Hi everyone, I'm looking for some suggestions on repairing the butt of a rod blank that was crushed at some point in it's life time. I say crushed, not because the blank is no longer round. I say crushed because it has a crack that is 2 3/16" long, that extends from the butt's edge, up into the blank. It's a high mod, very thin wall blank. And while I know I could just trim that portion of the blank off, I'd like to keep the blank its original length.

Even though I'm going to build the rod with a split rear grip, with the fighting butt not extending far enough up the blank to cover the crack, I'm not concerned about the cosmetic damage to the blank. I'm pretty confident that I can repair it well enough with some light sanding, paint, (the blank has a gloss black finish) and a coat of Perma Gloss, that it won't be visible.

My concern is stopping the possibility of further migration of the crack, up into the blank.

My personal thoughts for doing this are that it would be pretty simple. That all I would need to do was use a popsicle stick, or some other tool and spread some 5 minute rod bond, 4 or 5 inches up into the end of the blank. Does this sound as if it would work? Or would I be better off fashioning some kind of insert that I could glue into the butt?

I had thought of the possibility of using a foam reel seat arbor, sanded down to fit. Then epoxying it up into the blank

I want to try and keep the repair as light as possible, but I want it structurally sound. Also ...... do you think it would it be necessary from a structural standpoint, that I put some kind of thread wrap over the cracked portion of the blank that isn't going to be covered by the fighting butt?

Thanks for any suggestions you may offer, or for confirmation that my thinking is on the right track.

David


I would try to find a section from a broken rod and fit it into the butt of your blank. I would have the rod section or "plug" extend 1/2 to 1 inch past the crack line. Temporarily wrap the OD at the end of the blank with thread or tape so the crack does not open when the plug is pressed in place. Coat the plug and the inside of the blank with epoxy and press the plug in place. After the epoxy cures remove the thread or tape and trim the end flush.

John

I'd go with John's suggestion. Find a thin wall blank section that you can epoxy into the butt of what you have now.

....................

David,

In addition to John's suggestions above, you might first drill a small hole into the blank at the upper end of the crack to stop it's further migration up the blank. Then follow John's suggestions.

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com

Then do a thread wrap in the split grip :)

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

John, Tom, and Don. Thank you for the great suggestions. Don, I hadn't thought of drilling the small hole to stop possible lengthening of the crack. That is something I'll definitely do.

And John, I also hadn't thought of wrapping tape around the blank so the cracked portion of blank wouldn't expand during the epoxying process. Yet another thing I'll definitely do.

And Tom ... as always, thank you. Your confirmation of an idea being a good one, is a comfort.

All of your suggestions are very much appreciated.

I had pretty much thought the suggestion of a piece of a broken rod inserted into the end would be suggested. My problem with that is, I'd estimate that the ID of the butt at the furthest point of the crack into the blank, is about .560" Foam arbors I got ..... broken rods with that kind of OD, I don't. It looks like I'm going to have to search for some yard sales that have fishing rods. Maybe someone has an big ole catfish rod I can get for cheap. It's either that or I go to Wal Mart with dial caliper in hand and buy a sacrificial rod that will fit the bill.

The blank in question is a blank I was allowed to keep free of charge after receiving it in its damaged condition. So any small investment in time and materials to fix it will be worth my while. It was damage that would have never been seen with the blank in the plastic sheath it was contained in, so it was no fault of the supplier. Just one of those things.

And BTW ...... Carol and Mick at Utmost Enterprises are great people. Kind, courteous, and very helpful. Based on my interactions with them, I can see myself going back to them many times over, for a lot of my rod building needs. And they're definitely someone I will recommend to a few of my buddies that have expressed interest in building their own rods.

I'm sure Rodbuilding.org is very proud to have them in their list of sponsors.

Thanks again for your great suggestion guys. Very much appreciated.

Didn't mean to miss you Chris. My apologies, and thank you for your response.

Ya know ... when I originally thought about doing the thread wrap to cover the portion of the crack that will be exposed, I was against it. The rods I have built thus far have been pretty plain Jane. EVA foam grips, with an anodized trim ring and winding check here and there, and some metalic trim bands on the guide wraps. Nothing special. But I'm thinking I may just want to add more visual bling to these next two builds. They'll be matching rods, since I now have two of the same blanks.

Yes ..... a little bit of added bling via some tasteful butt wraps are in order.

This rod building stuff is fun .... !!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2015 11:09AM by David Baylor.

I don't think it was mensioned but I would suggest to prep the inside of your rod to get the release agent off and the out side of the new section for a better bond

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, thank you for responding. You're right, prepping the inside of the damaged blank as well as the blank section to be used as the insert wasn't mentioned. Definitely a good idea.

Thank you. Very much appreciated.

Glad I could help

Bill - willierods.com

if this crack extends up the blank to where it will bend some you might not want to use the 5 min epoxy use rod bond or like it , it is a little flexable after it drys,
the pot life is a lot longer , it will stay where you put [ not run ] 5 min epoxy is a great glue but real stiff after it dry' s don't like to bend at all
[ just my finding's ]

William Sidney
AK

William, thanks for the heads up about the 5 minute epoxies not being as pliable as a slower curing epoxy. That's definitely something I'll store in the memory banks. But considering where the crack is, the blank bending where I'll be making the repair, won't be a problem. It's only a little more than 2" long and starts right at the edge of the butt.

One problem I am finding though, is a rod with the right OD blank, that I can sacrifice to get a piece of blank to use as an insert. I found one that would fit the bill, but it would come in right around $35. I had hoped to find one a little less expensive, but no luck so far. I know the blank was free of charge, and a $35 investment is less than what I paid for the undamaged blank I received as a replacement. But is using a piece of rod blank that would fit snugly in the area, absolutely necessary?

I know a piece of a properly sized blank would be stronger, but as I said earlier, the crack isn't that far into the butt, and the only stress that part of the rod will possibly see is if I step on it while it's laying on the deck of the boat.

Question for you, and others that have replied and may be following this thread, or for others that may be reading it.

In my initial post I wondered whether or not the use of a foam reel seat arbor that was sanded to fit, and then epoxied into the butt, would work as a repair. What if I used the reel seat arbors, they're Fuji arbors which I have read are harder than the Flex Coat arbors ... what if I used those arbors, fitted and epoxied to a section of rod blank, and then sand that assembly down, and epoxy it into the damaged blank?

Would this new modified use of the arbors epoxied to a smaller diameter piece of rod blank work almost as well as a properly sized piece of rod blank?

David
Google up Fish and Save Inexpensive rods you can use

Bill - willierods.com

David Prep all surfaces

If the crack is not that far into the butt, I would get a oak dowel and taper (sand) it to fit the blank. The idea is to support the blank from being "crushed" or from being squeezed.

John

Hey there John. Thank you for responding again. I appreciate it. I had thought about using a wooden dowel sanded to fit, but I wasn't too sure about using wood, because of possible problems with thermal stability.

I'd thought I'd found a rod that would serve as a sacrificial lamb (a 13' telescoping crappie rod) but when I got it home, the section I would have needed to use only went a little more than an 1/8" into the damaged blank, so ....... I went ahead and glued up the arbor/ rod blank combination I described in my last post. After I reamed the arbors to fit the section of rod blank I mounted them on, I tested it for crush strength.

I took it out and put it on my kitchen floor and stepped on it. It flat spotted the raised portion of the arbors slightly. But other than that, it was good to go. The arbors were ordered for a 17 mm reel seat that I ended up not using, so I had to sand the raised portions completely off, and then some.

I made the fit tight, but not overly tight. Right now I have the blank laying in my hand wrapper, while it dries.

While I know the recommendations you, and others gave about using a piece of rod blank would have been optimum, and I truly appreciate the great recommendations, it was looking like I was going to have to buy a $35 rod, just to cut it up for a 4" piece. I don't want it to seem as if I ignored anyone's recommendations. I just figured considering where the crack is located, it isn't a high stress area of the blank. So I went the alternate route.

I wrapped the damaged area tightly with a couple of layers of masking tape, cleaned the inside of the blank with DA, and blew the sanding residue off the insert with my compressor, prior to installing the insert. After the 5 minute Quick Bond dries, (I'll give it a couple days) I'll drill the small hole at the end of the crack that was suggested to hopefully prevent the crack from growing larger. But I don't think it will. The insert I made is 4" long, so it's well past the end of the crack. And I smeared a lot of epoxy on the interior of the blank, as well as spreading it liberally on the outside of the arbors.
It's in there to stay.

Thank you once again to everyone that contributed. I know you gave me excellent advice. As I said earlier. I just couldn't see spending $35 on a rod just to chop it up.

These two builds will be my first spinning rod builds .... my guess is I'll be back with a question or two. Hope to hear from you all again, if and when those questions arise.

Thanks again !!!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2015 02:30PM by David Baylor.

Hi David,

Now is a good time to start collecting broken rods, and cheap rods from second hand stores and garage sales. Many rod repairs require a piece or two of rod blank, and so it never hurts to have a wide assortment of graphite and fiberglass rods available.

Take care,

Chris

Chris, thats a great idea. And something I wish I had been doing for a while. When I think of all of the rods I've given away while updating to newer rods, I'd have a jungle of usuable blanks. Actually I probably would have kept them to rebuild if I knew I was going to get into rod building.

And Bill, thank you for the name of that web site. Those are some of the prices I was hoping to find while looking for a cheap Wally World rod.

Thanks again peoples


See ya in the threads