering me. I woke up this morning at 530 thinking I'll give another go on the grip to see if I can save it. I'd prefer to if at all possible.
Tried bleach trick, changing every day for a week. No good. I'm going in different direction on the rod; something I'd like to think Harnell might've done,' had they thought about it. I will incorporate design elements like two-tone thread, color spirals over gold bands, and keep the Mildrums. Two reference pics followed by what I'm doing on the guides.
John
Bullseye had me try to restore an old Harnell. If I dig a little I can come up with the thread color numbers but the main variegated wrap was a silk thread. John was able to find a few 50yd spools and we used a size D for the green yellow and black. I tried using the rod dancer varnish. I hated it as it didn't keep the color clear, it gave it a brown tint. I made a decal to try and match the Harnell logo but I used gold and it wasn't an exact match. Anyways, here are the results and a comparison of the 2 rods.
Dave
That came out great, hard to tell which is the original and which is the rebuild. X2 on rod dancer,nothing but problems with their color preserver.
Wow. That's some great work right there.
John,
I'm sure whatever you decide will be spectacular.
These old Harnell's deserve respect.
I am certain you will make us proud.
First coat of epoxy is on. Had to replace gimbal pin in ferrule. More on that later.
Hi droppedit, I love those pictures of the Harnell rebuild in the 'right' colours. Which models are they? Royal V 80 or VI 130? I'm guessing not the Royal VII Unlimited as that is a beast of a rod.
I could not get the original flecked green/yellow thread and so I've rebuild my two (the V and the VII) using dark green over the original light green underwrap. I didn't want to make too many changes and this is not too far off.
Also, rather than use a modern epoxy, I have used copal yacht varnish - I lost count at seven coats and possibly as many again on the wraps. Each was applied as thin as possible using my finger. I'm pleased as it retains that look of the old rods rather than the high-build gloss of are modern rods.
Love the pictures though and I do love the action of those Harnell rods.
Chris, how about pics? I think mine is the Unlimited as it has a massive Varmac 6 seat. I don't think the 130 I'm gonna spool is going to sweat it much.
John
Quote from: UKChris on October 10, 2017, 08:33:40 PM
Which models are they? Royal V 80 or VI 130? I'm guessing not the Royal VII Unlimited as that is a beast of a rod.
Also, rather than use a modern epoxy, I have used copal yacht varnish - I lost count at seven coats and possibly as many again on the wraps. Each was applied as thin as possible using my finger. I'm pleased as it retains that look of the old rods rather than the high-build gloss of are modern rods.
Love the pictures though and I do love the action of those Harnell rods.
Chris, It was a 130 with the heavy varmac seat. If you get a chance try to message 54bullseye These are his rods and he did the work to find the materials for me to work with. I've tried about 4 different types of varnish and the verdict is still out on which is the best. 54bullseye has a very impressive collection of Harnell's and he has a lot of knowledge about them.
thorhammer I love the green Harnell fish! Nice job on the wraps.
Dave
Dave, let us know if you figure out what a period-appropriate varnish would be. The rod varnish companies like Weber were not talking about exactly what they were using and then the formulations slowly evolved over time..... still with nobody talking. Then varnish was abandoned completely and replaced with polyurethane and then epoxy. Getting back to the original may require the help of some sort of aged varnish manufacturing guru.
-steve
Quote from: droppedit on October 10, 2017, 09:22:24 PM
Quote from: UKChris on October 10, 2017, 08:33:40 PM
Which models are they? Royal V 80 or VI 130? I'm guessing not the Royal VII Unlimited as that is a beast of a rod.
Also, rather than use a modern epoxy, I have used copal yacht varnish - I lost count at seven coats and possibly as many again on the wraps. Each was applied as thin as possible using my finger. I'm pleased as it retains that look of the old rods rather than the high-build gloss of are modern rods.
Love the pictures though and I do love the action of those Harnell rods.
Chris, It was a 130 with the heavy varmac seat. If you get a chance try to message 54bullseye These are his rods and he did the work to find the materials for me to work with. I've tried about 4 different types of varnish and the verdict is still out on which is the best. 54bullseye has a very impressive collection of Harnell's and he has a lot of knowledge about them.
thorhammer I love the green Harnell fish! Nice job on the wraps.
Dave
Dave sad to say but the green spinner was only a file photo I was using for historical reference. My rod is the last pic with the Mildrum double roller wrapped with green and gold Trimar...I had wrapped all the guides before I saw your excellent or I would've done that scheme. In any case, I had to go a different route on the grip, so it's now a Thornell, or a Harhammer, or a Hornell, or a John R. Nell or something....lol. My full name is John R. Hoyle
John,
I thought the trimar looked great. Love those old mildrums ;)
Hi everyone. Sorry to have been quiet - work getting in the way - but indeed I must try to get organised about taking photos and learning how to post them, not just here but a couple of knife forums want to see some stuff too.
The VI and VII both had the huge Varmac RS6H whilst the V (80lb) had the slightly smaller RS5H - still a massive piece of chromed brass. I can bend my V 80lb quite a bit but the VII remains stubbornly straight no matter how much I grunt and groan!
This one doesn't like bending, whichever it was. I'm spooling with 130 and I don't know as it will fold it...