How To Replace The Butt Section Of A Rod?

[TMF89]

I just bought three Cabela's King Kat casting rods, and was wondering how easy/difficult it would be to replace the foam at the butt of the rod with cork. Just like the look/feel of it better. I have a buddy who either has or knows someone with pretty much any kind of rod-making equipment/material. He just doesn't know how to do this particular job, and I'm wondering how hard it would be to explain it to him and get it done. Thanks guys!

[Eric_Kruger]

normally to replace Handle the whole rod has to be stripped.

[upnorth]

Best way to do it is remove the guides and slide it down from the top. But it can be done by making the hole large enough to slide on from the bottom. You would need to build up tape bushings/arbors for the cork to fit snug. It is not the best way, but it does work. If you do decide to go that route make sure that the tape is completely sealed with the glue/epoxy to keep it from getting wet in any way.

[bemidjibasser]

Drywall tape works better than masking tape. The mesh properties of it allow the epoxy to penetrate and make contact with the blank as well as the material that you want to adhere to the blank.

[upnorth]

I am going to be honest I have tried the drywall tape and it seems to work well, but I wind up with such a mess it takes a half a roll of paper towel and half a bottle of rubbing alcohol to clean it up.

If done properly and I repeat properly masking tape will hold up. If you cheap out on the epoxy and not seal that tape it will fail for sure. I have a Steelhead rod I built back in the early 80s with tape arbors for the reel seat, and has held up fine. And believe me that thing has bee put through hell

[A.W.Wolfram]

I am going to side with upnorth on this. I also have used Drywall glass tape as shins and arbors. It can be a messy ordeal. IMO it tends not to produce a stable platform. No matter how tight you wrap it on it seams that you can move it around and manipulate it. This leaves me questioning if my finished product will want to stay centered during cure. The other issue I have with it is if you shim up a seat and your shim sits 3/16” or more off the blank you really can’t see the blank thru the mesh. To me I don’t see how you could feel confident that you have %100 adhesion.

When building new I use foam or graphite shims. There is no substitute for the symmetrical and light weight shim and for $1.30 they are hard to beat.

Masking tape has it place. When doing reverse handle/RS builds on repairs it’s my go to method. The most important thing to stress when describing a masking tape arbor is that the tape is only there to hold center and provide a bridge for the epoxy. So in other words the tape a temporary frame work that is in place until the epoxy sets up. After your frame work is set put as much epoxy as you can in the voids. Lately I have been using a lot of 5 and 15 minuet epoxies but when it comes to tape arbors I still prefer 24 hour vertical epoxy. I feel this gives ample time for the epoxy to flow and fill the voids evenly.

[bemidjibasser]

I don't use regular epoxy when building rods. I use Rod Bond for bonding all parts to the blank. It has the consistency of peanut butter when the two parts are mixed. It's really not messy at all, and stays put when applied to the parts...so for me, the mesh tape works well. To each their own...

[A.W.Wolfram]

To clarify when I use the term epoxy I’m referring to rod building epoxy.

The 5 and 15 I use is Rod Dancer Ultimate and the 24 hour is Classic rod coat.

All are paste type adhesives.

If you have a system that works for you use it. IMO there is no right or wrong way to build your own fishing rod. It’s always a process of doing learning and improving. I thing if I quit learning from my mistakes or did not try new things I would probably quit building.

You will find that there is OVER abundance of opinions in the rod building community. And on the other hand there lots of ways to come to the same conclusion. In the end most of them will catch fish.

Sometimes people get bent out of shape over the littlest things. Take “Spine” for example.

Is it Ok to build on the spine? Will a rod built on the spine catch fish? Cast your lure or bait?

I have been doing this for 22 years now. I still have fun doing it. I enjoy it just as much if not more then when I started. I love the influx of new ideas from the new comers to the craft as well as the timeless craftsmanship of the old dogs.

[rushing]

Yoda taught you well, Andy