It's good stuff..
I have a cheapo (I think) 3pc cane rod that was given to me by my father-in-law. I caught a 20" brown on it this past spring without incident but then proceeded to break the rod right below the ferrule, closest to the tip end, while I was struggling to take the rod down.
I have decided to try to fix the rod on my own since it looks like it has already been repaired at least once before and probably is not of the quality to merit professional attention... but I need some advise. Some of you may shudder at the idea of this, I have no idea if it is correct or not, but I figured that the easiest way to repair the rod would be to drill out the cane that is stuck in the ferrule and then reinsert the top of the second section, wrap it and that's it - I only lose an inch of rod length.
So, I found a drill bit that seemed to be the perfect size and proceeded to drill the broken bit of cane out the ferrule. Here comes the question: I was only able to drill out a half inch or less of cane before I hit what seems to be metal. The ferrule section is probably over an inch and a half (I don't have it in front of me) and I expected that more cane would fit inside of it. Am I wrong or is something very wrong with this ferrule? Is there anything else that anybody feels they should warn me about before I proceed?
I am a little lost here. Thanks very much in advance.
That should be the female ferrule and it should a piece soldered in as a weather/moisture check. Clean out all the cane without damaging the ferrule, then fit it to the mid-section. When fitting the ferrule measure depth of seating and wrap masking tape on the section at end of the ferrule station. Carefully work it down until you can fit the ferrule. I prefer ferrule cement, epoxy also works fine but takes a lot more heat if you want to remove ferrule.
Coulee Flyfisher's suggestions are good ones. The moisture seal on a female ferrule prevents water from getting into the cane, so try your best not to damage it.
Are your ferrules serrated - i.e six little tabs on the ends? These serrations provide a smooth transition between metal and bamboo, reducing stress on the cane at the ferrule junction. Cheap ferrules used on many of the old production rods don't have this feature, and with heavy use can eventually break at the ferrule junction. As long as you don't use the rod a lot, you'll be OK re-installing the existing ferrule. For $35-50 per set, you could replace with CSI, REC, or Golden Witch ferrules that would be a big upgrade.
When you cut back the top of a mid-section, the female ferrule station will likely be bigger than before, and you may have to sand some bamboo off. This isn't difficult, and as long as you don't have to cut too deeply into the power fibers you won't damage the rod. Measure the depth of the ferrule and mark on the rod. Tape the rod section below the area you need to reduce, and place the rod section in a vice. Cut off strips of sandpaper (220 grit or finer), and slowly and evenly sand down the section. Take 5 "strokes" on the top, the 5 on the side, 5 on the bottom, 5 on the other side, and repeat until the ferrule fits. Test fit the ferrule frequently, and don't try to force it on the cane. The ferrule should fit snugly, but not too tightly as you need to leave room for glue.
As for glues, it's best to use something that allows you to easily remove the ferrule with heat in the future. Gudebrod ferrule cement is OK, but the best stuff is Bonning Ferr-l-tite that you can buy in Archery shops. I use Goodyear Plio-bond for this, which works well as long as you "flash" (light the glue to burn off the chenical that keeps it viscous) the glue right before installing the ferrule.
Hope this helps. Feel free to e-mail me if you have questions or need help with this.
Tom
It's good stuff..
Thank you very much,
Coulee- you are right, this is the female ferrule. So I shouldn't worry that only 1/4"-3/8" of the actual bamboo is going to be inside the ferrule? I guess I just expected it to go deeper.
Tom- No, this is not one of the better, serrated ferrules so I guess that confirms my suspicion that this is not one of the better rods. I do not think that I will go as far as to upgrade the ferrules at this point. I am not really set up to do anything too involved in our small apartment with the wife and baby.
Any suggestions for seperating the stuck ferrule that got me into this project in the first place? It is still not wanting to budge and now that I broke the rod, I have nothing to pull on. If it matters, these ferrules appear to be aluminum, with gold finish and the male part has a O-ring type deal on the end of it.
Thanks again!
It's good stuff..
Thank you very much,
Coulee- you are right, this is the female ferrule. So I shouldn't worry that only 1/4"-3/8" of the actual bamboo is going to be inside the ferrule? I guess I just expected it to go deeper.
Tom- No, this is not one of the better, serrated ferrules so I guess that confirms my suspicion that this is not one of the better rods. I do not think that I will go as far as to upgrade the ferrules at this point. I am not really set up to do anything too involved in our small apartment with the wife and baby.
Any suggestions for seperating the stuck ferrule that got me into this project in the first place? It is still not wanting to budge and now that I broke the rod, I have nothing to pull on. If it matters, these ferrules appear to be aluminum, with gold finish and the male part has a O-ring type deal on the end of it.
Thanks again!
Herl,
These are probably gold plated brass ferrules.
I suggest you glue the female ferrule back onto the rod first and then try to separate the ferrules. Otherwise you have nothing to grip the female with. Don't be tempted to use pliers - you'll bend the ferrule and it will never fit.
The first thing to try for the stuck ferrules is to make yourself a set of "ferrule pullers." Buy one of those pink rubber pads used to open jar lids, cut into two small sections, and use them to grip the rod sections while you pull them. It's amazing how effective these are. If the normal two-arm technique doesn't work, try gripping the sections hard behind your knees and using your legs to separate them.
Let us know how you come out
Tom
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