working on finishing a 9' 8wt that the manufacturer suggested a 4.5 tip top but that was too small. When I installed a size 5.0 it scraped a very tiny sliver of the blank off in the process. Did I just create a major failure point. How must of the casting & fighting load is actually transfered to the tip of a fly rod?

Thanks for any opinions

Don't sweat it...you'll be ok.

A tip sizer is a great tool to own, barring that ask the distributor to make sure the tip fits the blank if you order both from the same location, or order a range starting at the mfg recomended barrel size and then one half 64th bigger, this should get you by. I have ordered the right size tip for the blank before it just was packaged incorrectly by the distributor, my tip sizer or a mic/calipers told the true story. It should be no trouble for a distributor to double check the barrel size of the tip, or check to see if the tip fits on the blank also ordered. Measure twice; cut once. Double check now; cut out the waiting for shipping then.

Using a tip sizer has often been suggested here on the board, but I have found mine to be unreliable. Using mine I have inserted the rod tip and determined that it was a certain size, then found that more than one tip top in that size didn't fit on. So the tip sizer alone may not get you there.

Jeff Shafer

Hi, Kelly....mayhaps all that came away was a bit of the gel coat with the pigment? ...this, if this was the case, should be A-OK RE strength, as posted above.
I bought a tip sizer from a well-known Japanese guide maker, (the f-word) and it's not accurate. Or: the tips are not accurate, or both.
I eyeball the tip of the rod, make my guess, check it with the tip gage, and have, at the ready, 3 tips: what the gage said, and a tip up and down from the gage reading. One of the 3 usually fits just fine.
I have a hunch this is because of the millimeter versus inch conversion systems at the manufacturer level.

It's not necessarily the fault of the tip sizer or caliper. When the manufacturer cut the nbarrel of the tip top, they use some kind of a pipe cutter. This process rolls the edge of the barrel l opening. Use the pointed end of a pencil compass or some such pointed tool to ease the rolled edge of the barrell.

Have had the same thing happen a few times. To date non of those have ever failed on me. I make a point to put the sliver back inside if practical. then just whap my thread a little further down then I would normally do just to make sure the sliver and no continue down the

How DEEP did this scrape go, compared to the blank wall thickness, ...
and compared to the thickness of the blank's outer coat? ...

Is this a painted rod blank?

Did this cut get into the (woven) fibers of the rod blank?

I’m hoping this forward edge of the tip-top tube was nowhere near sharp enough to actually slice & dig down into the rod blank, but that it just scraped off some of the outermost coating or paint, as you seem to be describing it.

It is pretty rare to have a truly knife-like edge or deadly burr on the leading edge of a tip-top tube straight from the manufacturer. ... BUT IF you used a jeweler’s round file to score the inside of the tube before you test-fit the tube to the rod tip (to improve glue adhesion to the tube metal, which you should do AFTER sizing the tube); AND IF you let the file catch the lip too much; AND IF you did not subsequently de-burr it with the file or a roll of emory paper; THEN perhaps you made a knife-edge or sharp burr on the tube lip. or a spur inside the tube. … But you probably did not make that mistake in craftsmanship. … Right? …

Like Tim Hough said, chances are, there is really not much to worry about. I don’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill. I’m just trying to think this thru.

IMO, it is next to impossible to judge without being able to examine the damage directly. Posting a photo may help, if that is an option. … But you can figure it out.

Also, if it’s just superficial, and only scraped off some paint or clear-coat, that's one thing. If that’s the case, then it’s mostly cosmetic –the rod will be fine, IMO. Really.

But if the cut somehow went THRU the clear coat and INTO graphite or fiberglass, ... Ouch ! that’s some structural damage, and may present a problem.

On an 8-weight fly rod, that rod is very approximately equivalent to a (8-wt) x (1 / 16ths ounce / wt) lure rating = approximately 1/2 ounce lure rating.

On a 9 foot FLY rod, that is a still a fairly flexible rod tip. The actual load and flexion while fishing will be transferred so far back of the rod tip, to the first 4 to 16 inches of the rod blank, that very little stress will actually land ON the rod tip at the end of the tip-top tube FROM ORDINARY FISHING.

However, the rod tip itself is inherently subject to taking its share of ordinary bangs & bumps that land squarely on the rod tip. In which case, a weakening or snap of the rod tip can occur with repeated fatigue at that point. How “rough-duty” is this rod?

This is all gonna be your call, Kelly, no matter what analysis comes your way. And you can't really blame the manufacturer, either. All rod tips can vary by 0.5 / 64ths of an inch. That’s just the nature of such a hand-made product as a rod blank, IMO.

If using the rod “as is” makes you uncomfortable, then some careful and judicious trimming of the rod tip is the safest way to eliminate this thin spot. As long as it is NOT an extra fast rod taper, then trimming the rod tip is an option.

With a 9 foot rod rated for 1/2 oz lures (your 9’, 8-wt), you should be able to remove up to 1 inch of rod tip and not significantly alter the rod's handling characteristics. The length of the tip-top tube is probably less than an inch to begin with, so that is about the most that would be needed to be removed anyway, in the most extreme scenario. Which sounds safe to me, if it were my rod.

If you have an extra-fine (40+ teeth per inch) thin blade (0.012 inch) razor saw (X-Acto Model # X239 / X75350, ~$10 at Michael’s Craft Shop), you can use that saw to cut off the last ~ 0.75 inch of the rod blank’s tip. Use masking tape on either side of the cut to prevent splintering out of the rod’s fibers, and to prevent the saw from walking out of the slot and marring the blank off the cut. If you roll the blank as you cut it, that may help reduce splintering as well, if you know what I mean. … Some guys use a Dremel wheel to trim their rod tips. They say it takes all of 2 seconds.

My general rule of thumb is that for every 3 feet of length beyond the first 6 feet of overall rod length, that it is safe to remove up to one inch of rod tip for a fast taper (or slower) rod blank. That’s my own general guideline. Your opinion may differ.

So, Kelly, if the scrape did cut into the rod fibers, trim off one inch and order a new rod tip, using your calipers to size the rod tip. Remember that the actual tube ID is already ~(0.10 – 0.20) mm larger than the size listed (the “nominal” size). This way, there is already enough gap to accommodate the glue inside that size tip-top tube.

If the original scrape only removed some paint or gloss, the rod will be fine. Go fish.

-Cliff Hall+++, Gainesville, FL-USA*****

I think the guys covered most all of the bases Kelly. It is very important to check all your components especially tip tops before even dry fitting for any potential sharp edges. Even a blunt tube edge will if pushed too hard and if the wrong ID will do what happened to your blank.
Rod tips in my opinion should be cleaned up before fitting a tip top. Most blanks run out at the tip and need some gentle surgery to make sure that you are gluing onto sound blank material. This is mostly done for me by 400 wet and dry. I square off the tip to good blank and then put ona tiny chamfer.

As to fitting the tip top I as a rule of thumb always have guides that will bracket the OD of the blank. It is false economy to order a blank and one size tip top. Individual blanks for the same part number will vary by up to one size. By having the three sizes you can get the optimum fit. I am pretty darned fussy over tip top fitting. I need to have the tip top tube fitting concentrically wuth the blank. It may still be necassry with some blanks to fit using A size thread or strands from a size A thread. This tends to happen with larger tip tops when the available ID's are just not there. For example. Fuji BPST goe 3.0 , 3.5 4.0. Often the blank will slop around and you need to make up the space.

Sounds like you only removed finish. If you can't sleep for worrying about it cut back to good blank. Loosing say 0.5 of an inch will not make that much of a difference. If the tip were to break you may loose more than an inch. Another tool to use to cut your blank is a tri square file.in very fine cut. Using a fine file you are less likaly to cause splintering of the blank. Take the blank protection suggested by Cliff above and slowly rotate the blank whilst using the file witha gentle sawing action and very light force.

Ok I'm done.

Mike O.

CHAMFER - [cham·fered, cham·fer·ing, cham·fers]
Verb. 1. To cut off the edge or corner of; bevel.
2. To cut a groove in; flute.
Noun. 1. A flat surface made by cutting off...

The American Heritage® Dictionary
of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

You had me there, Mike Oliver. Chamfer = a face or bevel.
"A BLUNT cut makes a new end CHAMFER."
'Learned something new, ... Thanks, -Cliff+++

Chamfer. The dictionery could still leave some confusion. It is a bevel, typically made at about 30 or 45 degrees to take of the sharp edges on any hard material like steel or wood ,even plastic. It is there to protect against cuts to fingers or in this case to help prevnt splintering of the fibres. It also helps the rod tip fit slightly better into the tip top tube. I do it on male joints externally and on the feamle joint by producing an internal chamfer. This is to help ease the joint when assembling the rods. I guess I am talking old hat here.But it may be of interest to any new builders out there. I hope so.

MO