Couple days ago I asked for advice regarding crosswraps, which was successful due to the help I received on here.......So I go to throw down some epoxy and all is well, with the exception of the "bubbles" throughout the crosswrap section. So I did what I normally would do and hit it with couple shots of the alcohol burner. Most started to dissipate. Tried to remove the rest to no avail. Couple more shots, and it now appeared to cause bubbles. At this point I knew I should've stopped but hit it a couple more times. Well I don't understand how, but it pretty much expedited the curing process and now the epoxy was hard as a rock.

I let the rod sit for a couple hours, and began removing the epoxy and crosswrap that I worked on which seemed like forever. Here comes the Uh Oh part. I got everything off surprising well, cleaned her up, then noticed that the portion of the rod blank where I was attempting to remove the bubbles was caved inward due to the excessive heat I put on the area. At the time it did not seem like I shot it a lot with the burner, but I was aware of my mistake at that moment. I'm almost leaning towards still using this rod as it was a pretty good blank I've used for a couple years, but question is will the integrity now be compromised if it were to be fished? The damaged area is about 3in above the fore grip.

Life of a Newb

I would think the integrity of the blank has been compromised to some extent. If only because it is no longer circular. An inner reinforcement of the damaged area would be best, but if that is not possible, then a oversleeve would also help. If you have to oversleeve, then sleeve the entire area of the cross wrap.

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

so that the bubble problem doesn't happen again I put 3 or more coats of color preserver on cross wraps to get the bubbles out before the epoxy. the rod sound damaged in a spot that I believe gets a lot of pressure .in the forum library there is a page on repairing broken rods you might try one and hide it with a new cross wrap.

That kind of heat should never be applied to the finish. What you're looking for is just a gentle warmth to help expand the bubbles and cause them to rise and leave the surface film.

Yes, your blank is damaged and at the point where most of its power is applied. A sleeve inside may help but can also create a sheer point at the forward end of the reinforcement. I suppose there is no reason not to try it at this point.

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If it doesn't work out, keep the pieces that were unaffected by the heat and you may find a use for them in future rod repair.

Tom,
could he not cut the blank at the compromised area and sleeve over the cut with a section or glass if the current blank is graphite? I know that it will add weight however at that point in the blank would it be that noticeable? Once he had finished this couldn't he build a ramp to hide the sleeve and do the cross wrap once again?

Tom Kaufmann

Wow Marc. I feel your pain......spending so much time to make an old blank look better....now to think you have ruined it....totally stinks.

My 2 cents....no matter the worth of the blank it isn't worth having it fail during a fishing trip. I'd static test it to the limit before I'd ever trust it in real life. Better to have it fail now, on the front porch, than to put more time and effort into it and have it fail during a time of need.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Marc,
I was just thinking about your issue. If this is a rod that you have liked in the past and if the problem section is near the butt of the rod, I think that I would cut off the guides and find a perfect section of over sleeving for the rod plus about an inch and a half.

Wipe on some 5 minute epoxy, slide it down and let it cure.

Then rewrap the blank. If you are doing a cross wrap on the rod, you could adjust the pattern so that the oversleeve would essentially disappear.

Even if the problem was a few inches above the butt of the rod, I think that I would still continue the oversleeve all of the way to the grip so that there would not be a discontinuity close to the grip.

By the way, I use heat all of the time to take care of finish related issues. However, because I experienced a problem similar to yours some years ago, I do not use a flame of any sort for the heat source any more.
Rather, I use a heat gun, which supplies plenty of heat, but it is not nearly as hot as a flame.

Good luck on your choices.

Be safe

He certainly could, provided he wants to incur that much work. There are few instances where something can't be done to enact some type of solid repair, but at some point you have to weigh the effort against just starting from scratch on a new rod. In my opinion, anyway.

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just my 2 CTS but time is money to me even if it is for my fishing

William Sidney
AK

You COULD try to slip a new segment of fiberglass inside - but as you said it was 'caved in' I seriously doubt that will work well for you, What I think you now have is a wall hanger / memory stick & you will be much better served starting with a new blank & all new components.

Gosh can't believe I made that mistake. LESSON DEFINITELY LEARNED.

Marc =
Don't feel badly. I don't know of anyone who does repairs who hasn't melted a blank. It happens luckily it was yours and not a customer's rod.