Hello,

I’m building my 2nd 4-piece fly rod and was wondering the correct/best way to apply the epoxy/thread finish to the ferrules. On my last 4-piece I epoxied each section separately and used one of the CRB rod extenders. I did it this way because I didn’t want to risk epoxying the sections together. But with a single-rod rod dryer it basically took me a week to finish the rod. So, what is the best way to finish a multi-piece rod? Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

Assemble the rod and finish as usual. Just take care not to get finish onto the adjoining section. A careful check over the first 30 minutes or so should be sufficient to ensure none is there. If it has managed to migrate, remove it while it is still wet. After 30 minutes or so, it's not likely to move again.

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Chris

if I understand your question, the issue is how to ensure epoxy finish does not essentially adhere adjoining rod sections together, especially so when the female ferrule reinforcing wrap ends very close to end of the ferrule (as it should). One method is to make masking tape your friend. Wind a couple turns of tape on the lower blank section where the upper section's female ferrule ends. If you have a slip applying the epoxy finish, the excess epoxy is applied to the tape and not the blank. Then, as Tom K noted above, after 30 minutes or so the epoxy will be where it will be and you should remove the tape. Use care care NOT to apply epoxy excess epoxy or otherwise cause the tape to be epoxied - the tape is an imperfect, worst case, fail safe.

Take heart. With a few more builds your skills will improve and you'll not need the masking tape crutch.

Something that has worked for me is to join and finish 2 sections together at a time. I cut a narrow strip of wax paper and wrap that from the tip of the male section backwards. The rod is then inserted into the female section. It's not a tight fit but it can be snug. It will hold them together nicely and prevent the two sections from adhering to each other. That should speed up your finishing process by cutting your time in half.

Thanks for the info guys! This helps a lot.