A friend came across this old Payne 102 in really bad shape.  Some folks offered him ridiculously low prices for it. I offered a fair price and he readily accepted.  There was only a single tip, with no bag or tube.  Here are a few before and after pictures showing what can be done with a rod nearly destroyed.






The original stripper guide was tied at the end of the cotton twine pictured above.






After stripping away all the old varnish these black spots were quite prominent.  With a little care and some serious time, I made some improvements.  Each one of those spots was bleached with oxalic acid on a Q-tip.  If I remember correctly, most of them were bleached 11-13 times.

See below for the way the rod looks today, including the extra tip I made for it.
 


The second tip was made a little lighter, and signed "H. Boyd" so that when I am no longer around there will be no doubt this tip is a replacement.






The original Spanish Cedar reel seat filler was salvaged by gently stripping the old finish with alcohol.  Some stains were then bleached away.  Seven coats of varnish were hand rubbed in, even under the uplocking hood of the seat.

The brown thread is original Belding Corticelli #5115, finished with shellac to help it keep its color.  The yellow thread is called "Parakeet" if I remember correctly.  Five light coats of shellac were applied, then the wraps were coated three times with McCloskey's Man O War spar varnish.  The entire rod then received three good coats of the Man O War.





The purple highlights at the winding check and ferrules are more brilliant than they appear in these photos.