I measured the thickness of the tips of two IBIS blanks with a digital micrometer, and they most definitely differ from what Winston has specified. The 9' 6wt has a tip that measures .060" at 1" from the tip, and the 9'6" 8wt measures in at .063" at the same distance. The Winston chart states that the 9' 6wt and the 9'6” 8wt take 4.5 and 4 tube-size tip-tops respectively? What is the minimum gap required to seat a tip-top affixed with hot glue on a rod? Should I skip using a 4 and jump to a size 4.5 tip-top on both of these blanks?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2006 12:19AM by Mark Van Ditta.

The tip O.D.'s are often off its best to have a person pull your blank and see what size tip fits it....If the 4 fits use it, just load it up with ferrlue cement, when I have had to use a .5 64ths over tip, over what fit on the rod tip I places a single strand of size "A" (.009) on the ring side of the blank and glued on like I aways did

I would get a couple of size 4 and a couple of size 4.5 and try them. Use the ones that fit the best and leave just a lttle space for the glue.

Mark, I would stay away from hot glue unless fly rods are different from regular rods. Hot glue will get soft on a hot summer day and the last thing you want is your tip sliding around when your trying to reel in your catch.

jason, fly rods ARE regular rods, everything else is irregular :-) hot glue is often used on fly rods for the tip top, at least from my reading of practices and own experience over the past year.

eric
fresno, ca.

I stand corrected Eric, I'll but out of fly rod conversation from here on out. :-)