Rod Repair, follow along with me...

Started by Polaris425, February 26, 2018, 09:06:14 AM

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Polaris425

A few people asked me in the past about repairing handles on rods. The general concensus was that it's not worth the trouble, unless you have several $100 invested in a rod, and it needs a new handle.

So, I've had this rod for probably 10-12 years, back then they generally sold for $40 sticker price, but they were almost always on sale for $20ish. I bought 3 and shortly there after broke 2 of them... lol

This one hung on a while, except for the reel seat. The threads stripped and I had to ziptie the reel to the rod, and then superglue the hood in place.

I recently retired that reel, and pretty much destroyed the hood getting it off. Since The rod is pretty much a throw away anyway, I decided to give handle replacement a shot. Nothing to loose really. If I tear it up removing the parts, I'll chunk it in the trash. Which is where it was headed anyway probably.

First step, was getting the full cork handle off. It was old and crusty, but still took some muscling to get it off. I cut most of it off w/ a rzr blade. I'll have to put the wire buffer wheel on the dremel and clean the rest off... next step, will be attemping to cut off the seat, without damaging the blank. Good luck me!
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mygreenihc

You have my attention.  I have often wondered what it would take to do this if it was even possible.


Brad

Polaris425

#4
I cut the seat off today. Used my dremel to cut it off in sections. It actually came off really easy. Probably because it's a little older and being a cheap rod they didn't use that much glue. I didn't spend a lot of time getting ALL of the old cork off, I'll go back with a full cork handle and just have to reem a little extra. Should be easier than trying to sand all the old completely off.

Cut threads off first:



Then the seat:



Then the trigger:



This old glue popped right off w/ some pliers:



Cork sanded down:



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Polaris425

New seat epoxied in place, now, to order cork.




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Fishin' Alabama
Building Rods, & Snatchin' Lips.

zippyduck

You aren't waiting any time. Thanks for the pictorial and explanations.
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SteveTX

Great thread. Looks like your well on your way to fixing it. 

Oldfart9999

Are you going to spiral wrap it while you're working on it?
Rodney
Old Fishermen never die, their rods just go limp.

Polaris425

Quote from: Oldfart9999 on February 28, 2018, 05:56:36 AM
Are you going to spiral wrap it while you're working on it?
Rodney

Probably not, since it's a $20 rod I didn't see much need in getting to fancy with it. I'll probably end up giving it to my nephew. Or my mom.

But it would be a good chance to practice that technique. So, since you suggested it, I may do something like that.
Fishin' Alabama
Building Rods, & Snatchin' Lips.

Oldfart9999

Quote from: Polaris425 on February 28, 2018, 08:15:14 AM
Probably not, since it's a $20 rod I didn't see much need in getting to fancy with it. I'll probably end up giving it to my nephew. Or my mom.

But it would be a good chance to practice that technique. So, since you suggested it, I may do something like that.

Pics please!!
Rodney
Old Fishermen never die, their rods just go limp.

cbburke

I'm following this thread cuz I have a JB Custom Rod which the reel seat nut is stripped. I wanted to replace it. This might give me some ideas before I do anything.

"The education of a man is never completed until he dies..."

Polaris425

So far it hasn't been that bad, the worst part was getting the full cork handle off. I just had to cut
and pick it off piece by piece. I'd be done w/ it already but, have delayed ordering a cork handle, trying to wait so I can order it w/ some other stuff to save on shipping.
Fishin' Alabama
Building Rods, & Snatchin' Lips.

Polaris425

Ordered handle yesterday. Since I'm giving this rod to my nephew, I went with EVA to keep cost down. I didn't want to dump a bunch of $$ into cork... lol

For those wondering, the price difference, about $3 for the EVA 9" handle, and about $20 for a Cork.

For myself, yeah the $20 would have been worth it. But since this rod only cost $20... nah...

Now, if I was working on a $100+ rod... Then $20 for cork, and $5 for the seat (cheapest fuji seat) would be a nobrainer in repairing a more expensive rod. Or even upgrading to a better seat than what was on it.

Depending on the eva or grade of cork, and the seat you want to go back with (if you even need a seat) Then you could do this repair for as cheap as $3 + shipping (just replacing with EVA handle). Or it could cost as much as $40 plus shipping (cork plus a nicer seat).
Fishin' Alabama
Building Rods, & Snatchin' Lips.

SteelHorseCowboy

Quote from: Polaris425 on February 28, 2018, 08:15:14 AM
Probably not, since it's a $20 rod I didn't see much need in getting to fancy with it. I'll probably end up giving it to my nephew. Or my mom.

But it would be a good chance to practice that technique. So, since you suggested it, I may do something like that.
That's exactly what I did, got an old beater out of the corner with a broken off tip, and reused the original guides. Then I did the same with my least favorite that I actually use, then did the other two.
Going to leave my new Curado rod alone, at least for now.

A tip for getting some of that stuff off. I get lots of little gadgets from beauty supply stores and sections at department stores like Walmart. They have some of the best precision q-tips, brushes, paints, adhesives and solvents for anything from cleaning guns and electronics, reels, repainting fishing lures, etc. And they'd otherwise be wasted on things like makeup and removing makeup, fake nails, and making eyelashes purty.

If you can find a metal nail scraping tool, originally intended for shaping/scraping cuticles and removing tough to remove fingernail polish, apply a little heat to that old cork and glue with a hair dryer set on hi, I bet you can scrape that old stuff right off. Just be gentle, if the scraper slips sideways, it can gouge the blank.
Then use some nail polishing blocks to get the rest off.

SteveTX

Great information thanks.

Just wondering is there a way to extend the handle of a rod? I have a cheap rod that I like but the handle is to short for me to be comfortable using it. Thought you might know if there was a cheap way to replace it with a longer one.

Polaris425

I'm sure it could be done, but I'm not sure how easily. The first thing that comes to mind is finding a solid rod of some material that has the same OD as the ID of the butt of your rod (or one you could sand down). Epoxy that inside the end of the butt, and then take another piece of rod that has the same ID of the other, and slide it over and epoxy it... You pretty much have to destroy another rod butt though, to get a piece to use as the actual extention. But not neccisarily, if you could find the material.

Does that make sense?
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Building Rods, & Snatchin' Lips.

SteveTX

Quote from: Polaris425 on March 05, 2018, 12:33:12 PM
I'm sure it could be done, but I'm not sure how easily. The first thing that comes to mind is finding a solid rod of some material that has the same OD as the ID of the butt of your rod (or one you could sand down). Epoxy that inside the end of the butt, and then take another piece of rod that has the same ID of the other, and slide it over and epoxy it... You pretty much have to destroy another rod butt though, to get a piece to use as the actual extention. But not neccisarily, if you could find the material.

Does that make sense?
Perfectly. I have a rod that is broke and appears to have similar OD before going into the real seat so it may be perfect use. I saved it for the guides was planning to maybe build a rod one day. Thanks for the idea on how to do it.

Polaris425

Ok EVA handle is on & drying. I will say that if you take on this repair yourself, know that you are going to have to ream out the inside of the handle to fit the blank, especially on larger rods. This handle I ordered claimed .5" OD but this blank must have been 5/8" b/c I had to ream it a little. So you will need to buy a reamer or do it with hand file. Which would be lengthy but should result in success. Unless you have a smaller diameter blank and you would be fine. You can order handles with different ID's.

Anyway, the handle of this rod was 9.5" long & the EVA was only 9" so I'll have to trim a little of the blank but that's fine b/c it's going to my nephew anyway.




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Building Rods, & Snatchin' Lips.

Polaris425

Done. Trimmed the excess handle off, and put the cap on. This was a pretty easy job. I don't think I'd hesitate to do it again if needed.
Fishin' Alabama
Building Rods, & Snatchin' Lips.