Split Cane Fishing Rods

Now we have cleaned and prepared the cane sections we can start putting the rod back together.  The next stage is to whip rings on to the rod, whip over the ferrules and add the intermediate whippings to complete the cosmetics. After that we will seal the whippings and apply the varnish.

You’ve probably noticed that split cane rods, and some of the early fibreglass rods had several narrow whippings between the rod rings. This practice was discontinued on later fibreglass and carbon rods, and probably isn’t really necessary on most cane rods as advances in split cane construction resulted in blanks that were strong enough without these additional strengthening whippings.

If all you want to do is get the rod ready to fish with you can probably leave the intermediate whippings off without risking the rod, but I dont think a rod has been properly restored unless it has all of the original features, so I’ll be putting them on.

I also try as far as possible to match the whipping colour to that of the original rod, so for the Wizard, that means scarlet.  There are many grades of whipping thread available, and some are very expensive.  If I was working on a ‘special’ rod, I’d use one of the more expensive threads, but for most of my restoration work which is on lesser or incomplete rods, I find nylon thread to be good enough.

You can usually find most colours of thread on ebay, some new, some ‘old new’ stock that has been found in a shop clearout. This comes in various thicknesses, graded from ‘A’ to ‘D’, ‘A’ being the thinnest.  For most work I prefer to use a grade ‘C’ as its additional thickness means less turns, and its easier to work with.  I sometimes use grade ‘D’ on thicker blanks, but for most work I find it results in a ‘bulky’ finish.

If you’re planning to restore a lot of rods, you can pick up some good quality line in bulk packs of several colours. I bought a pack of about 40 a year or so ago on the US ebay site. I cant remember how much I paid for it, but I know it worked out a lot cheaper. When I looked again before writing this post, there didn’t seem to be any available, but it may be worth you checking from time to time. The brand I bought was ‘Pacific Bay’. You can go to the US ebay site by clicking the link at the end of this post.

Before we start I’d just like to pass on a tip. Whipping rings on to rods can be tricky and you often wish you had an extra hand when finishing off. For a while now, I’ve been using a bobbin holder that is used when tying fishing flies. Because it holds the thread in place, you can actually let go of it and it will hold the whipping tight while you tighten the coils or finish off the whipping.

We’ll start by whipping on the butt ring. You should be able to see where it needs to go from discolouration left on the rod from the original ring. On Allcocks rods the ring is usually on the same side as the transfer and although its not strictly necessary to put the rings back on the same side of the rod, you’ll know by now from earlier posts that I always try to restore a rod to its original specification.

When whipping rings you may find it helps to secure the ring by one leg with masking tape. Some people glue the rings in place, but I dont like to do that as the cane can be damaged if you need to replace a ring in the future.

After securing the ring to the rod, start by trapping the loose end of the thread by wrapping a coil over it, and add further coils by turning the rod while keeping the thread under tension. You will probably need to stop every few turns to tighten and straighten the coils so the whipping is neat. I find it easiest to do this with my thumbnail. After about 8 to 10 turns, trim the loose end of the thread.

Continue adding coils until you are have gone past the end of the leg of the ring by about a third of its length. At this point, trap a loop of 2lb fishing line under the thread, and continue adding coils for about 8 to 10 turns.

We are now ready to finish off the whipping. Cut the thread, leaving enough free to pass through the loop of fishing line, and then pull the two loose ends of the fishing line to draw the loose end of the thread under the last few coils.

Check that everything is neat and tight, using you thumbnail or a cocktail stick to push the coils together, and then use a sharp knife to trim the loose thread close to the point it exits the coils.

Dont worry if the whipping doesn’t look perfect – you can tidy everything up by tightening the coils, again with your thumbnail or a cocktail stick, and even out any gaps by gently rubbing the cocktail stick over the top of the whipping.

If everything has gone according to plan, you should have a neat whipping securing one leg of the butt ring as shown in the picture above.

Remove the masking tape, and repeat the process to whip over the other leg. The process for the other rings, whippings over ferrules, and the intermediate whippings is the same, except that you need to trap the loop of fishing line much sooner for the intermediate whippings as they are much narrower than those for the rings and ferrules.

In the next post I will talk about how the whippings are sealed and varnished.

If you’re looking for an online source of the materials you’ll need for restoring a split cane rod, Tacklebargains.co.uk stock a wide range of rod building supplies including whipping thread, chrome guidesand cork handles.

eBay Links:

US eBay site
Bobbin holders
Whipping thread