ON THE BENCH - COLOUR

 As a serial restorer of cane rods in poor condition, probably my biggest frustration comes when I have a rod that requires varnish removal. That may be because it is flaky or damaged itself or because the cane beneath requires work. Many old rods and poles have the most beautiful mahogany colour but that is not the colour of the cane, rather it is the yellowing of the varnish that one is seeing. Unless you are used to removing varnish it is hard to imagine the difference that age makes to vintage varnishes.

     I have tried and am still trying to solve this conundrum, how do I get that colouration back? Well I first tried tinting the varnish with a compatible woodstain and that was pretty useless. No matter how much stain I put in, the coats were too thin to make much difference. I also tried the same idea with oil paint with similarly disappointing results.

     Probably the most successful attempt I have made so far has been on this rather ropey Lea pole. Bamboo does not take stain all that well but the work done to it originally and a light scuffing before the stain is applied will allow it to take. In this case I applied 3 coats of antique pine over one of brown mahogany. Before varnishing the colour was much closer, the effect afterwards while being attractive enough, was not by any means a match for the original yellowed, brown, varnish.

Removing the whippings demonstrates the patination acquired over maybe a hundred years of hard use.

L-R refinished, stripped and original

     Staining the bamboo had given a darker finish but it had highlighted the original makers toolmarks beacause they had broken the hard enamel surface and the clear varnish allowed all that to show. The original patinated varnish had become opaque with time and was in fact hiding the cane beneath pretty much as paint would. For now, it is back to the drawing board and I am pondering my next step which may involve adding oil to the varnish, either linseed or teak perhaps. Shellac is something I have to look into as I understand that may have been used originally by some makers,

     This discolouration of old varnishes causes other insurmountable issues for the amateur restorer. For a start it totally changes the colour of whippings. Take the old black and white, so-called jasper, thread so popular with rod builders in the middle of the last century. That now appears, rather appropriately, black and dark yellow, jasper being an old name for a wasp. It's pretty much impossible to replace an odd ring here or there without it standing out like a sore thumb. For a full refurb is no problem, obviously and very attractive it is too especially on a black painted cane.

If you want to find the original colour of the rod remove a ring. If you want a better idea of the colour of the whipping look at the back of it. You will be surprised I promise.

Things don't get any easier with fibreglass either. The recent restoration of a Hardy Gordon Carpquest turned into a total nightmare. Fibreglass rod blanks of the early seventies were often painted. No etch primers were used and now, 50 plus years later, that paint is often chipped and scratched. 

Repainting the rod was no issue, the paint flaking off easily but of course that can't be done close to the butt transfers. So my newly refurbished rod ended up a beautiful silver grey with purple and black whippings with transfers on small islands of dark green. 

Hey ho, my rods are to be used so I'm not losing any sleep over it. It does niggle a bit though. Oh!, and my Sealey Blue Match is green as well, so there you have it, yellowing varnish looks great on cane, crap on fibreglass and drives this restorer mad.