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Posts: 897
| So, over the past few years I've had the cork break off on a number of rods, always right at the butt where the blank stops. Got me thinking about maybe putting some tape on the rod. Possibly something like hockey tape or tennis racket tape. I don't think hockey tape would work because there are days when I fish without a shirt and hockey tape is abrasive. I used to play a bit of tennis, but I haven't re-taped a racket in a while so I can't remember if that stuff gets real slippery when you get sweaty.
Anyone have suggestions as to what kind of tape to put on my rods?
Also, I was gonna try out one of the rod balancers on the market this season. Do you need to tape those on to keep them in place? Would just putting a rod balancer on there be enough to protect the cork?
Anyone ever use a racket ball on the end of their rod? Kinda like how a bat or hockey stick has a knob on the end of it.
I know, lots of questions, just been thinking about this a bit this morning. |
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Posts: 336
Location: Wheeling, IL. |
The rod balancer's from Bass pro are great, less than 10.00. Just slides on most Butts.
I did have one Butt Crumble while putting the balance on. Took it Corens Rod & Reel Repair in Chicago. Said it was due to a bad gluing of the original cork. He re-corked it for less than 10.00 and works great.
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Posts: 375
| after trying many things, i have settled on using rubber chair leg tips. found in most any home depot or building supply outlet. my rods have 1 1/2" thick syncork handles and i found the 1 1/4" diameter chair tips stretch nicely over the butt end. things i have learned using these are...drill a 1/4" hole up thru the end of the rods butt cap so you can see right up into the bottom end of the blank...take a large thick nail maybe 3-4" long and center the head in the bottom of the chair tip and place just enough 1 hour 2 part epoxy in the bottom of the chair tip just so it barely covers the nail head and let that dry hard while of course keeping it centered while drying. next coat the inside walls of the chair tip with the epoxy and force a few ounces of the epoxy into the end of the blank, don't skimp here, thru the hole you drilled in the center of the rod butt end ...then slowly work the chair tip onto the butt until it hits bottom and is straight...any excess epoxy should work its' way up into the blank which is what you want...stand the rod straight up somewhere with the butt on the ground and that couple of ounces of epoxy that you forced into the blank will now slowly run back down inside into the very bottom of the blank and also into any small space in the bottom of the chair tip that might have been left over...let this set up for a couple days to fully cure inside and you have very inexpensive, decent looking, heavy duty, much-more-rigid-with-the-nail-up-inside rod butt end. you could also melt down pre-measured amount of lead and pour it directly into the chair tip (don't worry it won't melt it) before you put it onto the rod butt and you have your rod balanced too at the same time...
Edited by STUSHSKY 2/4/2010 12:19 PM
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Posts: 162
Location: Bemidji, MN | I don't know where you are at, but I do rod repairs, and could put a new end on it for you. Either cork again, or a rubber cap, and shape it however you want. I am in Bemidji MN. If you are not near me, just find any custom rod builder and they will hook you up. It's a pretty easy repair, so it should be pretty reasonable. |
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| I put a rubber cap that is available at Home Depot. I also wrap all my rods with hockey tape. It is gummy for the first two days of use, and then has a rough texture to it. I like the rough texture because I can hold the rod looser without slipping. My hands and arms are less fatigued this way.
Brian
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