I wonder how many rod-blank fabricators buy from the same prepreg manufacturer?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2019 02:41PM by Phil Ewanicki.

I've no idea, but why should I care? Same manufacturer does not necessarily mean the same material, and same manufacturer and material does not necessarily mean the same taper.

Now if a fabricator is white labeling for others (and I suspect those arrangements exist), that would be interesting to know, but still don't know why I should care.

The below thread is pretty interesting and not too long ago.


[www.rodbuilding.org]

There is only a small handful of carbon/pre-peg manufacturers that supply the entire rod building industry.

.................

I have a blank in my possession made from carbon/prepeg produced by Ferrari. Yeah, that Ferrari. Does that actually mean anything? Beats me. But it sounds cool.

The only other name I’ve seen mentioned is Toray. Some rod manufacturers tout that name in their propaganda. Oops, I mea marketing. Does that mean anything? Beats me.

But it doesn't sound as cool as Ferrari.

The use of graphene in producing prepreg for rod blanks is covered in U.S. patent number: US20160353723A1 The use of the graphene method is associated with high-quality, high performance rod blanks in this patent, but unfortunately the word "feel" does not occur in the patent description.

At the Rod show last year Bill Batson had some awesome graphite heavy duty salt water bent fighting butts
That were made by Ferrari at their Northern Italy auto plant.

They have worked with carbon fiber for years in their car bodies and frames
So is quite possible that blank was made in their plant also

I doubt Ferrari is making blanks for fishing poles but it seems Ferrari produces prepreg which is being bought and used by rod blank fabricators.

IIRC Ferrari sources from Gurit. Last I heard they considered it too labor intensive for most of their cars. Pretty sure they still use it in the racecars.

I don't know if it is still true, but in the past certain pre-pegs in raw form weren't allowed to be exported.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I hope this topic doesn't keep me awake tonight.

Lynn - If that doesn't cure your insomnia try agonizing over a millimeter's difference in the location of a guide ring or a difference of 1.5 grains in weight between two guides! z-z-z-z-z-z-z