Here's another glass project I finished this winter. About five years ago I bought a beat up Phillipson 7-1/2' MF76L at a local antiques store. When I tried casting it I was very pleasantly surprised. It's old fashioned, 1960's glass, but it loved a 5 weight rather than the typical 6 for the time period (many folks fish it with a 4 wt even). After looking into the rod model I found that it was the rare "L" version of the rod that was the lighter 5 wt and was a rod a lot of the old glass fans love to hunt for. I fished it "as-is" a couple times but couldn't get comfortable with all the chips and scratches in the pale yellow paint of the blank, or the failing wraps and beat up guides.
So I decided I'd just strip it and rebuild it...how hard could that be, right? Well, I discovered two things...first, that yellow paint was nearly impossible to remove no matter what I tried. Second, and to my chagrin, I discovered that a secret to the rod's great casting was that Phillipson used different glass for the butt section and tip section. So it cast great, but the butt was orange'ish yellow while the tip was rootbeer brown. I considered repainting the blank but ended up just putting on a few coats of tung oil and enjoyed my two-toned rod. So, a two-toned casting machine it is. So be it.
I chose black silk for the wraps with yellow tipping, red signature wrap in the Phillipson open spiral style, a red agate stripper and a new seat and cork. I finally finished it a couple weeks ago, casts like a dream. Given my preference for bamboo I'm not certain it will get fished as much as it should, but if I still have it for the next gathering I'll bring it out for anyone to try who might be curious about it.
So I decided I'd just strip it and rebuild it...how hard could that be, right? Well, I discovered two things...first, that yellow paint was nearly impossible to remove no matter what I tried. Second, and to my chagrin, I discovered that a secret to the rod's great casting was that Phillipson used different glass for the butt section and tip section. So it cast great, but the butt was orange'ish yellow while the tip was rootbeer brown. I considered repainting the blank but ended up just putting on a few coats of tung oil and enjoyed my two-toned rod. So, a two-toned casting machine it is. So be it.
I chose black silk for the wraps with yellow tipping, red signature wrap in the Phillipson open spiral style, a red agate stripper and a new seat and cork. I finally finished it a couple weeks ago, casts like a dream. Given my preference for bamboo I'm not certain it will get fished as much as it should, but if I still have it for the next gathering I'll bring it out for anyone to try who might be curious about it.
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