Page 3 of Educational Programs by Golden Witch Technologies, Inc

bamboo rod restoration five days approximately 50 hours offered several times each year 3 student maximum the goal a mastery of bamboo rod restoration techniques the promise the best bamboo rod restoration education available the price $3500.00/student ·price includes finishing video restoration supplies ferrules silks etc to a value of $200.00 patina kit pinning kit eleven meals skills that will serve for restoration work and finishing new rods it s five days it s long hours it s great fun i got started with cane rods by doing a series of restoration projects this is fun you can get involved in restoration without the tool expense of blank making and while you re at it you ll learn to master the details of finishing cane rods you ll also develop an appreciation for the history of the craft as you unravel the brittle threads of an antique cane rod you ll be working backwards through the thoughts and actions of a rodmaker who preceded you by a lifetime or more that s fascinating heady stuff it s also historically important you must choose wisely when deciding what to restore and what not to you must only restore what you can restore competently if you re good you might also have to consider that your restoration skills might exceed the rodmaking abilities of the person who made the rod originally so you ll have to learn to mimic their talents when re-doing their work you might know the secret to eliminating bleed through on your guide wraps but if the original manifested bleed through do you know how to encourage it as a historically apropos flaw do you or your client want the rod to look aged or do you wish to take it back to as new condition if you re selling your services you ll need to consider your fee schedule and your ability to be fair to yourself when dealing with warranty issues should your client go fishing with an old payne that was delaminating when it came into your shop there are historical/moral issues to consider should you make banty rods from old production rods or should you touch a brush to the last un-restored garrison in circulation if it happens into your shop we ll discuss the ship of theseus paradox as it applies to restoration you ll learn plenty of technique to compliment the theorizing at minimum you ll learn the following restoration techniques evaluating rods condition value photographing mapping rods planning the restoration process decal signature preservation preserving repairing grip patina stripping finish dealing with dread delaminations pinning locating removing replacing re-bluing clear coating repairing cracked seats winding checks corrosion removal guides to repair or replace soldering agate repair matching silks matching wrap finishes re-wrapping guides intermediates fishing rods vs wall hangers warranting restoration workmanship fee schedules for restorationists for the restoration class each student should bring two rods that need to be restored ideally you ll have a production rod montague h-i etc that we can work on first then a rod from a medium to light production shop payne leonard f.e thomas etc with a potential value of less than 2k we don t want to tackle a 12k garrison in class you ll leave the class with the skills to do so but also the judgment to know that you probably should not work on supremely rare high-value collectible fishing tackle you and/or your client need to be able to discern the value of a given rod both before and after any restoration work has been completed in most cases it makes sense to restore the rod but there are exceptions technique judgment must mesh we will discuss final finishing techniques but that will have to be completed in your own shop after class the class will be focused on preservation and restoration up through final varnishing graphite rod building class five days approximately 50 hours offered several times each year 3 student maximum the goal a mastery of fitting finishing fine graphite flyrods the promise the best synthetic rod building education available the price $3500.00/student ·price includes a feather inlay kit 2 graphite blanks and 2 full component sets 11 meals gw finishing video and skills that will serve for making fine graphite rods it s five days it s long hours it s great fun building graphite flyrods is easy right so why take a class because we have so much valuable information to teach you if you re just looking to slap the components together to make a fishable rod you can do that without much instruction a book will suffice however if you re one of those rare individuals who believes that form is equal to function that pride in craft and in ownership is worthy of an investment that having a synthetic blank does not make bland or minimalist aesthetics acceptable then you would enjoy this class if you want to go home and duplicate a factory rod i ll suggest that you stay at home to do it there s nothing wrong with this approach when you re just starting out however this is a class designed to move you far past the factory aesthetic an aesthetic which is always designed as much by the penny-pinchers in the accounting department as any talented rodmakers that a shop might have on staff custom rods should not be cheap home-made copies of factory rods custom rods utilize a factory-made blank but depart radically from that point forward too many graphite rod builders shy away from turning custom grips from bluing nickel silver reel seat components from silk wrapping threads i ll urge you to combine these traditional components and techniques with single foot guides if you like them with modern epoxy finishes with vibrant thread colors we ll get one finished and we ll start the other during times when the first blank project is going through an epoxy cure you ll learn spining component selection nitpicky fitting finishing details feather inlay design execution gold plating cold bluing and so much more you ll walk away knowing how to make exquisite graphite fly rods if you sell rods you should be able to take your price to $1200.00 rod call the shop for class scheduling ·717-738-7330

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