I have completed a Musky rod for a friend in Wis. (I have to put the last coat of finish on it but everything else is completed) It has a nice tiger wrap and fairly expensive guides. Somehow, and no one is fessing up, it was broken while laying in my wrapper waiting for the last coat of finish. It is a clean break in the center so I am going to install a ferrel on the rod. The ends are a little jagged but a pretty clean break. As this is my first attempt at this type of repair I am not sure what is the best method for evening up the broken ends of the rod. I am looking for any suggestions as to what I should do. Is it better to sand the ends flush or cut the ends flush? I do not know if sanding would cause splintering and if I cut it what would be the best tool to cut the ends?

Any information would be appreciated.

As always, thanks for the help.

Ron

Best thing I have used to cut a blank is a really thin diamond cut off wheel on a dremel tool at a moderate speed, but that's just me. I tape off the good side of the cut and use the tape as a line to cut straight.

DR

I second the above recommendation! Sanding graphite fiber ends does not work, they will only fray and give you more grief!

Is your friend paying you to build the rod ? If he is, I would think twice about delivering him a broken and repaired rod in the first place.

It's a freebie. In fact, he is not aware that I built it.

call the company and see if it is warrantied.

Bill - willierods.com

Ron,
Since it is a new rod and is going to be given - it is up to you to deliver the rod in an unusual state or not.

Having said that - DON 't trim the ends of the break.
Rather, use the jagged ends of the break to insure that the two broken pieces line up.
Also, the jagged ends, coated with glue give a better splice than a square edge.
Use the standard rod repair techniques to repair the break.
i.e. find a piece of blank material about 3-4 inches long that will fit nicely on the inside of the blank.
Find another piece of blank material about 3-4 inches long that will fit nicely on the outside of the blank.
To make a nice appearing splice - chuck the outer blank in a drill and using it to spin the blank, clean up the splice piece and if necessary thin out the blank a bit and taper the ends of the outer splice.
Prefit everything to insure that it all is a nice tight fit. Take the outer splice and slide it up the blank so it will be ready for glue application. Have everything else ready and at hand.
Mix up a batch of 5 minute epoxy, coat the inner part of the breaks, coat the inner repair blank, and slide the inner blank in place and bring the two pieces together, using the jagged edges of the splice to insure perfect alignment.
Coat the outside of the rod break and slide the outer blank down over the break.
Use alcohol to clean up excess epoxy.
Make about a 1/2 inch wrap on each end of the splice.
Finally, apply a thread coating and let dry.

The splice will be stronger than the original blank and will be good for many years of good service.

If you have the blank pieces on hand from an old or broken rod, the entire process will take about 15-20 minutes excluding the drying time for the thread finish.

Good luck
Roger

I second Roger's suggestion. A break like that would break my heart. Good luck.

John
God bless the troops and USA

bill boettcher Wrote:
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> call the company and see if it is warrantied.

I'm sure the blank would be warranted but why try to get a warranty replacement when it's obvious that the blank was not broken while fishing. Why should a blank company have to pay for a blank replacement for something that wasn't their fault ?

Just a suggestion. It is a shame to give a new - broken rod to a friend ??!!

Bill - willierods.com

It is Bill, and I have another blank I will be building him a new rod with next week. Its really not a warranty issue and I hate to simply throw it away so if I can fix it and he can use it then, so much the better.

bill boettcher Wrote:
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> Just a suggestion. It is a shame to give a new -
> broken rod to a friend ??!!

Bill, it 's also a shame to ask a blank manufacturer to replace a blank that broke because of no fault from them.

Lance,
I agree,
It sounds like the writer wants to fix the rod and use it himself. I am sure that a good splice will make this a very nice rod.
Take care
Roger

Roger et al,

I agree with you a splice is the best course of action here. However, in his initial post, Ron asked what the correct procedure would be to install a ferrule. I take that to mean, he is not at the point where he is comfortable with making a splice repair. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm in error. Using the premise that you want to keep the present properties of the blank intact, I would just trim the edges of the break as described above, and buy and install a ferrule. Then embellish that ferrule with a matching wrap and epoxy job. JMHO!! Of course, you know the old addage about opinions, be they humble or not.

Bill in WV



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2009 04:16PM by William Bartlett.

William,
I read and understood the thought about the ferrule change.
I was just thinking that it would be much easier for him to do a simple splice than to do a ferrule onto the blank.
Take care
Roger

I have a similar situation. A customer brought me a back a rod that they broke. They grabbed the rod in the middle and tried to cut the line. Had a skate on the other end. When she grabbed the rod the skate took off and the rod broke just above the second guide. I used the technique that Mr. Wilson described above and it came out decent. The rod has a "big spot" where the splice is but it is fixed none the less. Just have to put the guide back on. Ron you can come by on Thursday and take a look at it if you want. It's not pretty but it is functional.

I was actually looking for some direction for a splice and not necessarily a ferrel installation. My mistake on the nomenclature as I did not use the correct term.

Thanks Roger for the advice and direction.

See you Thursday Craig.

Ron,
P.S.
If you are fortunate to be able to obtain high modulus thin wall blank material for the over tube - and if you taper the ends of the blank splice, the repair will be almost unnoticed.

If, on the other hand, you use very thick walled blank material and don't thin it out, the outer tube, wrap and finish will be most noticeable

Take care
Roger
.

I have had some great success in creating splice repairs following Mr, O'Quinn's article here in the library. As I understand in that article the inner plug should allways be shorter than the outer sleeve. I see here that Roger is recommending the plug and sleeve be the same length. Is there a reason for them being the same length and wouldn't that put too much stress at the ends of the repair?