Rod Finish Failures by Bob Nunley
Posted by David BolinThere has been a recent discussion on the rodmakers list about the failure rate of various types of rod finishes. Bob Nunley chimed in a day or two after the discussion had trailed off. There are a few things you should know about Bob if you haven't had a chance to visit with him. He's not particularly reserved about his opinions. Actually, confident might be an understatement. And he's probably one of the most experienced full time rodmakers in business today. You know I don't really know, but I'll say he's in the top ten by number of rods made and years in production. So I usually pay attention when he posts something on the list. I thought his post on finish failures was helpful. So with his permission, I've included here so I can find it later.
Bob's post:
This finish failure issue is very interesting to me. I use, and always have, some sort of Tung Oil based varnish. The current, and has been for about 8 or 9 years, is Last and Last Marine Door and Spar Varnish, same stuff the late John Channer used (we both got that idea from Ron Kusse). Before that, it was something else, can't remember what, exactly, but it was also a Tung Oil based Marine Spar Varnish. I have had no issues at all with the finishes degrading or breaking down.
The "Snake Rod" went from 1992 until 2007 before it was refinished. Actually, there was NOTHING at all wrong with the Tung Oil Varnish finish that was on the rod, but I fell, on the rod of course, and broke it, so after the repair, I just refinished it. My current rod has four hard years of fishing on it. It lives in the back of my Envoy 24/7 365 days a year... it's in there right now. It has sat through three years of blistering southern heat, ice storms, snow storms, including our current one, has laid in the rod tray on my boat, getting bounced around like a rubber ball as I run that jon boat wide open up and down the river
When I fish, I fish hard. VERY hard. It's not unusual for me to put in 8 hour plus days in the winter and 14 to 16 hour days of fishing in the summer. Considering the number of days I fish, I'd say it gets at least 1200 hours of fishing each year on it... no exaggeration. Those on this list that have fished with me, know that sometimes I depend on moonlight to get from the truck to the river and then on the NEXT round of moonlight to get back to the truck. I've even, after the last knee surgery, sneaked to the river when my wife wasn't home, slipped on my wading boots, grabbed my walker and got in the water to fish. I fish ALOT and 95% of my fishing is done with the same rod, my "Daily Driver". Many of you have seen it... 8' 5 wt with 141 red with black/red/black tipping, rattan handle, amboyna reel seat and 141 3-turn wide red intermediate wraps.
My "Daily Driver" does not have one place, anywhere in the varnish, that needs attention. I never clean it, I never dry it off before I throw it back in the tube and have, on more than one occasion in the winter, had to lay the rod bag on the dash of my Envoy over the defroster vent so I can thaw it out enough to get the rod out of the bag. (yeah, I know I should at least dry it off with a towel or my shirt before I put it back in bag and tube in the winter, but hey... I'm usually tired when I finish fishing and, frankly, just don't care)
I don't have issues with varnish failures, or varnish deterioration. I do NOT have any big finishing secrets, except this. You know those directions on the can where it says it's best to apply thin coats at temperatures between 70 and 75 degrees? Well, I figure the guys that make the varnish probably know more about varnishing than most people do, so I follow their directions... METICULOUSLY. I DO NOT heat the varnish. I DO NOT cure it in a 100 degree plus drying cabinet. I DO NOT put it on thick, I put it on VERY thin.
I'm not knocking anyone's way of doing things, I'm just saying that from the days in the 70's and 80's when I was making violins and over the past 22 years of making bamboo fly rods and the past 30 years of doing repairs, refinishes and restorations, I learned a long time ago that they don't just write on those cans for fun. They're putting USEFUL and CORRECT information on them.
Now, I cannot speak for what Polyurethane finishes do. Don't like them, too much, probably never will. They just don't look right to me! Well, there is one out there that does have a deep rich look to it that I like, but for my rods, I have found that I can't beat the durability of a good quality spar varnish, especially when applied the way it's supposed to be applied.
Bob
RL "Bob" Nunley
Custom Bamboo Fly Rods