I have a couple of surf rod blanks (two piece) where the blank is a hollow cylinder and you can see through it end to end. I usually epoxy the hole in the butt, and have used EVA foam and epoxy to plug up the top. I do it because I don't want to deal with water or sand in the blank. Is there any other advantage to doing this? Is it necessary?
Thanks.

Scott,

Thats the only important reason to plug the end of the rod. Aesthetically it looks better, but more so to keep crap from building up in the rod. If you think about all the sand and dirt that over time, could get pretty heavy.

Tight lines,

John Hernandez

There is a structural reason to do so as well - when you flex a tube the unsupported open end can flatten and crack. The purpose of a firm yet rigid plug of some sort is to help stop that from happening. I'd keep doing what you're doing. A cork or EVA plug is sufficient.


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

Scott,
I always plug the ends of the blanks with pieces of solid graphite or fiberglass that have been sanded tot he size of the blank interior, epoxied in, and then trim off the excess. It only takes a few minutes with a belt sander and a drill or lathe to spin the material for sanding to the size of the inside diameter of the blank.

I like to do it, to simply keep the end of the blank from being misshaped or accidentally crushed.

Roger

You can also put some rod bond in there. If you do wipe the outside so the male end fits the female.

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2010 11:53AM by bill boettcher.

I use a piece of "O" ring material properly sized. Glue it in , slice it off. easy to find and more rigid than EVA.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY