We all have received a reel the owner took apart and could not reassemble, so they throw it in a coffee can. Well I received a coffee can rod from a friend. He didn't know what to do with it so he brought it to me. I'm not familiar with the old wooden/cane poles, but this is a PlyFlex Sportsmen Accessories Inc NY, #51. Measures 57" tip to butt. After scrapping the checked varnish off in a small area the rod appears to be wood with very straight grain. The guides look hand made and VERY slightly magnetic. One curious thing is what appears to be a steel pin punched through the rod about 8.5" up from the fore grip. I wil enjoy restoring this rod and will fish it once just to say it has caught a fish. Bill
:) That should clean real good . Love fishing with old sticks .
nice looking forward to the restore pics, cheers Don.
Could the pin be a nail? looks like a crack there and the thread is binding it together. Maybe split bamboo from looking at the grain but I can't see any lines from the nodes. Fun project!
Sheridan no nodes that would indicate bamboo. The pin has the same diameter and look on each side, but I agree the wrapping looks like it is stopping a split. I will have to wait for cooler weather before I refinish it. It's been in the upper 90's and low 100's last week and this week looks to be the same......might be time for a fishing trip out of Santa Barbara...😉 Bill
It's split bamboo Bill. They plane out six triangular strips and glue them together. T
he pin may have been an attempt to repair delamination at the glue line(s). But, they botched the job and probably made it worse. It doesn't look like it will hold.
If you fish with it, try not to catch anything. You could try double wrapping that damaged area and then wetting out the thread with a coat of epoxy. In your climate the whole rod may have dried out though and be too weak to fish with.
-s
AH .... that may be all wood Laminated stick . I need to do a little digging .
I have to ask my brothers if they sill have one or all 3 that we had as kids .
Found a old ad . still looking for the company history for the rod part,
They made long bows
Bill try shaking the stick , you may hear a steel rod bouncing around .
The pin may be the stake to keep the steel rod from going toward the top ,
Quote from: oldmanjoe on August 18, 2020, 02:59:28 PM
Bill try shaking the stick , you may hear a steel rod bouncing around .
The pin may be the stake to keep the steel rod from going toward the top ,
interesting...Dominick
"Cool Beans", Bill. Hope you get one on it and it don't bust. Then you'ed have a nice wall hanger. Least a guy could do is drill a pilot hole, then maybe use a tiny ss wood screw and some glue.
Joe "nailed" it. Shook the rod and no rattling, but sanded the old glue from the bottom of the rod top and bingo there is a rod right up the middle. Took a magnet to it, but non-magnetic. Bill
A little more info the big brother https://reeltalk.orcaonline.org/viewtopic.php?t=22998
Wow, good call Joe. It is square, not hexagonal. Just like the rods you made.
-steve
The one Bill has is hexagonal , The bigger one `s changed shape to more of a D .
So it's laminated wood? The metal rod is a nice wrinkle
Wow what a history behind this rod. Thank you Joe for bringing all this to light. One thing I did notice was the seat was heavy! No marking on the seat to indicate who made it. Would this rod have been wrapped in silk? Now I'm kinda stoked to restore this old rod and hang a trout on it......Bill
;D I believe nylon thread ;D left over bow strings . ::) Lakeland for the reel seat maybe.
It would be pretty interesting to know exactly when wrapping thread transitioned from silk to nylon. Nylon was brand new and experimental in 1937. Surely too soon. Nylon was more broadly introduced to the public at the New York World's Fair in 1939. By 1940 women's silk stockings were being replaced by nylon stockings. Then, as our relationship with Japan deteriorated, Japanese silk was boycotted. Silk gut leader material changed from Japanese silk suppliers to Spanish silk suppliers at that time, but they didn't switch to nylon. As we prepared for war, all nylon production was diverted for war use.
Maybe the answer is that wrapping thread during that period was neither nylon nor silk. They just used old stock or made-do with cotton or whatever.
After the war, it took a full year for nylon production to be opened up to domestic use. The government and Dupont finally relaxed restrictions in September 1946 in response to the Nylon (stocking) Riots. So, nylon rod wrapping thread should have started showing up (again???) by early 1947.
The way to sort this out would be to examine rods of known vintage and check to see it they have silk or nylon wrapping. Checking to see if the thread is silk or nylon is easy. Having a sampling of rods with known vintage is more difficult.
-steve
Quote from: oc1 on August 18, 2020, 08:22:37 PM
Wow, good call Joe. It is square, not hexagonal. Just like the rods you made.
-steve
I make a D shape rod , i wanted to post a picture earlier but i just put a coat of boiled linseed oil on ,and could not handle it .
first pic is a solid hickory stick "closet dowel rod " and bamboo 11 strip in the back round .
second pic is the 11 strip { 9 horizontal and 2 vertical }
third pic is the 10 strip in the middle that i am working on .
Nice! More...
Refresh my memory Joe. You were turning the wheel as the piece of bamboo fed into the planer and tapering every strip???
-steve
Yes i did rough taper strips with a bench top planer , then cleaned up with a belt sander .
before glue up. The thread https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=22082.0
Bill, reel seat may be a Struble.