I read Mr. Quinn's guide for repair, but I'm still curious how feasable it is to repair a tip that was broke three inches from the tip.

Splicing isn't an option.

Is an external sleeve my only option?

Thanks,

Jason Sullivan

Yes, it is very feasible. I have done quite a few of them. Including one of my own rods, and it has held up great, and is not noticeable at all in the feel of the rod. I have just used fiberglass oversleeves, up that high on the rod.
Steve Broadwell

What Steve said!

Chris

Oversleeve as Steve suggests. Just remember what you read in Ralph's tutorial, to use a lesser modulas sleeve, and remember to have a water break free surface on all area's to be bonded together.

Bill in WV

The effect of a properly executed repair of a tip is added weight to the rod. It is like adding the weight of an excess guide on the tip section. So what it does is SLOW the action. IF this is acceptable then repair it using a good fitting sleeve. If not then go the other way and shorten the rod taking the increase in tip action FASTER. To help make the decision measure the tip before repairing. This will give some objective data to help make your decision.
As an aside and chuckle- One of my favorite tube fly rods is one that Ralph gave me years ago that he had repaired a broken tip on at about 8 inches from the tip guide. For me It just is a great tube rod and the slower I get the better it fits. So age of user seems to help from my vantage point.
Joe

Jason,
For a light tipped rod, the 3 inch length is a tough call. For many rods, trying to fix the tip can pretty well ruin the action of the rod.

For a medium or heavier action rod, it is not a big deal to fix the break.

One tip that I might add for the repair of a very light tipped rod - say 4-5 in diameter, the use of correctly sized piano wire is a good fix.
Whenever doing blank repair, I will always put a repair piece inside the blank, as well as outside the blank. The piece on the inside, keeps the edges of the repair from collapsing under heavy strain.
If you are doing a very light tipped repair, it is tough to find a piece of blank that will either fit inside the blank, or be soft enough to not ruin the action of the tip. I have found that the use of a correctly sized piece of piano wire, for those light tips works well. The light piano wire, adds little weight, keeps the repair from collapsing, and still has bend to not ruin the action of the tip.

I will correctly size a piece of piano wire for the small light tips, or a piece of graphite for the larger tips, or main sectiion of blank to fit on the inside of the rapair. Then, I select another portion of blank to fit over the outside of the repair. I like to find high modulus graphite of thin wall construction. This makes the repair portion much less obvious. If the repair section is near a guide, I will first remove the guide before starting the repair. I use 5 minute epoxy in one glue up to glue in the inner blank or wire, the two edges of the repair, as well as the outside fitting blank. After curing, I will then do an overwrap to prevent the ends of the repair from splitting under stress. If there was a guide near the repair section, I will add the guide at the same time that I am doing the repair. Finally, overcoat the thread wraps and call it good.

Note:
I generally use my lathe to thin the outer ferral l to remove any finish, thin the walls and taper the ends of the ferral to make the repair less obvious.

Take care
Roger

This site is amazing!

Thank you. I am never disappointed.

Jason