Good morning. I bought a Tennessee handle and rings for a fly/spin combo project. My previous Tennessee handles have arrived split, this one is whole. Should I attempt to split it with a surgical cut or send it back to the vendor? I am thinking a #11 Exacto blade will do the job cleanly and quickly. Thanks.

It was probably set up to be used for taping the reel on.

You'll have to cut it, but you don't have to cut it in the middle. It might be easier to cut and rejoin the sections if you do it at one end, one ring from the butt or something. Then again, if you're careful to make the pieces with a pencil line before cutting, it should be a simple matter to splice the pieces quite cleanly no matter where you cut it.

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

after reaming place the handle on the blank and your reel in the approximate position on the handle that feels the most balanced. make your cut so it's under where a clamping ring will be. cut with a sharp knife, hacksaw blade or whatever. this will hide any glue line in the joint. this is splitting hairs tho

Chris,
If you have a chop saw with an abrasive wheel, it makes a very clean cut. This is with a very thin 1/116th wheel.

For example:

[www.harborfreight.com]

[www.harborfreight.com]

I remove the saw blade from the saw and replace it with an abrasive cut off wheel.
A very clean cut and a nice small table top saw that works very well for many different rod building chores.
Take care
Roger

All excellent! Thank you.