Refurbishing a South Bend bamboo fly rod that will only be displayed, butt ferrule needs replacing, any recommendations on ferrule adhesive? Rod Bond, regular hot melt glue?

Thank you.

I would use Rod Bond

most epoxies including rod bond will fail eventually. one epoxy that won't is JB WELD. some contemporary makers swear by it, others use other methods. if you use JB make sure you never have to remove the ferrule. it is on unless you machine it off. if the fit between ferrule and bamboo is a very tight fit you could use pliobond. this will hold tight but can be removed with heat. if the new ferrule is not tight to the bamboo you do not want to use pliobond or hot melt glue. JB WELD or golf club shafting epoxy will be better.

pliobond has to be done right. you need to put a light coat on bamboo and inside the ferrule. when dry you "flash" the bamboo section with the pliobond on it which will make it melt slightly then you immediately slide the ferrule on. it takes some experience to do it right. much eaier to use JB in my opinion. do not use the fast setting form of JB.

Larry,
What is the problem with the fast setting JB weld?

it does not have any where near the strength of their slower setting product. the product i am using has
a 4-6 hour set up time with 24 hours before you use the part. from what i understand some guys use this stuff to fix engine blocks. it has a very high heat tolerance. JB weld has a website where their various products are compared for shear strength and tensile strength. the metal to bamboo connection on a fly rod is a high stress area. once a ferrule starts to loosten the movement creates a spike in the stress at the point where the ferrule tabs contact the cane. that is where these rods usually break. if you can elimate that loostening you go a long way towards keeping the rod from breaking at the ferrule.

Listen to Larry regarding the J-B Weld. It is fantastic. But the only thing is , you will NEVER take that ferrule off without machining it off. That is all I use now a days.

Tight lines ~