This is the board to ask about the identity, or for an appraisal, of a rod. Please use the outline as explained on the board. If there is a makers name, list that in the subject line. Make sure you include the length, number of sections, any identifying markings and the general condition. Adding photographs is always helpful!
I was given this rod, this week, by a friend after he saw another cane rod project of mine. It came along with three Montague Rapidan tip sections, and a Heddon Cane rod. Of the three bits of cane rods in this gift, there was this one unmarked rod, and it is a beautifully made rod. I'd like to ask for help in ID'ing it.
This is what I do know about it.
on opening the package, this rod was just in a sleeve, without a hard case. I took it out, and had a look at it, and liked what I saw. But, the only ID on the rod is the name/title of Sterling in gold ink. That is it for any form of marking, except for thread wraps to indicate rod line weight.
It has a nice heavy downlocking reel seat with teak insert, somewhat plain cork grip, large thread check. The threads are mostly a ruddy red, with a slight orange accent.
The next day, I took the rod out of the sleeve again, and, this business card fell out of the sleeve. It is a biz card for Lon Blauvelt Cane Rods of Falmouth Maine.
Now, the gent that gifted the rod to me is from that same area, quite close to the business card address. The rod belonged to the father of my friend.
My knowledge of cane rods is limited. I'm a fiberglass rod era baby. I moved from fiberglass to graphite in 1978, when I got a Fenwick HMG graphite stick for high school graduation, and I didn't look back. I have at least a dozen graphite rods from 2wt -> 10wt, and a small list of cane; my newly renovated 6'6" Montague Midge stick, and, this unidentified rod. Please help me ID this thing.
Last edited by mfrench on 01/30/23 17:55, edited 1 time in total.
The card tells you a lot about Lon Blauvelt. I did some trading with him 30 years ago. The script "Sterling" looks professionally done so I'm not sure this is a build of Lons. He liked a morticed butt on some of his builds. This could have been a rod from another maker that Lon traded or sold to your friends Dad. Good luck.
"Squeaking" some epoxy could result in a mess it seems. If the cap is loose enough to have it flop side to side the glue bond is broken. You can slide a razor or filet knife under the tiny brad holding the cap on and carefully remove it. Clean the inner cap and then use a small amount of epoxy to tack it back into place with the same brad you removed and allow it to cure for a day. That will insure a dependable repair.
Tommosini is guiding to you correctly. It is a Montague. The ferrules, grip, reel seat, style and location of writing on the blank and grip shape tell him that it's a Monty.
I got the reel seat butt cap removed, and will be resetting it later today.
Like I've said,.. I'm a cane novice. So, I appreciate all input. thanks!
I just finished a resto-mod of a Mont. Rapidan (now as a 6'6" Midge rod), and this rod struck me as a far finer construction than that. On this posted rod, the joints between the segments just disappear, really smooth and fine. With my resto-mod'd Monty, you can definitely see the seam lines. So, I was left wondering.
So, if this is a Monty,... further mods shouldn't be that big of a deal, regarding the don't touch the patina of a fine rod ethic?.
This, I ask, because I'd like to consider replacing the stripper guide for a larger one, adding a new slide ring-burl seat. And, ultimately, I want to repair/replace the broken ferrule with a re-ferrule effort.
Was there an original Montague at 7'6" 4wt 2pc/2tip?
There probably was a 7'6" configuration for a Monty, more likely was a 5/6 wt.
As for your rod, you will not hurt the value with anything you do with it. If you want to fish it, strip it and rebuild with more guides, etc. I would not overspend to fix that ferrule.
Lon Blauvelt lived about 20 minutes from me. I often saw him at Lang's discovery auctions when they were being conducted in Massachusetts, and he could often be found peddling his restored rods at the tackle shows and fairs here in Northern New England. He moved out of state a good ten years ago.
Bottom line is that it's Your rod. Losing an honest inch on the tip to replace the ferrule won't likely have a dramatic effect on the performance or casting quality. Finding an exact match may be a "scavenger hunt" of sorts but putting feelers out here may be a good bet.
Removing what looks like a Cedar reel seat with a clean and functional lock might be sketchy. What is it about the seat you don't like?
This rod is very nice and in my humble opinion simply replacing the broken ferrule would be all it needs to take to the stream. Again though, it's your rod and sometimes we dive into an ambitious project and regret the ensuing results - kick ourselves in the butt and realize we should have left well enough alone. Don't ask how I came to that conclusion
Well, this is my DIY male ferrule repair that I made today.
It fits perfectly, with the right amount of friction in the joint. I also made the ferrule casing a bit longer on the cane side, to provide a bit more support.
I made it with K & N Precision brass tubing from the hardware store. It is tubing that fits perfectly concentrically over/under each other piece of tubing in the catalog. it also provides solid rod stock in the catalog selection. So, the male ferrule portion is solid brass.
So, I found the right fit for the cane, and that piece of tubings also happened to fit a piece of 3/16" solid brass rod, which is the actual male part of the ferrule.
The 3/16" brass rod was just a skoash too large, which was ideal, as I was able to lap it down to a perfect fit within the female ferrule.
All three of these component items were soldered together with silver solder.
It doesn't match the other half of the ferrule, Mike
I shrug. This is of a minor issue to me, when the fit is so perfect.
So, this rod now has two functional tips to it.
And it only cost me about $2.50, as I had to buy one piece of tubing.
I also built a hard case for it, a rod tube, from 1.5" ABS drain pipe. It didn't have one.
I had a piece of ABS at hand, so,.... I added a pair of rubber end caps, with one end epoxied on. I also weaved a shoulder strap for it from Dollar Store 3/16" paracord. The strap represent one whole spool of rope, and I didn't want to add more, with a knot. The spacing matches a second rod tube that I made for my other rod project, my Montague Midge 6'6" resto-mod, whose tube is about 6" shorter (but the spacing matches).
I added green w/ a hint of black stripper glitter to the varnish on the rope wraps, for eye catching sparkle; subtle, but really catches the eye.
So, somewhat unexpectedly, at least compared to the way that the day started out, I ended up diving into a restoration/resto-mod of this rod yesterday afternoon, after spending the morning sandbagging, readying for large rains this weekend.
I moight have sandbagged and sweated myself into a brain blank out moment.
It now has, no guides, no grip, and no reel seat. They were all carefully removed, organized and filed.
Why?
Multiple reasons,....
The orignal varnish was dead, and flaking off, and easily chipped (one day on my rocky home stream revealed lots of varnish chips afterward).
I absolutely hated the reel seat/cork grip combination.
I have giant hands; really big. The heel of my palm rode beyond the grip, and rested on the knurled down-locker. And, when I cast, it loosens the reel seat slightly with each motion, and before I know it, I'm casting with a rattling reel, and need to stop, and tighten everything down again.
The cork grip was just 5" long. And, while I have a shorter grip than that, that I absolutely love, the knurling on this threaded seat is not what I need for a seat.
My shorter grip is on an Orvis One Ounce 6'6", and, is only about 4" long (cork), it has a slide ring seat that has never once in 30 years caused me any grief.
So, if I post pics, will you guys be willing to guide me in how to do this properly?
I'm stripped down to the cane, but, left the ferrules and tip tops in place. I've hand-bladed, scraped the flaking varnish off, entirely, and am a point where I am ready for a new base coat of varnish.
I intend for a n.s. slide ring reel seat and burl insert. I am also going to make a new cork grips for it, of greater length, to fit my mitts; 6.5 -> 7" reverse half-wells, or, perhaps, cigar. In order to get to a longer grip, I'm going to need to stint the rod at the seat, or, add grip length further up the rod.
If I use the stint method, I'll likely use a section of precision brass tubing, to bring some counter-balance back into the hand.
Thoughts on this would be appreciated.
My thread work is gong to be a blood Burgundy, a touch deeper than original red. And, I'm going to accent it with a nice deep forest green for intermediate wraps, and, my own "signature wraps", of my added fish measuring scale, which starts at 12", and I wraps every 3" beyond that, for 12, 15, 18,... etc. measurement scale marks. So, burgundy base wraps, forest green intermediate and sig wraps.
