D.I.Y. Rod Repair

[The Lip RIPPERS]

Here's the first in a series of repair threads I will post on effecting your own rod repairs. The first one is guide replacement....if you can tie a jig, you can replace a rod guide. We will start by removing the guide.

Hold the rod and lay your knife blabe {a thin blade works best} Parallel to the plane of the blank, or flat to the blank. Carefully cut into the the coating and slice all the way back to the foot of the guide. Pics a little blurry, but you can see the blade under the wrapping.

After reversing the rod and cutting the other side off, notice how some epoxy is left on the blank....a dull knife at this point works good and it should pop right off. Sand the area lightly with 100 grit paper and it's ready to re-wrap. In the next segment we will see how to attatch and thread wrap the new guide on.

[Gamblinman]

Excellent Leland!!

Here's another one that will make the archives!!

[cricket george]

Yes, I agree Gman. Way to go Leland!! keep it going.:D

[The Lip RIPPERS]

OK, now we are ready to wrap on our new guide, I've selected contrasting colors to help aid visually but my photo ability is hampered needing 3 hands.
Step #1, What you need....Scissors, exacto-knife, thread, tie-off loop, make yourself.


Next we will start our wrap, loop the thread around blank 2 or 3 turns while keeping the distance you want from the guide.

Now hold the tag end with your free hand, and rotate the rod to make an "X" with the thread, trap it with your index finger and come around 1 more turn and it should cross and hold itself at this point.

Now go another 3 to 6 turns more and snip the tag end off with your scissors.


Now you can continue to wrap up and over the guide foot stopping around 4 to 6 turns to insert your tie-off loop underneath the main wrap.

It's a good idea to posistion the tie-off loop @ 90 degrees opposite of the guide, then wrap over the tie-off loop up to the base of the guide frame and hold your index finger on top of the wrap to hold it down and snip off your main thread about 3", then take the loose end and insert it into the tie-off loop....slowly pull it under the wrap in one motion.


Now your ready to snip off the tag end flush to your main wrap, pull it snug and slice / snip the thread and now your guide wrap is complete.

Take the round smooth handle on your exacto knife and "burnish" tighten and smooth your wrap to fill any gaps in the wrap.

And the re-wrapped guide is now ready to align and add finish coat.

[dedawg1149]

excellent post and nice tutorial

[Stinkfinger]

Excellent information Leland, thanks for sharing. I do have a question;

Why wouldn't a person want to continue the wrap on past the eyelet? In other words, extend the base of the thread wrap until its even with the loop of the eyelet up above? I've never attempted to repair a broken rod as you are instructing so I am fairly dumb about all of this.

I suspect your reply will be along the lines of; "It wouldn't hurt anything to go past the eyelet, but it doesn't help anything either."

Thanks again,

[The Lip RIPPERS]

Excellent information Leland, thanks for sharing. I do have a question;

Why wouldn't a person want to continue the wrap on past the eyelet? In other words, extend the base of the thread wrap until its even with the loop of the eyelet up above? I've never attempted to repair a broken rod as you are instructing so I am fairly dumb about all of this.

I suspect your reply will be along the lines of; "It wouldn't hurt anything to go past the eyelet, but it doesn't help anything either."

Thanks again,

The length of the guide foot is all thats required to hold it in place, and when your epoxy is applied it runs under the front of the foot, thus cementing it in place. The single leg design flexes when loaded and takes some of the shock load off the rod blank.

[grizmck]

Hey Lip, I've got a few rods that have the tip guide broken off. Since B&B closed up I haven't been able to find a place to buy rod tips in single, measureable sizes. Any suggestions? Thanks, Griz

[The Lip RIPPERS]

Hey Lip, I've got a few rods that have the tip guide broken off. Since B&B closed up I haven't been able to find a place to buy rod tips in single, measureable sizes. Any suggestions? Thanks, Griz

That's a question I get more than any other, If the manufacturer can be contacted it's your best bet. If thats a wash try for warranty replacement from the retailer. Your only other option is to fit tips from other rods. For this reason I try not to build on 2pc. blanks unless they are cataloged, if not I tell folks up front they are a closeout rod model.

[The Lip RIPPERS]

OK, we have our guide wrapped and aligned on our rod. It's time to finish coat the guide, Most builders all use Flex Coat, but you must turn the rod on a low RPM motor while the rod cures. Here's what you can use for a quickie coat that works just fine....clear hard as nails fingernail polish, or go to Wally-World and get a syringe kit of 5 minute Devcon brand epoxy, for 1 guide this works great. Another good 1 part finish is U-40 Perma-Gloss 1oz. bottle around $6.50 and will do 25 guides at least, and dries in about 20 minutes @ 65 degrees, usable the next day.
We are using flex coat in this demo but the method of application applies equally no matter what you choose.

Find a plastic lid and cover it with foil, {protcts the epoxy from contamination and allows bubbles to release} Mix your epoxy in a cup and pour out onto the foil.

Tightbrush the epoxy onto the thread wrap in a thin coat { this will allow trapped air in the threads to release} and penetrate to the blank.

You can see the epoxy bulging slightly at this point and a couple of bubbles surfacing.

Next take a propane torch or hair drier and sweep back & forth over the wrap as you turn it, not close!!! Were not heating it....just popping the bubbles and leveling out the coat.

And there's your epoxy coated repair curing out while rotating to keep it even until it sets {Flexcoat takes about 2 1/2 hours to set} The 5 minute devcon probably only 15 minutes. It depends on your set up. In our next segment I will show you how to set up an inexpensive wrapping jig.