Getting ferrules together?

How do you clean and fit nickel silver ferrules? I just acquired an Orvis Impregnated Madison 7.5' 2pc 6wt. It is in excellent condition; finish is good, wraps are tight, except for the ferrules only go together about 1/4". The ferrules, winding check and line guides look as if the rod was in a damp basement for some time. It came in a rod bag and aluminum tube, but you know that familiar musty odor, right? Unmistakable.

I need some suggestions as to how to clean this rod up as I think it's going to see some service!

Thanks, Jim

It probably just has oxidation on the ferrules. Clean the males carefully with a soft cotton cloth and alcohol. The females will need a toothpick with the cloth around it. Don't get the alcohol on the varnished wraps...

Cane

Thanks canefisher, I appreciate your reply and assistance. I'll try the alcohol and hope for the best.

Jim

Jim:

IF the alcohol doesn't work try a high quality cream silver polish like Maas or Simachrome, available at better hardware stores on the male portion only. Before going this route; put a little masking or plastic tape around and over the blued portion of the ferrule so you don't inadvertently rub any off.

Don't go crazy and polish it for an hour, just put some on your fingers and twist the ferrule around a bit, polish off the excess and then try the fit. Re-polish if necessary. Cream silver polish is very gentle and will remove the oxidation and smooth any pitting that also may have occurred. A jeweler's polishing cloth also will work if you know a jeweler who will let you borrow one for a half a second.

If they fit properly before they should fit properly again but too aggressive a cleaning with anything beyond polish may get you loose ferrules. In other words you shouldn't need to go to steel wool or 2000 grit sandpaper.

Also avoid using a lubricant to get them to fit; NS ferrules don't require any lubrication despite how many times you read about rubbing them along the side of the nose. Once they fit the way they should just keep them clean & dry.

The BEST news of all is, if all is lost for some reason; Orvis charges an extremely reasonable price to replace them.

Good luck!

Jim;
The first thing to do is make sure it's dried out from it's stay in the basement. Leave it out of the case and sock in the driest part of the house ou can find for a week or so, then clean the ferrules and try the fit. If it's still too tight then do the things the other guys have said. I do the final fitting on my ferrules with 2,000 grit wet/dry, you could use strips of that to tune the fit on yours.
john

Jim,

All very good advice here. I'll add this to the lot, just in case you go too far and they end up a bit too loose. They CAN be made tighter.

I've sent a rod into Dave LeClaire and had him replate a ferrule I took down too aggressively.

He did a great job for very small fee.... Just something to keep in mind And it might ward off a potential headache.

Jeremy.

Thanks for all the great advice; I cleaned them with alcohol, used cream silver polish and, voila!

The "odor" is gone after leaving it sit out several days and I was informed that that is a typical Orvis impregnation odor.


Jim