Varnishing the Rod

With the wraps varnished smooth, the rod is ready to varnish. This is the final coat of spar, poly or whatever that will slow down (but not eliminate) the reacquisition of moisture into the bamboo and protect it from UV damage. This varnish coat is also the icing on the cake of a high dollar collectors rod. I could honestly care less about that on my rods, so it's purely a functional thing for me...primarily moisture control. If I leave it out in the rain at camp, I'm not going to have to worry about having a waterlogged rod the next day. There are several common methods of applying the varnish. There's dipping, draining, brushing, spraying and impregnating. I'm draining. A tube is filled with varnish, the rod section is inserted and then the varnish is drained out of the tube slowly to leave a smooth as glass thin coat of varnish on the rod. The generally accepted routine for draining or dipping a rod is 3 coats. Maybe 4 on the butt section and maybe 2 on the tip depending on the how thick the coats are. The thickness of the coats is a function of the viscosity of the varnish and the speed at which the varnish is drained...slower is thiner and faster is thicker. The general rule of thumb is 3 inches per minute. The drain is stopped at the beginning and end of every wrap to let the varnish catch up. If you don't stop, the risk of a run is high...runs are a bad thing. There are several pictures of the process in the Rod Making album with captions describing each step along the way. I've completed 2 coats on this rod as of last night. It looks really good. I'm trying to decide on a third coat this afternoon. I'll probably stop with 2 on the tip sections. Not sure about the butt yet...will probably do a third...we'll see.