I just finished this up for Jsentell who is a recent board member. He bought this at a flea market and it evolved from needing a guide replaced to a complete re-wrap. I used PAcBay snakes, size 12 and 10 strippers, and a ceramic top. Wraps are Gudebrod Gold, with Garnet and Goldenrod tipping around the eagle, hookkeeper, and ferrule. Finish is 2 super lite coats of Flex Coat lite and I did not use CP. I kept the traditional fenwick keeper, but omited using a winding check since the cork fit at the front was real nice and tight. I haven't used snakes in 4 years and used them to try to hide the ghosting marks but kept the wraps super short to keep weight down. The ghosting isn't as noticeable in person.

Sorry the pics are a bit blurry as I am still getting used to the new camera.

Really a nice old rod and I hope he is happy. I'll ship tomorrow and will know soon enough.

Rod Info (Bracketed with 2 turn goldenrod inlay)



Grip and Seat



Stripper and Ceramic Top



Hookkeeper and Eagle



Eagle Closeup



Lou

Beautiful job Lou, that guy's really lucky, wish I had a rod like that!

By the way, the FF756 and FF706 are on the their way. They're insanely jeolous of their first cousin ...

The FF756 thinks the Fenwick wraps make her butt look too big!

Jim

No problem Lou, I want to use the other two before I make any decisions. They're both in terrific condition and the guides are good.

Jim

Great looking wraps around the eagle, very tasteful!

Hey Mojo,

I would not hesitate to strip it entirely. The seat can be removed with a dremel and cut off wheel. Or you can just cut it off and use an extension when fitting a new seat. I use a plastic knife to remove most of the residue from the guidewraps after slicing them off ... just rub the knife back and forth and the heat and friction softens the residue allowing you to remove it. I would also try using 0000 steel wool on the entire blank once you get it stripped and it should smooth out nicely. You can then re-wrap and apply pledge furniture polish to the entire rod when done.

If you want to recoat the blank before wrapping, use permagloss wiped on with a coffee filter in a long continous motion from tip to butt and hang to dry. 2-3 coats will give you a rock solid finish.

You might not need to remove the seat and grip, but definitely do not hesitate to strip the guides, keeper, and bakery string butt wrap off.

Hope this helps.

Lou

Loudog,
i hadn't heard about the Pledge furniture polish bit. I'm just finishing an old Fenwick blank and the "shine" factor is pretty low (I think it was in storage for about 30 years when I bought it). I've cleaned it with soap and water several times and that didn't do much. This sounds like it might. Do I just wipe the pledge over the entire rod (minus the grip and seat of course) and kind of buff it in? I'm definitely going to try this.

-Aaron