Consider this, the marble statue of David took four years to finish and the Sistine Chapel took seven years to complete. People always are impressed when we tell them it takes up 50-60 hours to make a rod, that would be a light work week for Michaelangelo. When you are struggling with a rod go lie on your back on some scaffolding and have a friend drop paint in your face and you will cheer up in a hurry.
Much of the frescoe in the Chapel was damaged and dirty from centuries of candle smoke and other environmental issues. It was restored to it's original splendor in 1994 after 10 years of painstaking work. There was plenty of contoversy as most of the original work was redone and the maestros original strokes are now gone. It was restore it or let it fade into obscurity. The original water based paint was lais into fresh plaster and the result lasted 500 years, not bad in my books.
As we restore rods made by their original makers, some valuable, some not so, let's make sure we go that extra mile to find the correct thread and findings. Sure it is more work and cost but we owe a debt to these makers and their work deserves as much respect as possible. Most of these rods are nearing the Century mark and without us they won't make it to their Bi-centennial. Are they as holy as the Vatican contents? To many of us they are...................