Rodmakers have taken to dipping in droves. Stories of Jim Payne locked in a super heated room in his underwear varnishing with a brush and other similar stories of secretive varnishing seem funny now since dipping works so well. Like the candied apple, we simply dip the rod in the varnish and slowly retract the rod and marvel at the finished product. Some makers dip with guides on, others prefer dipping the blank before wrapping, a chacun son gout, to each their own. There are serious discussions of what speed to retract the rod, discussions of thinning agents and percentages. True spar vs urethane spar, VOC issues, searching for old recipe Man o' War, P&L 61, sniffing the cane, yes folks, sniffing to see it is authentic. These are all varnish issues that haunt rodmakers.
Now after we spend fifty plus hours building the damn thing and polishing the cane with various compounds to get a silky smooth finish can we not learn to dip the rod without dipping the cork? I admit it is a pet peeve and I am constantly sending pictures to Jorge of nice rods, well made, good attention to detail with VARNISH ALL OVER THE TOP RING. I know I shouldn't shout but come on guys and gals, all that work, planning, sourcing, planing, gluing and wrapping can we not offer the end user a cork handle without varnish?
I would like to live in a world of varnish free cork handles I think it would be a better place, I'm thinking of making bumper stickers, anyone want one?