I have a new light trout budget-priced fiberglass fly rod (7' 3 piece) which has two issues. I've been playing phone tag with the company i bought it from and I'm hoping an exchange may be a solution. If not, I'm hoping someone here has experience and can offer some solutions.

first: this is a spigot ferrule blank. the tip and middle sections have about a quarter inch of space when assembled. from what i've read this is good, allowing for wear and reduction of space over time. unfortunately the butt and middle sections leave zero space when assembled. the sections butt up against each other. it'll work for now but does not allow for natural wear of the spigot. what i've read is one fix can be to cut back the female portion to create the desired space. i am leaning to this solution. another solution is to build up the male portion of the spigot with thin finish and lightly sand down for smoothness. any words of wisdom to addressing this problem?

second: when the tip and middle sections are assembled, there is a light clicking or ticking sound on flexing. keep in mind this has no guides on it yet, and i am not flexing much at all. it seems to be coming from the ferrule portion. possible just past the ferrule on the middle section. i've tried listening closely while tapping and even applying pressure to the blank and turning and flexing hoping light pressure, simulating a future thread wrap, might alleviate the sound, but alas, no, it does not. i've also gently/lightly run 400 grit sandpaper over the male spigot.

any suggestions or thoughts? thanks!

eric
fresno, ca.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2014 07:50PM by eric zamora.

Eric, without mentioning the name I know the brand of blank you bought. Your issues are not uncommon and some other people that I know have had the same issues. Poor Quality Control on the part of the blank manufacturer.

First, the issue of the butt and middle sections coming to close together, you can trim the female section back a bit, take off .125" increments at a time and check fit, it should not take much trimming.

Second and the reason why I would strongly consider sending it back and getting a refund and looking elsewhere for a glass blank. The clicking you are hearing is the improper taper of the spigot. Part of the spigot is smaller and does not have a continous taper that mates up with the interior of the female section of the blank. It will create a stress point and it will at some point cause the blank to break.

I would just send it back and move on to something better.

Eric, Bill has it right on on all accounts .

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2014 08:11PM by Randolph Ruwe.

Trim back the lower female section by a quarter inch. That's the proper solution. Building up the spigot is ill advised. Very ill advised.

The clicking on the upper sections is also a ferrule mis-fit. It is also easily corrected. You need to determine which area is bottoming out first. Can you see any movement on the female section end on the ferrule?

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I think the best thing would be to return the blank and move on as Bill and Randolph have suggested, but i often find myself a bit of a glutton for punishment. and i find myself attempting to fool myself into believing this may be a small lesson in blank repair. at least by trying to completely diagnose the issue (before probable return)

tom, i think i may have isolated the ticking to just the spigot ferrule. with just the middle section in my left hand and firmly gripping the white spigot in my right, i can rotate the section slowly and flexing the spigot, hear a ticking at one point on each revolution. repeatedly every 180 degrees. the white spigot ferrule itself extends about 2 inches out of the blank, and about 2.5 inches inside the blank. so it would appear (from this newbie's experience) that the issue is the gluing of the white spigot inside the middle section was not done correctly. correct?

furthermore, when the tip section is attached, the ticking is evident despite throughout while revolving the two sections, and even if the tip is attached every 90 degrees to the middle section.

eric
fresno, ca.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2014 10:24PM by eric zamora.

If there is a taper mis-match, it will click. The trick before you can fix it is to determine if the mis-match is at the top of the spigot, or the bottom. Once you determine that, the fix is easy.

I don't know what you paid for the blank. It may or may not be worth your time to fix it. It won't take long, but only you can determine what to do.

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I would send it back.

But if you want to "fix" the ferrule knock - "paint" the male with thinned white acrylic fabric paint from a hobby store. let it dry well and then assemble and twist. You will see where it is hitting and not hitting.
herb

Herb, i don't think that will work if the knocking is taking place inside the blank's middle section, where it seems to be happening. i think your first suggestion is the best. neither the tip section nor the butt section of the three-piece bank is involved with the ticking.

Tom, i'm curious now. consider it part of my evolving education with blanks. what is the easy fix? and how does one determine where the mismatch is taking place if it is isolated to only the 2.5 inches of spigot inside the middle section? the blank is a translucent orange but the "glue" appears to be clear colored, determined by a small remnant of leakage at the very end. i can also see a few tiny air bubbles within the blank at the spigot which i imagine is in the adhesive. the tiny bubbles are not in one area, which would help determine where the problem is or lead one to suspect that is the problem, rather the bubbles are sporadic, tiny, and not focused in one spot inside the spigot. and there are just a few of them, not overly numerous anyway.

thanks

-eric
fresno, ca.

Herb, i don't think that will work if the knocking is taking place inside the blank's middle section, where it seems to be happening. i think your first suggestion is the best. neither the tip section nor the butt section of the three-piece bank is involved with the ticking.

Tom, i'm curious now. consider it part of my evolving education with blanks. what is the easy fix? and how does one determine where the mismatch is taking place if it is isolated to only the 2.5 inches of spigot inside the middle section? the blank is a translucent orange but the "glue" appears to be clear colored, determined by a small remnant of leakage at the very end. i can also see a few tiny air bubbles within the blank at the spigot which i imagine is in the adhesive. the tiny bubbles are not in one area, which would help determine where the problem is or lead one to suspect that is the problem, rather the bubbles are sporadic, tiny, and not focused in one spot inside the spigot. and there are just a few of them, not overly numerous anyway.

thanks

-eric
fresno, ca.

We did a complete article on ferrule fitting in RodMaker not so very long ago - it details this exact process. Do you have any of the older issues? I can run in the back and look up the issue number for you.


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Thanks for the offer Tom, but i let my subscription run out a few years ago. The good news is the seller who offers these blanks has said in an email over night that he would accept the blank returned.

eric
fresno, ca.

Maybe that'll save the day for you. If not, let me know, the article was in an older issue so you may have it on hand still.

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This is why I think you make a wise desicion
I never liked spigot ferrules Get a nice tip over butt

Bill - willierods.com

There is nothing wrong with spigot ferrules. Many of your top manufacturers of quality Fiberglass Blanks use Spigot Ferrules, McFarland, James Green, Tom Morgan Rodsmiths, Kabuto, Larry Kenny, Tomo Ijuin, Mark Steffen, list goes on. Some of these folks roll their own, some are rolled by others to their spec's. Some of these folks that have the blanks made for them get them without ferrules and then they cut and fit the spigot to their blank. Lots of variety in the glass world.

Scott, Winston, Fisher, Diamondback, all used them on some models, and those that are still in business still use this ferrule system on some models.

I don't personally have a preference what the ferrule system is, both are good as long as they work properly. Don't let one poor experience with a blank cloud your judgement.

personal prefference
I don't like them To me I think it is a lot easier to fix a tip over butt then those

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2014 09:10AM by bill boettcher.

Bill I'll give you a senerio where Spigot ferrules are a good thing. You know how once in awhile you will have someone that breaks a blank because the sections where slowly coming appart and they hook a fish just to have the rod break. A) next to never happens with a Spigot because its solid glass in most cases. B) If they did break the Spigot in this mannor it is way easyer to replace then rebuilding the entire section. Just some food for thought.

Good points all
But I read more of builders having trouble with them more then the tip over butt
Some times user error and like here the Manufacture
The section that holds each section maybe solid glass Strong But it does have to go into a tube section ??? Weaker

Bill - willierods.com

Good point Bill. I would say that would be a matter of if the rod builder did a good job on wrapping the ferrrules. If they did I would think it should hold up with no problem. There are alot of problems with spigots because there are alot of poorly made ones out there lol.

Like this one - LOL

I am wondering if the femail was wrapped with thread Tightly would the clicking go away ????

Bill - willierods.com