Hi fellas, this is kinda long winded but maybe one of you has the solution.
I do a lot of repairs and refurbishing. Many of the rods are given to kids in the
area that can't afford them. I sometimes use "reclaimed" handles that are
completely assembled and the blank cut off in front of the foregrip. To prepare them
for the new blank, I bore out the old blank with a drill bit on a 3/8 drill mounted to a
stand on the workbench. Then ream them out and continue alternating til the new
blank fits as snug as a new one. The problem is to keep the bore centered and as
these old eyes age it's harder. I believe a center bore setup on a lathe is the answer, but
I can't justfy the cost of a GOOd lathe. Is there any kind of a jig or something that would
center the bore and eliminate a lot of time and effort?
I know this is long winded, but sometimes the "old guy" mind just won't let me
come up with the right answer!!!!

Thanks...............................John

Well, you don't have to taper bore or ream them, you could make the bore one size and then shim and taper the rod blank with thread or cord.

Or as Jesse Buky has often said he does, you could just leave the old rod blank in there and slide a new blank up inside that out. In that case, I might be more tempted to just insert and adhere the new blank about 2 or 3 inches inside the top end of the old one, but that's just something you'll have to play with.

These are somewhat shoddy solutions but until you have a lathe and since the purpose of the rods is just to get the kids fishing, you might consider one of them.

...................

Would it be possible to use a carefully sized spigot ferrule inserted through the butt end to attach a new blank to the handle? If the spigot was made to be a "perfect" fit you could make it permanent with epoxy and cover the area of repair with a decorative wrap?

I have been looking at those reclaimed handles on @#$%& myself..................................



Derek L. McMaster
Rohnert Park, CA

Born to Fish, FORCED to Work

Both these solutions have been used with success although the spigot ferrule is not as strong
as I would like. some of these rods take a beating! The problem is most of the handles contain
graphite blanks and are usually smaller than the fiberglass blanks I might use in them. I usually bore
to the end of the handle to achieve a blank thru feel as well as strength. I didn't mean to infer these
were "custom" rods, only in the sense they are discarded rod pieces that I can bring together to
fish again as a new rod. I understand this is not the way build a rod, however my goal with these as
I give them away is to keep costs to around ten bucks a rod and also I can experiment with new colors
and wraps on them. The problem is how to keep a true center with the drill mounted on a bench rather
than an expensive lathe.

If anyone wants to donate an Renzetti lathe to keep the kids fishing, I'll send my address!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John

I'll take one too, lol

A long reverse handle boring bit that Flex Coat, with the help of Tom, did a write up on in Rod Maker magazine might help.

I cannot remember the issue number, maybe someone can post with the issure number that the article was printed in.

John Anderson
Flex Coat

You're right, that would do it pretty easily and at very little expense. I had forgotten about that one.

Volume 9 #5 has it.

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