My dad recently broke the 7' spinning rod I built for him and sent the remains to me to see if I could perform a resurrection. I consulted Skip Morris' book "The Custom Graphite Fly Rod", and it said that a cleanly broken (i.e. not splintered) blank--which this one is--can be "spliced" back together using a section of scrap blank inserted into the two broken ends of the broken blank. He says to wrap the splice with fiberglass fibers and cover with epoxy.
This may be a dumb question, but where can I get some fiberglass fibers? What I mean is, are they available commercially, or do I have to find something made of fiberglass that's been broken and strip some off myself? Are there different types or grades of fiberglass with different thicknesses, or is it all the same?
Also, I was wondering if any other material could be substituted for the fiberglass.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bryon

Bryon,read this and follow the directions to a tee.Ralph is the man when it comes to this[www.rodbuilding.org]

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2008 10:56PM by Fred Yarmolowicz.

Taxidermy supply houses often carry fiberglass materials for mold making, if you want to stick to your original plan.

Bryon;
you can get fiberglass cloth at most auto parts stores.
But I think you would be much better off following Fred's advice and link

Do a search for Ralph OQuinn's artical on broken rod repair. I believe Rodmaker had a artical on how Ralph does these types of repairs. Raph is the name when it come to repairing rods, He wrote the book
Good Wraps Bob

Ralph is the man! I have followed his advice for many years and he knows of what he writes.

You can buy fiberglass thread in a sewing center. I believe that it's made to sew high wear items where rot/strain would be a problem.

Ralph O'Quinn also does an thing on making ferrules. I don't know where the rod broke, but in EXTREME cases, I have made a ferrule at the point of the break. There's a thin line between making a splice and a ferrule anyhow.

Lots of luck with your repair. C2

i think what you need is fiberglass rope. on the west coast it was often available in boat repair shops or surfboard making suppliers. not sure where you would get it today but if you can find it you just cut it and untwist it. the fibers will be whatever length yyou want to make them.

First thing that crosses my mind is, unraveling a strand of fiberglass, from the fiberglass drywall tape that rod builders use to make arbors with. Dont know if that fits into your plans, but might be an option.
Steve
Fish till you drop

Bryon,

By using fiberglass fibers, and applying epoxy over, you are just re-creating a rough type of fiberglass tube or sleeve; which is what using a piece of fiberglass rod is, but I think the rod piece would be much, much better. I have repaired a bunch of rods the way Ralph teaches, and so far, I have not had a failure.

I personaly recommend Ralphs method.

Chris