Well I've been working on a speckled trout rod . I've put over $50 in material on the handle of a three piece lamiglas 904 { Discontinued blank} . I taped the guides on and went for a test throw . A couple of cast in I heard something strange . I then noticed a crack in the middle section at the bottom of the ferulle about 2 inches the rod goes in a half inch past the crack. I guess my question is Can I save it Or is all the burl cork wasted??I don't know if I could put a security wrap on it or bite the bullet??

You stand a reasonable chance of saving it. I assume you mean the crack is in the lower part/edge of the female over-sleeve ferrule.

Mix up some 2-part epoxy and use a toothpick to get some into the crack. Now sever a rubber band and wind it tightly over the ferrule to effect a clamp there. Don't worry - the epoxy will not stick to the rubber band.

Use a cotton swab saturated with alcohol to mop up any epoxy that has squeezed out on the inside of the ferrule. Check this area several times to make sure no epoxy is left on the inside.

Give it a full day or two to fully set and then make a thread reinforcement wrap over the area of the repair.

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Thank you! That is what I had hoped.. :)

one last thought should I wrap the whole two inches or how far ??

At least just past the forward end of the repair.

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Thank you !! I've only had a couple of questions in my short time building rods But you have been there very quickly with a response. I can't thank you enough..
Sincerely D.J.

There is another thing that you could consider would be to obtain another similar blank.
Then, if you can match the two upper portions to the blank, you can use your handle and its time and materials with the new blank pieces.

Take care
Roger

p.s.
Another thing to generally do with a new blank is to assemble a multi piece blank and then give it a good flex.

If you want to do this, I will generally do a wrap on each of the upper portions to be sure that you don't split out the upper sections when flexing the blank.

Out of curiosity, did you have the upper sections wrapped in the joint area of the rod before doing your test casting?

I always like to wrap at least 1/2 inch or so in the area of the joint to avoid splitting out at the joint.

Also, for single piece blanks, I always give them a good flex - as much as the rod will ever be flexed in normal use.

If something happens to the blank during this test, I want it to happen then, before I have spent any time or money on the rod.

none of the sections was wrapped . I did flex the rod together but not to max it out. When I casted the rod it was with bait sutable for the rod. I probaly should have tested a little futher though..

Hi Darrell,
The end of the crack will be a stress point and may still crack further after the repair. I've fixed a couple with cracks and I drilled a very small hole at the end of the crack. You'll need a magnifying lens to locate it and use the smallest bit you can get ( I used a1mm bit). Take your time and be sure to get right on the end of the crack. Don't use much pressure as those tiny bits are easily broken. Fill the hole with epoxy and wrap over it. The two that I've done like that are still going well, one after almost two years and a couple of good fish.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia