Older rod finish - can I buff/sand?

[PMantle]

I have an older AllStar that I realized I could put to good use. I plan to work on the cork and feel pretty confident there. The blank though...not sure how to describe. Like it's cloudy/gummy? I do not want to attempt any kind of refinish. If the answer is, "Just leave it alone.", I will accept that. OTOH, if there's some light buffing I could do or a chemical I could use, I would like to try it. Steel wool? Fine sandpaper? Magic eraser? Alcohol?

[harrys]

magic eraser.... i just did a repair on guides for a friend on an old Allstar rod that had an issue like you are talking about so i thought i would see if i could clean it up for him, it cleaned up well does it look like new ...no...but looks much better than it did .....i would not sand or steel wool i think it will leave marks

[willwork4fish]

I would leave it alone. Just make sure you get off all of the old thread finish. Fish won't know the difference. I've re-guided a lot of old rods and the couple of times I tried to make the blank "pretty" it didn't work.

[PMantle]

magic eraser.... i just did a repair on guides for a friend on an old Allstar rod that had an issue like you are talking about so i thought i would see if i could clean it up for him, it cleaned up well does it look like new ...no...but looks much better than it did .....i would not sand or steel wool i think it will leave marks

I went home for lunch to do the cork part. While the wood filler was drying, I hit the blank with a Magic Eraser sheet. While lots of blue showed up on the sheet, once it dried, it went back to dull. Still better than before. I may try again later. Overall I am pleased with the look of the rod now, and it may get its first trip in decades tomorrow. The cork looks really nice.

[Spoonplugger1]

If you have one of the matt blue rods, I believe they used the same finish as the G Loomis blue GL2 and black GL3 in the same time period. Any solvent including denatured alcohol will remove the finish, first it messes it up then it comes off, I have a GL3 rod that now looks like a IMX because of it.

[PMantle]

If you have one of the matt blue rods, I believe they used the same finish as the G Loomis blue GL2 and black GL3 in the same time period. Any solvent including denatured alcohol will remove the finish, first it messes it up then it comes off, I have a GL3 rod that now looks like a IMX because of it.

Is that a good or bad thing?

[Spoonplugger1]

It fishes the same, what do I care, just a bit of extra time to clean up before rewrapping.