I thought I had everything all lined up correctly. I am rebuilding an old Fenwick 130lb class rod. and I have done all the under wraps and the diamond before I removed the rod from the wrapper, obviously a big rookie mistake. And come to find out that the center of my diamond wrap doesn't line up with the center line of the rod. I being a novice to this donot want to remove the diamond wrap that I worked so hard to do. But would just like to remove the ferrel on the bottom of the rod that connects to the curve butt. and reinstall it, the problem I am having is removing this thing. I tried to soak it in a pot of boiling water for about a minute, but that didn't seem to budge it. I look at this forum daily, and I just hope someone out there can help me please. Scott Parsons

Well, you have at least a couple of options. First and foremost, you do not want to damage the blank. Better to lose a diamond wrap than ruin the blank. So, any more heat much be considered suspect. Boiling water isn't likely to harm anything but heat on the ferrule from a torch (although likely to break the epoxy bond) isn't really safe as far as the blank is concerned.

So, you're left with re-doing the diamond, or... replacing the ferrule. What type butt do you have? If this is a standard uni-butt type, you can purchase a new butt ferrule for a few dollars and just spiral cut the other one off (be careful not to cut into the blank). I tend to recall that Fenwick used both Aftco and some proprietary butts at one time. So make sure you know what you have before cutting anything.

In the long run, cutting the ferrule off and replacing it is the easiest and may wind up being the least costly, at least if your time's worth anything. On the other hand, if you can't get a ferrule or don't want to spring for one, then re-doing the diamond will be your best bet.

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Tom, When you say spiral cut I am assuming you mean with some type of band saw or something to that nature? By the way it is a standard Aftco ferrule. I am sure I can find one in Mudhole or something like that. Thanks for your help. Scott

You can do it with a hacksaw or dremel tool with a cut-off wheel, if you're careful. Spiral cut just down to the level of the blank and then insert a screwdriver and twist. It should pop loose.

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