I finally did it. I have a rod built on a 5 piece LT blank. The first ferrule is solidly stuck. I do not want to send it to Winston because I suspect they won't be able to fix it and I would rather not do the handle again. Any suggestions for taking it apart? If it won't come apart can someone cut it apart and fit a new ferrule plug? I can use the rod as is, but would prefer to get it back to a 5 piece.

Try wrapping the ferrule with a bag of crushed ice. It has worked to shrink the parts and allow for them to come apart.

try wrapping the female portion in a warm towel. like boil some water dip the towel wring it out and then after applying to the rod wrap it in plastic wrap to hold the heat for about 10 min. if that doesn't work try warm towel or even a heating pad on the female and then put some ice on the male. it works for nickle silver ferrules all the time.

Get two rubber/silicon sheets like those used to open jars in the kitchen, one on each section, then twist in opposite directions and pull at the same time. Unless you epoxied it in place by accident that should work just fine.

if nothing works for you use vice grips put the plyers on the male part with one wrap of masking tape under the plyers jaws , as it should be tight but still loose on the male part , then hold the male part on a heavy bench , then have some pull on the femal part , then put the plyers h against the femal section an hit with a hammer in the direction you want the female part to go , the sudden shock will get it loose , only do this as a last resor , yes this can hurt the femal part a little but it is the last hope , the cold compress works also , wax gets hard ,

William Sidney
AK

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William Sidney
AK



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2014 07:28PM by william G Sidney.

It is still stuck. I took the wrap off the female half of the joint and heated it with a spark lighter for a while, then used the rubber grip things and pulled and twisted hard with no result. Not going to do the pliers. I emailed Winston to see what they might do if I send it to them. Probably will end up stripping components and rebuilding one a blank they hopefully provide under the warranty for the blank. I

well right after you posted this I got a rod in for repair. two piece fly rod with a break about 12" down from the top. the rod was still together at the ferrule. Well lo a behold right after I tell you how to unstick the ferrule i get one that won't budge. I tried two person pull, rubber grippers, heat, cold heat and cold. nothing worked. I put it in the corner and figured I'd get back at it when I got home from work. On my way out the door I grabbed it and gave it one more try. all of the sudden the darn thing popped like it was never stuck. Go figure.
I have heard reports of guys putting a drop or two of lighter fluid on the joint to dissolve any wax but I wouldn't recommend it. especially if you are going to heat it in the future. that popping you hear would be the tip shooting across your shop.

try warming it with a hair dryer set on high instead of the lighter.

Cold is generally more effective than heat in getting ferrules unstuck.

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I'd use a heat gun to slightly warm the stuck sections. Then, while warm, put a few drops of PB Blaster - at the junction - followed by carefully tapping both male and female sections immediately adjacent to the ferrule with a hard plastic burnishing tool. Then I'd set a sandwich bag of crushed ice over the stuck sections for 10 minutes or so. If it doesn't come loose then, repeat a few times. The PB Blaster is very viscous (runny) and designed to loosen old corroded nuts and bolts on vehicles. I do caution however that I once did this on a matte finished blank and the PB Blaster removed some of the blank coating. It was a fair sacrifice considering how stuck the sections were and how happy I was that they finally released!

NO NO NO, NO Heat! Go with the ice. And forget the vice grips. You are dealing with an issue that will be resolved by changes in the ten thousandths of an inch of diameter, and not by brute strength. As suprising as ice may sound, it is the most effective way to free stuck ferrules. I believe what happens is that the wall thickness of the female part decreases with the temp drop, thus increasing the inside diameter. And there is no chance of damaging an expensive rod. If it doesn't work the first time, try it aqain.

Using vice grips can easily damage the rod mechanically, and using heat can degrade its properties. While the graphite can take the temp, the plastics holding it together cannot.

Keep trying ice.