A completed rod has been returned to me with the last four inches crushed. It's a split grip and both the butt cork and exposed blank above it are cracked and out-of-round.

Can I cut this off, plug it and have any hope of salvaging it as usable (didn't say pretty) fishing instrument?

Any and all suggestions welcomed.

Thanks, as always....


Scott

Scott,

First remove all of the thread wraps on the butt of the rob between the butt cap and the reel seat. (depending on the amount of damage, you might be better off in removing the thread wraps after repairing the blank)
Remove the butt cap on the rod. Then go through old blank sections and find a piece of blank that would be a force fit up the butt of the rod, all of the way for a few inches past the crush point.
Then, just mix up a batch of epoxy, insure that the inside of the blank is well coated by using a much smaller piece of blank to coat the inside of the rod, and also coat the outside of the repair piece.
Have the repair piece longer than the blank, so that you can use the blank repair extension to force the repair blank all of the way up tight to restore the shape and size of the original butt of the rod.
After the glue has dried, chop off the repair extension that is sticking out of the rod.
Replace the butt cap, or install a new butt cap.

Now, use a razor scraped at right angles to the blank, to remove any high spots from the former crushed part of the blank.
Then, do a full butt wrap from the butt cap to the reel seat, to cover and strengthen the portion of the rod blank that was crushed.
I believe that the rod would be as strong or stronger than before, and if you do a nice butt wrap with some inlays, will be just as attractive as before.

Finish off with a nice thread coating and let it dry.

Be safe

p.s.
When you select your repair section to go inside the butt section of the rod, you want to select a section of rod blank that will match both the size as well as the taper of the inner part of the rod butt that is crushed.

This might be a good opportunity to use the telescoping handle system by Manley Rods. I believe Mudhole carries them now.

be careful of graphite fibers They are a bandit to get out of your finger

Bill - willierods.com

Hi Scott,
If you don't want to bind over the area you could remove both small grips and replace it with a full length piece of eva or cork. You may have to bind some thread over the blank to get a neat fit but it would help to keep everything in place. Roger's suggestion is good. The only thing I would add would be to get a "water break free" on the outside of the short piece of blank and the inside of the crushed one if possible. That will give you a better bond. Use a good quality epoxy for this.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Rod Bond !!!

Bill - willierods.com