Hi folks,

I have an old fiberglass rod, that used to belong to my grandfather, that I'd like to restore. The problem is: it sat leaned in a corner for years, and now has a bow set in it. How do I go about straightening the blank? BTW, I'm just getting into rod building and repair and I can see that this site will be invaluable to me.

Any help appreciated,
Bill in WV

Bill: Welcome to the addiction of rod building!
Most of my old fiberglass rods have a bend in them somewhere. It doesn't cause a problem for me because the bend is toward the guide side where the spine is and that doesn't cause problems with the downrigger fishing I do. When I re-did them, I just placed the guides on the inside of the bend. About eliminating the bend, I don't know how it could be done. If it isn't too bad a bend and doesn't affect the performance of the rod, I would just leave it. Some of the more experienced builders will probably have some better info.
Murf

Hi Bill,

Fiberglass will do that. I restored my friends 40 year old surf stick that caught many many fish and a set formed in the blank. After being restored he is still catching many many fish.

Since it was your grandfather's rod restore it to your best ability. Then enjoy fishing it and looking at it knowing to whom it belonged.

Capt Neil Faulkner

I do think there were several posts about fixing this sort of thing a while back. Don't remember the partictulars. You could try a search or wate maybe some one will post the info. Beleve they were steamed to take the bend out??

Sometimes setting carefully in a corner and letting it sit the opposite direction has worked for me. Have to be careful how you do it so you don't get an S shape though.

Phil

Im not sure how to fix it, but I build an old 5'6 fiberglass fenwick rod last summer and it was a great ultra light rod for smallmouth bass in the Niagara River. I let the rod sit in my trunk for a few days like a dummy and when i took it out there was a bend in the tip. It killed the sensitivity of the rod I tried to bend it back but it ended up breaking. Id say whatever you do to try and fix it excersize caution. Along the same lines if someone has any ideas for a 5'6 to 6'6 slow action ultra light (2-4 line weight) spinning blank let me know, I need to build another one for smallmouth this summer.