busted flippin' stick...fix?

[ebcbob]

Hey all you rod builders. How hard is it to find/match a blank that will seat in the handle part of a telescoping rod handle? The handle is fine, busted the other part. I am considering (if I can find a 6 to 7 foot blank) to rebuild the rod. How much of the extending rod needs to stay in the handle portion? I figure about 4"?

 

[Mattman]

It could be pretty difficult. You really want a matching taper.

So, you blank is broken in a section that acutally goes inside the handle? Breaks low on the blank are easy to fix, but if it is in the telescoping section, and you want to keep the telescoping feature, you're pretty much out of luck.

What brand rod is it?

Its been a long time since I've built a telescoping rod. Most of my customers are really looking to cut weight and opt for single piece blanks. But, when I'm doing repairs and/or building my own ferrules, my rule of thumb is the two blanks should overlap 6 times the diameter.

 

[ebcbob]

I thought if I even got close to the correct taper (hoping the butt end would error bigger) I could sand it down so that it would seat. Checking the end of the handle portion.....it's .488 dia. and at 4" down it's .512 dia. I was thinking of calling Jann's Net Craft and talk to a tech. advisor and see if he could find a blank that was close to that taper. I agree one pc. blanks are lighter, but in our small boat circuit, being able to shorten a rod can be a plus. If I can find a blank, all I need to do is wrap some guides and I am good to go again.

 

[Mattman]

I thought if I even got close to the correct taper (hoping the butt end would error bigger) I could sand it down so that it would seat.

That would be bad. You should never sand into the graphite fibers. Once you do that you greatly increase the chances for breakage.