Hi all, hope everyone had a good time at the EXPO, next year I hope will be my first!

I have followed Ralphs article and some advice from you all, and to fix my rod break (about exactly half way on a one piece 7' spinning rod) I removed the butt cap and inserted a piece of blank up through the opening and about 1 1/2" into to the top section. I applied pro bond to first the aft piece, then the fore. So as it is now dry my thoughts are too sand smooth, then apply a coat of epoxy finish. Then thread over that, extending a half inch on both sides, then apply 2 more coats of epoxy.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks in advance
scott

"My biggest fear in life is that when I die, my wife will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it."

I have no experience with the inside repair process you are using, but it sounds like you have it well covered based on my general knowledge. The most important aspect is probably to get the proper coverage of epoxy on the repair piece. Since that part is done, the finishing steps you plan sound good to me. I have repaired on the outside a number of times successfully. Yours will look a little better.

Scott,
Out of curiosity, why was the area not smooth after gluing the pieces together?
But if it is not smooth, certainly sand it smooth.
But, rather than adding a coat of epoxy finish, I would likely just wrap the area and then apply finish.

Normally, when I do a repair, I always use both an inner sleeve; as well as an outer sleeve for the repair. Then, I just use a short wrap at each end of the outer sleeve and coating for the final repair.

Roger

Thanks guys. Roger, it is only not smooth because i have not sanded it yet, but plan on doing so. Since I did not use an outer sleeve I guess thats why I was going to put a coat of finish,then wrap, then finish. But,as you mentioned prob not necessary so I might consider taking that step out.

Thanks again guys!

Scott,

I would do an outer sleeve. You may find, that without an outer sleeve, the rods constant flexing will cause a stretch point in your thread and epoxy overwrap, making it appear a lighter color, and possibly causing some thread separation, where the two rod ends meet.

Chris

Thanks Chris. Question though. I already glued up the inner sleeve, should I heat it up and remove it, or try to get an outer one over it with a small slit in it? You make some good points, thanks. Also, has anyone ever tried fiberglassing a small piece of cloth over it?

Thanks again.

Scott,
If you already have the inner sleeve done, it is very simple.
Remove the tip and all guides that are on the tip side of the repair.
Size, glue and slip down an over sleeve over the repair area.
Then, clean up the blank in the areas of removed guides, replace the guides, rewrap and recoat.

Be safe
Roger

Scott,

I wouldnt use heat on the rod to get it apart; it would probably damage the blank. Since you already glued it up, sliding it down from the top is out of the question, unless you wanna rewrap all the guides , which is what I would do at this point.......
_
If you don't want to rewrap everything, I guess you can try a sleeve with a slit. Getting one to fit right may take a little work, but once you find one, I would rod bond it in place, and before the epoxy is dry, place a tight thread wrap over the whole sleeve, to ensure complete bonding with the blank. After it is set, remove the wrap and then rewrap with a nice, proper thread wrap. Apply finish.

One other thing, I think Ralph's repair article states that if you use an inner sleeve, your outer sleeve should extend past it, on both ends.

And there is a warning on using graphite sleeves vs fiberglass.......I failed to heed this many years ago, and the results were less than desirable.

Also, I've never tried the fiberglass route: don't think it would have the desired effect.

Chris

Thank you both very much. I think i am going to try the slit route i will let you guys know how i make out.

Thanks again!

Scott,
You may very well find that you will actually have to split both sides of the oversleeve if you use this idea for the repair. Normally you don't have much movement on the piece of graphite or glass tubing. But, the principle would be the same if the oversleeve is cut on one side, or cut on both sides.

If you do go with the idea of cutting an oversleeve to go over the outside of the blank, then use a oversleeve that is a bit larger than the repaired section. The reason for this is that if you use a saw or wheel, or even knife top open up one or both sides of the oversleeve, you will end up removing material from the oversleeve. This means that with material removed from the oversleeve - that you would have open space,if you have a perfect fitting oversleeve before cutting the sleeve.

Good luck
Roger

Very good point. Thanks Roger!

Take a chance on it working the way you have it without taking all the guides above the failure off. If it gives you trouble, then do the extensive repair. If you have followed Ralph's instructions it probably will not fail. Remember the dry wall principal. You have to find the point at which more work will make it worse rather than better.

Thanks! Prob going to tackle it this i have been slammed. Thanks again