fly rod help

[lifesaflyin]

i have a rod from way back used so much the last eye wore out. but still in pretty good shape im wondering if its worth anything, fixing.

its old. 25 years or more.

its a "open road crown series" ORF 85 8.5FT / 2.55M

it was made in japan.

its very fast acting and seems to be made of wood. it put my 5 weight temple fork to shame with sensitivity. also i cant figure out the weight. im guessing it is an 8?

thanks for any help.

[swirlchaser]

Sounds like its one of your favorite rods. If it gives you confidence while fishing its priceless. Wrapping on new guides is easy, you can do it yourself.

[Rip Tide]

This is just a guess... but I'd say you have a post-war Japanese bamboo rod...50-60 years old
Does it have metal ferrules. (the joint where the pieces go together), chrome reelseat?
If it's what I think it is, it's not a great rod, but it's perfectly usable and most likely a 6wt.

Tiptops cost less than two bucks if you want to fix it yourself or if you take it to a shop, they'll charge you 10
Worth it either way

[lifesaflyin]

there is no crome, its wrapped with thread at the joint and the reelseat looks like aluminum painted red or anodized. the guides look to be brass or copper with crome on the outside.

the cork i have to say is far better then i have ever seen, even if it is a cheap rod from back in the day.

[ezamora]

PHOTOS!!!!

eric
fresno, ca.

[Diver Dan]

You can tell what weight rod it is by using the "Common Cents" method that was in Rod Maker magazine a few years ago. It works by hanging a bag off the end and trapping the handle down to a flat surface. With the entire rod past the handle parallel to the floor add pennies to the bag till you get the rod bent one third of the length. e.g. 9 foot rod bent 3 feet. the number of pennies it takes tells you what the weight is. If you want I can give you more detailed directions. As for the top, show us a picture and I will tell you if we can get a matching top (last guide). I have access to some pretty good parts places and can get or lead you to an exact match more than likely. Tops are cheap and pennies are reusable. You should be able to be back in business for under five bucks. I'm sure the rod is worth at least that.

[KenWey]

Ok I'm game. How do you equate the number of pennies it takes to achieve a 1/3 bend to a weight class?

[swirlchaser]

Originally Posted by KenWey

Ok I'm game. How do you equate the number of pennies it takes to achieve a 1/3 bend to a weight class?

I'm going to guess that the weight classification is based on what it takes to bend 1/3 of the rod. I guess a penny just happens to match the unit of measure used??? I have no idea, but it sounds good...

[Frank Whiton]

Hi to all,

Pennies to bend 1/3 of a rod??? Never head that formula before. I wonder if it really works. For instances, a 9' 5wt with a soft action would bend with less weight than a 9' 5wt with a stiff action. They are both 5 weights but I think it would take different numbers of pennies to bend them 1/3 of the rod. Am I missing something here?

Frank

[Diver Dan]

Ok Ken. Fly rods are rated by how much weight it takes to load the rod. In fly rods loaded technically is in a 9' rod, 3' of deflection. Lines are rated so that with 15' of line out of the rod it will load the rod. These are known as the AFTMA standards. Pennies made post 1996 have a weight of known value. By using a small paper clip with a small plastic bag you can add pennies till you achieve the 1/3 the length deflection. counting the pennies gives you the weight it takes to load the rod. This is how rods are rated. For example 42 cents gives you an effective rod number of 5.2. ( there is a chart ) Rods with an ERN of 5.0 to 5.99 can be legitimately called a 5 weight. At 5.9 I might be tempted to call it a 5/6 weight. It is actually a kind of involved deal and took at least three issues of RodMaker to cover it, starting with Vol. 6 #2. They even had a meathod of determining the weight of an unknown fly line also using pennies. I have used it a couple of times.