i did not intend to make a presentation rod out of this, and it is not up to those standards. it is a fishing rod. it casts a long belley 7/8 wt fwd airflow line very well. i think the abronson goes well with it but there is barely enough room for the line. i may cut 20 feet off the back taper so i can put some backing on.

from now on any WM rods i aquire will be left as is or restored to original as much as possible.

Larry, that turned out super nice. What did you use to refinish the blank? I really dig the black trim bands.

Super nice rebuild.

Lou

the initial coat of finish was spar urethane. i finished up with several hand applied coats of spar varnish (man o war). it seems to lay down smoother. i actually did the wraps with epoxy before applying the varnish overcoats. it looks nice. when i say hand applied i mean just that. i use my fingers dipped in the spar. no brush strokes.

the thread is gudebrod "rust". on this blank it becomes kind of a lady bug red. on the blued ferrules is went a dark brown. i like that effect. darker ferrule wraps than the rest of the rod.
i imagine on a honey lami it would be much more orange and lighter. you might want to use a different red on the lami.

very nice-p-

Outstanding.
I am not a rod builder myself but I always check this section for the board every so often for some fishing rod porn.
I am usually most impressed by you guys that can rebuild an old rod and maintain that vintage look.
Thanks for the pictures.