So I got 3 of these blanks from NFC, they are 9ft 9wts. I think they are "XRay" they have the ribbed texture. At the male ferrules they have to sand this texture off, which makes sense but they sanded all the way about an inch or so past where it would stop when fully put into the female end of the next section. Is this normal? It makes the rod look bad when put together I think. Could I put a wrap on it to cover it up? I only have a few rods under my belt so any advice is appreciated

They had to sand enough off to get the ferrule fit and to allow for any wear later, if they would have left an edge right at the junction you could soon have a loose ferrule. Others did the same with finish edges on their fly rods, bare blank showing for a bit.

Ah that does make sense. Thank you for replying! I will probably just leave it as is then. I've never seen a textured rod before, totally new to me. I do love the blanks action and NFC had them shipped to me within 4 days.

My Dan Craft Sig V 10 wt four piece is the same way and I have been fishing it for 15 years, nothing new.

Max, you too can sand off the texture from the entire blank! Taking care with a 320 grit.to not get into the carbon fibers.

No ferrule will wear to seat 1 inch further than when new.
Call them and ask for a replacement.
Herb

Thanks Herb, that's what threw me off. I wish I could post pictures. I will reach out to them and see what they say. I need these for a Chinook trip in September so I may just build these ones out. I know the performance is not compromised but aesthetically they just look weird. I'm going to talk to them and will let everyone know what they say.

I think they are coming out with a fully sanded version of the blanks.

Per NFC, the blanks are supposed to be this way. They called it a universal ferrule. I'm assuming this is so you can replace a section without sending the whole rod in. So the builds begin! Thanks for everyone's input. I'm a new member here and glad I have somewhere to go with questions