My father in law gave me a couple of split bamboo fly rods he bought in the early 50's. They are Montgomery Wards Sport Kings models 31 and 32. I know they aren't worth much but Id like to get these 65 year old bamboo rods refurbished. Is there anyone in the DFW area that can do this? Thanks in advance.

A guy on the TexasKayakFisherman Forum just asked this . He took his to Living Waters Fly Shop in Round Rock for an evaluation. I'm sure Backwoods in Fort Worth or Tailwaters in Dallas could help you or send you to the right place.
When I sold my house in '83 and moved onto my sailboat, I threw a vintage Horrocks & Ibbetsen bamboo rod in the dumpster. Sure wish I had it back! IslandJim

Appreciate the information. I'll give them a call. Thanks

Is the split bamboo still securely glued into one piece? When they delaminate everything changes.

For the money you’ll spend restoring and ruining the value on antique rods, I might consider new split bamboo blanks and building new rods.

From what I can see the bamboo is in pretty decent shape. The Model 32 needs eyes, new wrapping thru out rod and has a little bit cork/reel seat damage. I'm not concerned about 100% restoration.The rods aren't worth much being low end rods. I'll just make a display with it, and the reel and creel he bought as a kit. Just hate to see a an almost 70 year old split bamboo rod be thrown away. The wife remembers watching him fish with it when she was little, so it will be a memory for her when she sees it. Thanks for the info though. gpfish

As I said before, a guy asked the same question on the Kayak Forum. My friend Ron's reply:

good question.
I would start with the top two pieces, assemble the ferrule.
Gently make a casting motion (not necessarily a wiggle, a stroke is a better idea) - make it gentle, and feel for a click.
If it clicks, ferrules need re-setting.
Do the same with the lower ferrule.

Now this is very gently. Gently twist each section while holding each end - you're looking for glue disbonding in the 6 strips.

Hot garage storage is a bad idea, because this could dry-rot the cane, and it may not show a visible sign.
It's also bad for drying out the varnish - cane likes to live where we live.
The second deadly possibility with outdoor storage is mildew - this shows up as dark spots in the rod, and you can pretty much see the biological attack going on there.
Though note that hot garage is not as bad as hot attic for dry rot.

If you get the rod through my first two tests, I'd recommend at least lawn casting it, but could take it fishing.
If it's dry-rotted, may break without warning, so you have to decide whether you want to risk that vs. having a wall display piece. If it's dry-rotted, there's no remedy.
If you plan to have the rod restored (re-wrapped, re-varnished) I can recommend great cost-effective people for a restoration.
There's a very good book by Michael Sinclair if you want to take on a restoration.
https://www.amazon.com/Bamboo-Restorati ... 1882418115

If it's a really valuable rod, it's worth the trouble to restore even if cane pieces are broken (and not dry rotted) - broken cane can be scarfed by a good builder (Dennis Stone does incredible work here, making a glued joint that fits together like two rook towers).
The 1915 Leonard Fairy Catskill that I showed above (and again below) was mess from a leather box of other destroyed rods - it was the only one that had anything of value, and I paid salvage value for the hardware.
It had one short tip, missing the other, a bad mid scarf, missing mating ferrules from each joint, and half the guides gone.
Dennis scarfed the mid, machined the needed ferrule halves, scarfed one tip and made a second tip.
(Small diameter cane tips are his forte.)
He of course made the needed snake guides, saved every original wrap and made the new wraps look like the old.
I ended up with $750 total in the rod, which is also its value,

Hope that helps, IslandJim

Thanks island Jim. I'll try this tonite when I get home. I appreciate the information. gpfish

Robert Sherill in Dallas builds some nice rods. I don't know if he takes on any restoration work or not.

Larry

Thanks Larry. Do you have a number for him?

Bruce

No. The only thing I found for Robert is an e-mail address that may not be current. The address is: rodmaker@outlook.com. Hope this is helpful.

Larry

Without actually seeing the rod and holding it in my hand, I would be hard-pressed to make an evaluation. I have restored many, many split cane rods and built a bunch from culm... not to mention the blanks I’ve bought new from various sources over the years.

If I were in your situation, I would search high and low for another rod of the same make and model that someone has taken care of, or possibly never used. At this point in time, split cane rods are not a very hot commodity. Ten to fifteen years ago, they were pretty collectible.

By the time you completely restore (or destroy) the fly rods you own, you can sink way more money into the project than what it’s worth. A fully restored split cane rod loses its value as an antique as soon as you start scratching the varnish off.

You’re welcome to Message me privately if you’d like to discuss the subject further.

JR

Message sent. Thanks

if nothing else would make a good wall hanger paired with wicker creel. I like stuff my dad, grandfather had even tho monetarily may not be worth much, its still family stuff and brings a smile to me when looking at it

I'm going to build a couple of shadow boxes to put them in, at my wife's request/demand. One of them came with a creel and reel as a set.