It’s Five Days. It’s Long Hours. It’s Great Fun! This five day course will focus on completing two different, yet related, projects. First, each student must arrive with one cane rod that is all but finished … the components should be glued up, the guides should be wrapped in place, any pre-finish should be applied to the guides (color preserver for opacity or oil & resin finishes for translucency). We will dip this rod each day to finalize the rod while learning the intricacies of dip finishing and finishing the finish. For the second project, each student will be required to arrive with a ferruled blank. Monday through Wednesday, we’ll go through the process of composing the rod (selecting components), making grips, making ferrule plugs, wrapping the guides, burnishing the wraps and so forth. On Thursday, we’ll apply Alchemist Amber Varnish and the first coat of Sutherland Welles Marine Spar Varnish so that each student can learn first-hand the GW process for creating translucent wraps. Friday will be spent making up Classic Rod Tube Kits & GW-style traditional tube labels, and bluing & clear coating nickel silver componentsm As time permits, we’ll delve into jewelry quality up-grades of the rod components to include gold plating, adding solid gold cold rivets, and so forth.
“Folks, this is the stuff I’m passionate about. You need to know how to make a blank just as a painter must know how to stretch a canvas, but it is finishing that separates the wheat from the chaff. Master it! I’ll help.”
– Russ
At minimum, you’ll learn the following rod finishing techniques:
•Component Selection—Composing the Rod •Professional Guide Wrapping & Burnishing •Flawless Dip Finishing & Finishing the Finish •Opaque & Translucent Varnishing Techniques •Bluing & Clear Coating NS Components •Cork Slicing & Adhesive Tinting for Slim-Ring Grips •Professional Polishing—Making Nickel Silver Shine •Making Classic Rod Tube Kits •Making Traditional Rod Tube Labels •Gold Work—Plating, Pinning, & Cold Riveting
Time permitting, we’ll also delve into:
•Agate Soldering for Kits & Repairs •Feather Inlays •Installing Blind Nickel Silver Pins
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