Having cast a couple of TiCR rods and liked the way they felt, I figured I would buy a blank and put some quality hardware on it. Well, I guess I did not pay too much attention to the rod blank, because my 7 wt blank arrived today and it's pretty darn ugly. For some reason, the male ferrule on all sections has a glossy grey finish. This appears to be a base coat, which is subsequently covered by black paint. When I look at the assembled rod, the ferrules appear to have been wrapped in silver duct tape. To further cheapen the look, there is a whole bunch of silver/grey lettering prominently slapped across the butt section.

I don't normally get too hung up with rod appearances, but this just looks really tacky. Any suggestions on how to remove the finish/improve the looks without major surgery?

I don't think those blanks are ugly at all, but then I also bought the Roseanne Barr swimsuit calendar so take that with a grain of salt, LOL. If you are willing to void the warranty, you can easily remove the paint on any blank with a mild gel-type stripper and fine steel wool or scotchbrite. I've done it many times, including to my very favorite rod, a 4F864 from St. Croix. It used to be spruce green and now it's bare graphite. If you are worried about blank damage, I wouldn't be. My St. Croix has been fished hard for 3 years since I stripped it. It was a leap of faith when I did it, but it has proven to be no problem.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2006 07:52AM by Steve Kartalia.

Hey Robert where did you pick up the blank at and how much did it cost.

What type/brand of stripper are you using. I called St Criox last month about doing the same thing. They said it would void the warrenty, but i'm still thinking about any way. I'm not conerned about he color, just want to get rid of the added wieght.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2006 10:55PM by Steve Gardner.