Hi,

I'm building up a 3 piece 12' surf rod and am wondering what you guys use to protect the tip of the male ferrule in a tip over butt blank. The edges on the male ferrule feel like they will splinter if I don't accurately place the female ferrule when connecting them together. On my other two piece rod I used a plastic plug that I glued which is "mushroom" shaped, but I was told that this could potentially stop the pieces mating properly which will accelerate wear and tear on the blank and will also not form a proper join. It seems to have held up fine so far, but I thought I'dask for this new blank since its of a thinner wall and is a full graphite rod not composite.

Thanks.

I knock down the edges a bit and rod bond an EVA plug flush with the end. A lot of folks just fill the end with rod bond. Make sure you rough up the inside for a good bond.

Rodbond

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Thanks for the replies guys. So Mick, when you say you knock down the edges, I assume you simply sand them a little? Is it fine to do this? To be honest, I'm a bit dissappointed that the blank manufacturer didn't really clean up the edges that well. My other blanks I've used had always been properly smoothed.

Michael, I like to true up the end if it's a little ragged with a block and 400 wet/dry paper. Then I take the sharp edge down with the same. Basically just a few light, quick passes to chamfer it a bit and make sure I touch up the edge with rod bond. Doesn't really need to be done, just one of those small details that makes me happy.