On 5 Sep, 01:33, "nrosefl" wrote:
A neighbor of mine gave me a bamboo fly rod that belonged to his father.
The name on the butt is KIRAK . It had been in his garage for 30 or 40 years
in Florida. He's
80 years old and he doesn't remember when his father got it . It's a 3 piece
rod with an extra tip that came in a wooden box.
I believe its japanese made.The top ferrule of the butt section is loose and
I would like to reglue it.
any advice as to glue ( I was thinking Gorilla glue ???) I would like to try
to use the rod but there
is no line weight specified on the rod Also should I varnish it before using
it ? I would appreciate
any information about the rod and any suggestions about caring for it and
type and weight of line.
Thanks
Norm Rose

There were large numbers of these rods made. It may be fishable, or it
may not. Many dry out badly, and break when used. You can use epoxy
to glue the ferrule.

In order to estimate the line weight required, attach a fixed spool
reel loaded with nylon. Start casting small lead weights, increasing
the weight until the rod feels right. This is easiest to do if you tie
a small bag to the line and put the weights in the bag.

When it feels right, which is easy to determine, as it will cast
easily and a long way with the right weight, follow the instructions
below.

Too much weight and it will start to feel sluggish, and wont cast as
far. Too little and it wont cast very well either. This is very easy
to feel.

The optimum weight = the maximum distance.

Weigh the weight you are casting, divide it by three, and compare it
to the following table;

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/9027/aftmow5.png

If you are casting one ounce, then 1 oz/ 3 = .333r oz you have a #5
weight.

If you are casting 1.5 ounces, then 1.5oz/ 3 = .5oz you have an #8
weight

If you want to be much more accurate then go here;

http://www.common-cents.info/

The article of main interest to you is this one;
http://www.common-cents.info/part3.pdf

EDIT A 10 ft cane fly rod is most likely to be in the #6 to #8 range
anyway, and most likely an #8.

Unfortunately the board software reformats the weight table. But it
should be clear that the last figures in the table lines are ounces. A
#5 weight will cast a full five weight line weighing 0.96 ounces.
Dividing by three gives you the (rough) weight of 30 ft of #5 line,
which is 0.32 ounces.

EDIT. Tried to reformat the table properly, but it wont work, so I
plugged the table in as a picture.

The original decal would probably have not been much use to you
anyway, as older cane rods use the old silk line system which was
dependent on line diameters, ( silk always weighs more or less the
same for the same diameter). As a matter of interest, you can find
them here;
http://www.orvis.com/detail.asp?subj...oup_id=&bhcp=1

TL
MC