[Hairline Fracture on rod blank]

On 3/11/2023 at 12:59 PM, Tinkicka said:

I've been building rods for a few years so this answer comes from a bit of experience.

IMHO rod blank manufacturers should take a bit of the blame for this because they don't put a warning in with the blank that says DO NOT PUT PIECES TOGETHER UNTIL FERRULES HAVE BEEN WRAPPED. The person who mentored me in the early days of my rod building journey drummed this into my head from day one. He had seen a number of expensive rod blanks crack at unwrapped ferrules, even before thinking about how to build the rod.

Looking at your pictures, you have a full thickness crack, not a hairline crack and it is quite long.

Now that you have a crack in the blank, it represents a weak spot and will always be a weak spot, as long at it remains in the blank. You can repair cracks, about 10mm is the longest that you would want to consider. It will take some time and requires a bit of skill. The problem is that with any repair, the crack remains and will continue to grow, initially at a microscopic level, every time you put the rod together and use it. The process used to manufacture CF rod blanks results in the ferrule being the place where the most stress is concentrated when the rod is loaded and used. That stress looks for the path of least resistance (the crack) and it will eventually result in the rod failing, most likely when you have a PB fish hooked and it is fighting like mad.

The second way to deal with the crack is to cut blank to remove the section containing the crack. You will have to cut longer than the crack to ensure that you get rid of it. This results in two problems. The first is that because this is a female ferrule, you will have to resize the interior dimension to accept the male section that slots into it. This is normally done at the factory during manufacturing to ensure that all pieces in the blank fit together snugly. You can do this but is fiddly and requires a few specialised tools. The second problem is that by removing a section of the blank you will change the action of the rod. It is unlikely to be a problem given the diameter of your blank, but in something like a fly rod, the change can be noticeable. Removing a section is also a bit fiddly and requires some care so as not to introduce any further cracks.

Some blank manufacturers offer replacement sections, you would have to make contact with them to see if they do with this blank. Some fly rod manufacturers will take a complete rod back (not just the broken section) and craft a new section to suit the rod ( you may have to pay $$ for this depending upon their warranty) and they then return the rod to you to reattach the necessary hardware to use it again.

Having had a look at your pictures again, it appears that this is quite a long full thickness crack and a repair would not be viable for the reasons above. Your best course of action from here would be to contact the manufacturer and see if a new section is available.

It's not a simple answer unfortunately.

Tinkicka

Thanks so much for your words from experience, you were right it is a full thickness fracture, I swear it was much thinner when I first heard the crack. The image didn't show it completely but it was the male ferrule that was cracked. Also about all the skill that would be needed to fix this, I think I'll be better off using this as an excuse and buy a new surf rod while scavenging for anyone who would sell the top piece for me haha. 

 

On 3/12/2023 at 9:57 AM, 2sheds said:

Hi Xuanhong2..... Tinkicka raises some valid points in that any repairs may ultimately fail however from what I can see it is the male portion of the ferrule which has cracked not the female.  You have nothing to lose by attempting a repair because to purchase a replacement for the damaged section will likely cost as much as a totally new rod.  I am assuming the warranty period has expired.   I would simply glue a short length of dowel inside the damaged ferrule using a good quality epoxy.  Take care not to force fit the dowel otherwise it will cause the crack to widen and then not allow the male ferrule to fit into the female ferrule after your repair is complete.  You could fashion the dowel from cutting up an old no-good fishing rod.  Don't make the dowel too long or it won't allow the rod to bend as designed.  Good luck with it, the repair could last 10 minutes or ten years.

My 2c......Twosheds

Thanks for your 2c, I'll probably give this a try and fail horribly and then scramble for a new light surf rod!

 

 

On 3/12/2023 at 10:53 AM, Rebel said:

Ring Shimano at Taren Pt. They are very good, & ask them for advice.

Good Luck.

I sent them an email and they got back to me that there wasn't enough demand to create spare rod pieces. Oh wells 😕

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