Snapped Rod

[Nolongeramember]

Ive broken my 2 piece Daiwa Heartland 2-4kg rod about halfway down from the tip. This is an old favourite rod of mine and cannot be purchased anymore or even found second hand anywhere.

I want to know if there is any chance of getting this sucessfully repaired or just forget the whole rod and throw it?

Thanks...

[Paikea]

You could probably remove the runners down to the break and then try to find a piece of another rod with an inside diameter that will fit over the break for say100mm either side. Use epoxy to glue the piece over the break and reattach the runners. Make sure that you completely fill the space between the original rod and the new piece with epoxy. probably the easiest way to do that will be to wrap masking tape around the rod at the bottom of the new piece to act as a dam to stop the epoxy running out. Should also be as tight a fit as you can get.

Tackle stores who do repairs etc will often have pieces of rods lying around and should not mind giving one to you.

It won't look pretty and you may have to reposition the runners to better follow what will be a stiffer curve at the break but hey, if you love the rod, why not have a go!

In an earlier post I mentioned that my first wife sawed halfway through my home made Rangoon rod after an argument. I wrapped fibreglass cloth around the area, saturated it with resin and fished with that rod for many more years.

Cheers

Paikea

[rockfisherman]

You'll never get it back to its former glory.

Rather than spend money trying to do what ever, put it toward a new rod. There's so many options available. $100 will get you something decent.

Harry

[ginko]

A new one may be cheaper, but it won't be the old rod.

Another option on repairs: see if you can find an extendable rod from which one of the sections matches the broken parts of the rod, i.e. that the inside diameter of the extendable's section matches the outside of the broken rod. Saw out the appropriate section of the extendable to make a "cuff" that fits tightly over the broken section and epoxy, and then take some whipping twine and do a very meticulous job to whip the ends of the sawn extendable's "cuff" so that the stress of the rod does not splinter the cuff, and finally, epoxy over the whipping. A tip for better whipping is to carefully insert the rod section into a hand-drill, and then have a friend operate the drill to spin the rod as you feed on the twine. it's much better than doing it by hand.

I did this to my heavy beach rod on which I'd broken the tip... after several months, so far so good, although I've yet to land a really serious fish on the repaired tip.

[Jewhunter]

Contact Daiwa directly.

The Heartland was a very popular rod & they just might have a top section in stock.

Most of the larger companies keep extra spares of the vulnerable pieces.

It can't hurt to ask.

Cheers,

Grant.

[abecedarian]

If you do attempt to repair the rod with a piece from another make sure you use a lower modulus graphite than the original rod. If you use the same modulus graphite for the repair you'll get a section that won't bend evenly where it's repaired. Using a lower modulus graphite section for the repair will preserve the action as much as possible.

[Nolongeramember]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Im going to give it a go at repairing and check Daiwa aswell. Nothing to lose I suppose. I have a few old broken rods so I should be able to find something to fit. I think Ill put the joining piece on the inside, that way you wont see it at all.

Its a shame they dont make nice simple, basic 2-4kg rods like this anymore with the clear see through graphite, non split butt cork grip that is decent thinkness you can hold properly, 2 piece etc.

[Paikea]

I learnt something new from Ginkgo's suggestion, good idea!

Cheers

Paikea

[Linc]

If you have any trouble with the repair I've repaired quite a few rods and made a fair few from scratch so I have all the equipment and epoxies etc. After attaching the sleeve you will also want to bind over the whole section and apply a few coats of rod finish to give it extra strength around the joints.

Does the rod have much bend at the broken section? If the bend is minimal there then your rod will be almost as good as new, but if it has a lot of bend in that area it will never be the same and might just break again just above the joint on the next big fish you hook onto.