Gonna make my 1st travel rod. I have everything I need - 2-pc blank, guides, grips, seat, etc - any tips from experienced travel rod builders? Is there a rod maker article that covers travel rods (I have all the issues just don't recall if there's a volume/issue that talks to travel rods). I'm assuming I just layout everything the same as I would on a 1-pc, but when it comes to guide placement do I want to avoid placing the guide on or near the ferule? Should I be reinforcing the ferule?

Steven Libby Wrote:
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> Gonna make my 1st travel rod. I have everything I
> need - 2-pc blank, guides, grips, seat, etc - any
> tips from experienced travel rod builders? Is
> there a rod maker article that covers travel rods
> (I have all the issues just don't recall if
> there's a volume/issue that talks to travel rods).
> I'm assuming I just layout everything the same as
> I would on a 1-pc, YES

but when it comes to guide
> placement do I want to avoid placing the guide on
> or near the ferule? I WOULDN'T PLACE IT ON THE MALE FERRULE - CLOSE TO THE FEMALE. PLACING IT ON THE FEMALE IS FINE.
Should I be reinforcing the
> ferule? DEPENDS ON THE BLANK. SOME NEED REINFORCING - OTHERS DO NOT. BE SAFE AND DO IT.

Herb

Steven,
I agree with Herb on all counts. If it works-out (or can tweek the guide spacing a bit) that one of the guides is on the female ferrule = great - the guide wrap will serve as a ferrule binding wrap as well. Travel rods, to me, are 3 or 4 sections; pack rods 4+ sections. If 2 sections are adequate for you, fine. But if shorter sections would be a benefit, build your own tubular, FG CARL ferrules which will make the broken-down length half of what it is now.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

if a blank maker says i should reinforce their blank, i will not purchase it.. that,s their job not mine..there are plenty blank makers that know how to do it and they do it much better than i can..

I put a small wrap on the ferule. It adds so little weight, and demarks the ferule, which can be hard to see in dim light. It makes it easier to take the rod apart in the evening. Also, a small piiece of bright thread can be wrapped into the winding thread, perpendicular to the wind, to act as an alignment mark.

Tight Lies and frisky fish

RJF

There are a few tips for using multi-piece rods, but I will only give you one and comment on the string above.

When building a multi-piece tod, make sure the tip section is SLIGHTLY shorter than the butt section. This will help protect the most fragile part of the rod with the strongest part of the rod during transport. The difference doesn't have to be mych, mayve 1/16"

With regard to the ferrule wrap, I ALWAYS add a ferrule wrap on every ferrule of a multi-piece rod. After the tip, the female ferrule opening is the next most fragile area. While the manufacturer can add additional blank material (most do...) to the female ferrule area, that does not completely offset human nature. If the pieces are not joined correctly, the stress on the opening of the female ferrule can be extreme when the rod is under load. This is also an area that can fail if grit or sand get into trhe female ferrule. Always better to be safe than sorry, and a short wrap is not an overly burdonsome piece of insurance. The ferrule wrap length in the old days (50+ years ago, when I started...) would be from 1 1/2 inches long to 4" long. In recent years, the trend went down the the wrap length matching the width of the blank at the ferrule opening, and has now trended to 1 1/2 time the width. That being said, as a custom rod builder, you can make the wrap any length you want.

Richard I just have to ask..the people who made 4" ferrule wraps, how long were their guide wraps? just curious.

Regardless of the need or lack of need for ferrule wrap I always wrap them. Nice to have a "stop" for your fingers to push against when you assembly the rod. Ferrule wrap and finish gives just enough of a high spot to push against.

Ben,

The guide wraps extended from the foot about 1/2" to 1", sometimes longer. They also loved to underwrap and then begin the guide wrap with a band, then spiral toi the foot, then wrap over the guide foot. I have repaired over 100 old rods, replicating that process. The reason for the underwraps was to prevent the guide foot from crushing through the blank. If you can get a copy of "Fiberglass Rod Building" by Dale Clemons, you can see the old formats.

Thanks Richard, guide feet were crushing rods..WOW! that,s worse than diatoms..lol..