I am building my first two-piece Steelhead Salmon rod and unsure of the conventional way of applying and drying epoxy to the female ferrule wrap. I have some ideas of what may work however; I would appreciate some expert advice. I have put a great deal of time and effort into this rod so far and would hate to mess it up at this stage.

Thanks again for all of the past help,
Mike

In the past, ferrule wraps were used to prevent ferrules from splitting. Today, ferrule technology has advanced to the point that splitting has all but been eliminated.

Today most manufacturer's recommend a ferrule wrap to protect the end of the female ferrule from being caught during handling. Most manufacturers recommend a wrap length of about 1/4". You can certainly make your wrap longer in length, but it's not necessary to do so. The thread will be protected with finish just like a guide wrap, so plan the end of your wrap so your finish extends past the end of the thread right up to the edge of the ferrule. Depending on your finish habits, the edge of your thread could be between 1/16-1/8" from the end of the ferrule.

If you will be using color preserver under your finish, you want to make sure that your finish will extend past the edge of your color preserver. So make sure you don't flood the CP past the thread all the way to the edge of the ferrule - try to soak the thread with CP without going past the edge of the thread.

Make sure your thread tension is not overly tight as too much thread tension can compress a thin wall ferrule and prevent it from seating correctly when you assemble the two sections.

Applying epoxy to a ferrule wrap is done in exactly the same way as any normal guide wrap.

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A tip I learned from this site is to wrap turns of masking tape around the male section right at the junction to catch any accidental epoxy overflow that might 'glue' the sections together. After you have done a few and your confidence builds you will likely eliminate this step.

Pesco Ergo Sum



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2015 12:25PM by Bruce Robb.

I have the female ferrule wrapped, my question is, since the end cannot be chucked into a wrapper or dryer, how do most secure this section to apply and dry epoxy?

Thanks John, Tom & Bruce,
Mike

if you are looking at wrapping the ferrule ? yes some of the makers say you don't need to do it , but I still do it, makes me feel good, just in case I get a blank that was supposed to be wrapped an I did not do it , [ old blank or rebuild ] as for applying
epoxy to it , I use a wooden dowel with tape to fill the void an wax it , so the epoxy won't stick . use lots of tape to enlarge
the chuck end, with tooth picks in bedded so I can use rubber bands to in sure the unit would not come out of the chuck
during the drying faze , I had a lots of problems with it coming out of the chuck ,
I use 2 & 1/2 times the opening for the wrap length, an if a guide is near, lots of time just keep going an see if you can move the guide a little closer to the ferrule , I do a few cast as well as loading the rod to ensure it will work for me

William Sidney
AK

I failed to mention this rod is 11'6" so I cannot apply the epoxy with the male and female engaged.

Thanks again,
Mike

You can insert a wooden dowel, with a little masking tape on the end of that to securely allow it to be chucked into your lathe head.

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Thanks William and Tom, the wooden dowel was my first thought, however I wanted to make sure there were no pitfalls to doing this.
Mike

use cut off from old rod or wooden dowel, or chop stick from the local store they should give a couple of them if you ask,
masking tape an wax make a tight fit in side the ferrule an not touching the ferrule edge you see an tape to fit the chuck .

William Sidney
AK

Michael,

Thanks for clarifying your question. I would suggest two things to consider:

1) Make sure that you have a snug internal fit inside the ferrule to prevent it from slipping off the driveshaft (e.g. dowel, rod section) which would result in your rod to stop rotating before the epoxy has a chance to set up. This would be a mess to correct. A couple bands of tape wrapped on a smaller drive shaft will work well. Wrap and size the band of tape that will be placed more deeply into the ferule first, then use the seated position to locate a second band of tape so it rests under the ferrule end. I would have the band stick out just a bit to prevent epoxy from accidentally working over the edge and inside the ferrule. In an overflow situation, it would be easier to clean excess epoxy from the end of the ferrule rather than the inside of the ferrule.

2) To get the best finish, make sure the drive shaft you fabricate rotates the rod on its axis and doesn't revolve the rod around it's axis. A little wobble is okay (say up to a 1/8" or so), but anymore than that can contribute to something unexpected happening with your setup.

Thanks John and thanks to everyone who has taken the time to help!

Mike

Another way is to use a dowel or part of a broken rod blank that is SMALLER than the end of the ferrule.
MAke it long enough to go up inside the blank to be finished until it is snug and secure.
Force it a little to make sure it does not slip while in your turning device.
That way you can go right to the edge without worrying about the inserted material becoming "stuck" by any epoxy finish "drips"

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

Thanks Ron

If I can use the complete rod, I will use that.

When applying finish to a ferrule, I always put a wrap of wax paper around the smaller piece. That way, if you accidentally slip and get some epoxy on the smaller piece, you get it on the wax paper that the epoxy will not stick.

I keep a quantity of solid fiberglass pieces around. You can get these at a hardware store in the form of "driveway markers". I will cut off a piece that is 6 inches long and chuck it into the variable speed drill. Then, I will h old the spinning piece of fiberglass solid stock against my running belt or disk sander. I have the rod section handy that is the larger size. I will check the fit often, until I get the end of the solid stock nicely tapered for a nice fit into the end of the larger piece.

As I said earlier, I will then take a couple of wraps around the tapered solid stock and insert it into the larger section.

If I use my larger chuck which will not hold the smaller piece of solid stock, I just use a cork ring to hold the end. I bore the center hole of the cork ring for a tight friction fit of the solid stock into the bored out cork ring.

Then, I insert the cork ring into the chuck and it will work well.

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My wrapper uses a 1/2 inch keyless industrial chuck on the end of the head stock shaft. So, when I use solid stock, I just insert them directly into the 1/2 inch keyless chuck.

When wrapping rods, I insert a 1/2 inch to 3/4 x16 shank into the keyless chuck and screw on my 3 inch taig chuck for firm holding of normal sized rod handles.

Good luck

Thanks Roger for the extensive detail, it is very helpful to my current project and for future builds.