I just recently bought a Pacbay quad rod dryer. Tomorrow I'll be re-wrapping the upper section of a 6'6" 2-weight blank, after the original upper section broke as the customer was lightly waving the rod to test its action. We sent the blank back to the manufacturer, and they confirmed that it was a faulty blank - "unusually thin walls," they said, and replaced it. They sent me an entire new blank, but hopefully the upper section will fit the lower section the customer still has, as I spent about a month off-and-on on the all-wood handle (big leaf maple burl dyed green).

What's the best way to affix the upper section of a really thin diameter blank in the plastic chucks of a rod dryer so that it stays in place while turning for hours?

Hi Walt,
What I've done is get some round foam from "floaty devices" etc and put the appropriate size hole in it and sand it down so it fits into the plastic chuck. Usually need to use masking tape to keep everything in place but it works well. After you've made a few you will have one that fits most blank sizes. You can also build up the end of the blank etc with tape to get a better fit.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Walt,
The simplest thing to do is to put the two sections together, and dry the entire rod at the same time.

Since I will often put wraps and finish very close to the end of the tip section, I will usually use a sheet of wax paper to single wrap the butt section, as I assemble the rod for use on the dryer. That way, if some finish happens to slip a tiny bit and tend to glue the two sections together, the finish will be on the wax paper rather than the butt section to make dis assembly easy.

If you choose not to do that, I will then take another blank section of the appropriate taper and if necessary add tape to the blank section to be able to use it as a butt section for the tip section that I am coating.
Then, I will take an old handle or piece of Eva etc. to enlarge the piece of blank that I inserted into the tip section. Then, simply insert the handle or Eva into the chuck and dry away.

p.s.
I just reread your original post which indicated that your customer still has the original blank.

So, just use the make up blank technique to use as a butt section to hold the blank in place on the dryer.

Roger

Those are good suggestions, guys! Thanks for the help!

On the upper section I get a scrap section of blank the fits well into the female I don't make it - tight - but snug Then I get 1/4" tape and wrap it around the section so when it goes in the female the tape rubs against the female Turning it to set it to make a plug so to speak to keep any finish from going into and gluing it to the scrap section

Bill - willierods.com

Once you have the blank in the chuck, be sure to wrap a rubber band around the chuck jaws to keep them tight while running.

So that's what the rubber bands that came with the dryer are for - good to know!

I have two of these on my dryer -- without the center -- and have never had a rod fall off

Home made dryer

Bill - willierods.com

Glad they now supply rubber bands with the chucks. Back when I got mine there was no warning. Had a couple fall off before I started shoring them up with bands on my own.

I get my bands in a large bag from a drug store just got to check them cause they do dry out

Bill - willierods.com

My homemade dryer has two motors side by side. One side uses a cup to hold the butt section of the rod. The other side has a glue stick that I shaved to a taper which is inserted into the female ferrule. I'd tried tapered dowels but the glue stick wedged into the ferrule better and because the glue stick flexes it doesn't work it's way out of the ferrule when the rod is turning.

Jeff

make sure that female is clean of any glue It may cause problems later On hot days

Bill - willierods.com