In one of my EOM rods (I mostly fish fly rods I wrap myself), the male ferrule plug on the butt section has either slid down into the butt section about 5/16 of an inch, or the upper portion of the plug has broken off. At any rate, more than 1/4" inch of the uppermost part of the ferrule has no plug in it, just exposed blank wall. I presume this cannot be good for ferrule fit and opens the ferrule to potential micro fractures.

So:

What are ferrule plugs made of? How do they adhere to the blank wall? Are they a hard solid or somewhat pliable?
Should I fill this void with some sort of pour in, solidifying ferrule plug material or epoxy?
Should I not use the rod until repaired?
Should I heat up the butt cap on the real seat and knock the existing ferrule plug out through the bottom of the blank, and replace with a new ferrule plug?
How long is a typical ferrule plug on a 5wt fly rod butt section?

Please advise?

I just plugged mine with the excess epoxy gel from installing the components. Many used EVA and other materials, It is simply a way to keep dirt, etc. out.

Gel epoxy, Cork, or EVA I’ll make good plugs for the open end of a male furrule.

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Thanks, all.

Ya learn something new every day.

I just noticed that one of my longtime rods made from a blank has no ferrule plug at all, and it never had any issues. So I guess the ferrule plug is more about keeping water and debris out than it is about firming up the blank wall, as my rod without plugs was built in 2019 and has never had a ferrule fit or cracking issue.

Maybe in the thinnest of graphite blanks a plug provides some support.

The plug helps prevent oval crushing of the open end which can happen if the sections are not fitted tightly. Ralph did a nice article on the how and why. It's a good idea to have something in the end. Doesn't have to be absolutely rigid but should be firm.

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What is a recommended gel epoxy?

Rod Bond, Pro-Paste, etc. They will stay where you put them. The more liquid types would be hard to utilize for this purpose.

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When I need a ferrule plug, I simply take a piece of solid stock and chuck it into a drill. I hold the solid stock against the spinning belt of a belt sander until it has been sanded down to be a tiny bit smaller than the future location of the plug. Then, I cut off the shaped plug from the main stock to be about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long. I put on a very thin coat of 5 minute epoxy and place it into the ferrule to seal it up. The entire procedure takes about 5 minutes.

Take care

That's a good method, Roger!

And one can certainly do that with some kind of composite material, too.

After looking further at my rod today, the ferrule plug is actually loose and if I whip the rod butt hard in the air it ravels up the blank section and stops about 3/8" from the top of the male ferrule. I cannot get it out of the rod or enable it to slide up any closer to the top of the male ferrule. If I touch it lightly with a thin piece of wire or a thin nail it drops and slides all the way to the base of the butt section.

Any ideas on how to get it out? All I can think of is to heat the butt cap and remove the butt cap, drop out the plug, then re-epoxy the butt cap onto the end of the reel seat. No pun intended, that seems a real pain in the butt.

I guess I could whip it to its highest point in the blank, invert the blank so it cannot slide down, then place some epoxy paste in the inverted blank's end, and use enough to push up against the old plug, and perhaps secure a bond to it. If not bond, it will slide up and down the blank with every cast.

I think trying to drill it out would put the blank wall in serious jeopardy, and the drill bit would only push it down the blank, even if I inverted the blank. And any dissolving agent of solvent might harm the inner wall of the blank.

After looking further at my rod today, the ferrule plug is actually loose and if I whip the rod butt hard in the air it ravels up the blank section and stops about 3/8" from the top of the male ferrule. I cannot get it out of the rod or enable it to slide up any closer to the top of the male ferrule. If I touch it lightly with a thin piece of wire or a thin nail it drops and slides all the way to the base of the butt section.

Any ideas on how to get it out? All I can think of is to heat the butt cap and remove the butt cap, drop out the plug, then re-epoxy the butt cap onto the end of the reel seat. No pun intended, that seems a real pain in the butt.

I guess I could whip it to its highest point in the blank, invert the blank so it cannot slide down, then place some epoxy paste in the inverted blank's end, and use enough to push up against the old plug, and perhaps secure a bond to it. If not bond, it will slide up and down the blank with every cast.

I think trying to drill it out would put the blank wall in serious jeopardy, and the drill bit would only push it down the blank, even if I inverted the blank. And any dissolving agent of solvent might harm the inner wall of the blank.

The end of the butt cap could be drilled out close to the inner blank butt's diameter. The plug will fall out and can be re-glued in the ferrule end. The butt cap hole could then be epoxied with gel epoxy to seal both ends of the butt section of the rod.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2024 12:08PM by Ross Pearson.

Put some epoxy on the inside of the male end. Use a small diameter rod (clothe hanger wire, etc.) through a small hole in the butt cap to push the plug into place. The small hole left in the butt cap could be sealed with GOOP. Should be a very easy fix.

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You could possibly drill a small hole in the butt plug & blow it out with compressed air provided the plug is a soft or compressable material. After just reglue the plug & plug the butt.

David, what is the length of the rod from the ferrule to the butt of the rod?

All that you have to do, is to take piece of material with a sharp point on it and run it down the inside of the rod from the open end until the plug gets to the butt cap. The, pierce the plug with the pulling material and pull the plug back up the rod and out the open end of the rod. i.e. of course if the plug can be slipped out the open end. Otherwise, drill a small hole through the butt cap and insert a piece of solid stock - wire or something else and push the plug up and out of the rod section and then, fill the small hole you drilled for the extraction of the plug.