Are you guys using epoxy or hot glue to apply your tip top guides? I have been putting 3 thin slivers of hot glue inside the guide tip, heating it up, then sticking it on the blank, but I don't like heating up the guide for worry of damaging the Alconite. Was thinking about going to straight epoxy (same as thread wrap) but worry about getting it off later if I had to replace it.

Epoxy puts your blank at risk if you ever have to replace it, which is not unusual. The hot melt, if done right, requires so little heat that it will not damage either the blank or the guide. experiment with the glue (get the stuff designed for rodbuilding) to see just how much heat you have to apply. Heat the tube, not the ring.

Check it out...

[flexcoat.com]

Quick, easy, strong, long lasting, even on large offshore rods, and no it won't melt in your car on a hot day. It just works, well.

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

hot glue. you will not get epoxy off if you break the guide. Flexcoat glue is a good one.

John Cates Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Check it out...
>
> [flexcoat.com]-
> tip-top
>
> Quick, easy, strong, long lasting, even on large
> offshore rods, and no it won't melt in your car on
> a hot day. It just works, well.
Been using it for 30 years and yep it works.

I like 2 part epoxy, gives you time to adjust the tip for accurate alignment.

True it s very difficult to replace and I have replaced tips that have been epoxied, yes it takes extra time and care to remove but the frequency of replacing tips for me is minimum so the effort is not an issue.

My advise is to use any method you feel comfortable with.

Have Fun
John

If you use epoxy to put on your tip-top you will have to use a chisel to take it off.

So, I'm on the fence. 5 min epoxy has been my go to for the 10 years I've been building fly rods (and a few spinning rods). It's never failed. Never. But this year, I built a 9 weight for a friend and used the Flex Coat heat glue. It failed the first day fishing on the Kenai. Now the cool part was, I could just heat it back up with a Bic lighter, re-melt the glue and re-install and be good to go. It lasted another 10 days after that. So I'm writing off that failure as a poor/too cold initial installation.

I comes down to what you want. Epoxy is better (in my opinion) but harder to fix or replace. Heat sensitive glue is better if you feel you are likely to need to replace the tip on a routine basis. I'm not sure what I'll do going forward. Likely the Flex Coat heat glue and very careful installation, but the alternative of 5 min epoxy is very good too.

Drew

I don't have decades of experience, but I have always used the high temp hot melt designed for rod building. I've never had an issue. For an example of abuse, I once did a full baseball bat hookset while frog fishing from shore. I was walking a rather large soft body frog and forgot to raise my rod. I swung acrossed the grass probably four or more feet. The tip top was only held on with the hot melt, I didn't even have a decorative thread wrap under the tip top. Luckily the rod didn't snap, the tip top tube had dirt all around it... I still fish it today with no I'll affects.

Steve,
I will share the method that I use for gluing on tip on a rod blank.

I use flex coat hot melt glue.

I use a piece of music wire that has been sharpened to a point as an applicator.

For this job I use an alcohol burner to provide heat for the hot melt glue.

I heat my glue stick a bit, and I also heat the sharpened piano wire. I use the sharpened piano wire to obtain an appropriate amount of glue for the job.

Then, with the rod turning on my power wrapper, I heat the glue that is on the piano wire a bit, and wipe a bit of the melted glue to the end of the rod blank.

Holding the tip top with a tweezers, I take the heated glue that is on the sharpened piano wire and slip some glue on the inside of the tip top.

Note: Because I am holding the tip top with the tweezers by a brace on the tip, the tweezers absorb heat to minimize any heat build up on the ring of the tip top.

Then, with a touch of heat on both the tip top and the glue on the rotating blank , I slip the tip top onto the blank. Now, while the tip is still warm, I use a craft stick to wipe away any excess glue, and then stop the rod and align the tip.

Using this method, I have never had a hot melt glue to tip top fail.

In earlier years, when I would take a bit of a sliver of glue and put it on the inside of the tip top, and or just a bit of glue on the end of the rod blank, I have had a few tip top glue failures.

But, with the combination of the glue on the inside of the tip top and a bit of glue securely on the end of the rod blank - no failures.

Take care



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2019 12:44AM by roger wilson.

I have never ever had a tip top come loose in my lifetime using the stuff that is specifically designed and purposely made for attaching tip tops which are variants of hot melt ferrule cement whether it be Flex Coat, Mudholes CRB , U 40 etc...

The OP's explanation of sticking a few slim slivers into the tube of the tip top works just fine , you just got to heat the tube up for a second and slide the tip top on , excess adhesive will flow out the end of the tip , when it dries , ( A few seconds) remove the excess . No need for extensive instructions , no need to spend a lot of time making sure the tip top lines up with the other guides , a quick peep will tell you if it needs to be readjusted and if it does, readjust it with another quick shot of heat , no need for more adhesive .

An alcohol torch is a better choice to use than a Bic lighter for quickly heating a tip top , it won't blacken the tube and a couple of quick passes is all it takes , no rubber bands necessary . If you're heating the tip top to a point where your fingers could be burned that's too much heat.

Use whatever method works for you , there is no " One specific way to do it " and the techniques outlined by all who contributed prove it , it just seems to be getting much more involved and complicated than it needs to be.

One last tip would be to burnish the rod tip to remove any rod coating so that you are adhering to original blank surface.

Ray Zarychta
Glastonbury, CT

What works for us is a candle upright held in the neck of a bottle
That leaves both hands free and elevates it up off the workplace for more freedom of movement.

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

Ron,
Yes, you can use a candle, but a candle burns with a yellow flame which means that it is emitting carbon which can coat the tip top and the blank top.

But an alcohol burner burns with no visible light and thus, burns with no smoke and no carbon to be left on the tip top or the rod tip.

Also, the alcohol burner is a stand a lone burner so - as well as a candle, you can use both hands to work with the tip top application.

[www.google.com]

[www.menards.com]

Do not use 70% alcohol because it does not burn well.

take care

Piccolastic Hydrocarbon D125 is hands down the best iv'e ever used. I got some from St Croix years ago but i'm sure there are other sources for it now. No muss, no fuss easy to do and use. Load up yur tube with the granules, use forceps for a heat sink. heat with alcohol lamp and place on blank. The whole process takes all of a minute and it will not melt in the sun but is easy to remove if the tip needs replacing by reversing the process. Easy Peasy.

Another trick for keeping the tip top in place when using tip top adhesive(hot melt glue) is to put a few wraps of thread up onto the tip top tube, if the glue starts to melt a bit in a trunk or back seat, the thread will keep it from twisting, or sagging.. Plus it helps keep it in place in the event of a mishap.. Guides can take a conciderable amount of abuse, why should your tip top be any diffrent? Epoxy is fine but, for example... When i discovered the KR system, i had alot of change overs come in.. Sonetimes its pretty darn hard to get epoxy off..

I've used 5 min epoxy for years and never had a problem when need to replace as only need to heat enough for the glue to release. Heat not enough to damage blank. Also don't forget the resin in making blank has been baked and can stand the heat for a short time. I've not seen the need to purchase another item when I've already got the epoxy to hand.