Is it possible to remove a reel seat, rear grip, and foregrip from a blank without damaging the rod? If so, what do you use to remove the old epoxy?? I want to move everything about 2 inches higher on the rod, so there will be parts of the blank that was covered that will now be exposed. Thanks for the help!

I just stripped an old surf rod that had EVA grips and a corroded metal reel seat. I made small slices near the beginning of the grips and basically just peeled them off. Then I used a cutoff wheel to cut (carefully) a slot along the length of the reel seat. After that I inserted a large screwdriver in the slot and twisted. The metal seat fractured and I was able to peel it away in four pieces. Finally, I used a heat gun to heat the epoxy and the blank surface and then the epoxy was soft enough to scrape off. I came off like peeling a carrot. After all the epoxy came off, I sanded lightly with 400 grit sandpaper until the blank was just smooth. I then rubbed it down with 0 steel wool and then 00 steel wool until smooth.

Finally, after a cleaning with alcohol, I applied three coats of spar urethane rubbing with 00 steel wool in between coats. The urethane was applied by wiping on with an old cotton t-shirt. Once its on, don't touch it. The film should be thin enough that it doesn't need turning.

Yes its possible.
Heat and plastic tools and lots and lots of patience and lots of time.
Its slow.
Use an old toothbrush handle to fashion tools to scrape with.
If they send you sample credit cards,keep them: they work well as scrapers.
However, some makes of blanks just do not have a good surface. Its not related to price of blank at all.

The history of the rod has bearing too:Some folks use non standard substances to make running repairs and when you work on it, that can bite you: clear nail polish, some domestic epoxies, superglue etc. all can add challenges.

You also have the option to rethink how you are planning on doing this: for example you could do a conversion to split grip. That path leaves it possible for you to put marbling in the gap so any minor surface blemishes become academic. Everything else moves forward covering other blems.

Or you could cut through about 1 inch from the front of the reel seat, just go right through the seat. Then you only need to remove the now split reel seat and put a splice in with an extra two inches of grip material behind the new seat. Put a trim ring in and it could look good.Maybe cover with X Flock shrink tubing. If properly spliced and then covered with a well fitted new reel seat it will be very strong. You may need to trim the last 2 inches off your rod if you choose this way.

Search this board with 'all dates' it will show many other options too.

Lou

Have you ever used the spray spar. Do you think the wipe on is better

Thanks

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, you may be asking John, but if not:no to using spray anything near my rods any more. I get it on everything. I use wipe ons or brush ons only.

I do my spraying out side - in warmer weather Got to give it a try.

Bill - willierods.com

I tried the spray on. I found it much easier to apply a consistent thickness by wiping. As long as once you wipe once, you leave it alone. If you find that the first coat left some bare spots, just add another coat.

Yes it is possible, I do it all the time, but it is a lot of work and you have to decide if it is worth it. You can get the grips and reel seat off by submerging boiling them in boiling water, I use my turkey fryer since it had a really deep pot that I can get the entire handle in and a powerful burner to get that much water boiling. You may have to leave the rod in for up to an hour to soften the epoxy, but I have never had one that didn’t eventually come loose. Once have the grip and reel seat off I scrape all the old epoxy and finish off, I like to go all the way down to bare graphite since I prefer that look to any paint or finish, I even strip the paint off new blanks that I get.

I hope your turkeys don't taste like epoxy

Bill - willierods.com

Many tips above for getting the grips off. My biggest problem with doing this has been how to handle the exposed part that had the grip on it but now is exposed. If the blank is painted, I don't think any method will allow you to just finish it and have it look good next to the rest of the rod. I've never been able to do it. If you cannot match appearances, you can use decals and over wrap trim to hide the area. For example, on a split grip that now has half the blank painted and half with the paint gone, design a decal for the Papillio or other matte white peel and apply decal media. It is opaque, so whatever you do on that decal will cover the whole area between the grips. You can do any number of things with that decal, rod info, build date, your signature or facsimile of it, or use photos. I've printed simple photos of favorite fishing scenes on them, photos of fish skin up close. One of my favorites is a photo of brook trout skin I found on the internet. I'll post another post with a pic of a restored rod that I did that had this very issue.

Here is an example of a regrip that uses a decal to cover the messed up area of the blank.

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