Bent Edwards Quad Ferrule

[dleo6446]

I would love some opinions on what could have caused this.



this is a restored 7', 3piece Edwards quad that was sold to a fellow and he emailed me and told me that the rod had broken at the ferrule on an 8" rainbow trout. I told him to return it to me and if it was in the build, I would make it right for him. It certainly isn't broken but what a bend in a ferrule. I have suspicions and have solicited input from some people whose opinion I value very highly. Have any of you seen anything like this before? The only other one I have seen like this was a rod that was stuck together and was bent trying to separate the sections. Would love to hear from some of you other builders on this one!

[This message has been edited by dleo6446 (edited 20 June 2005).]

[This message has been edited by dleo6446 (edited 20 June 2005).]

[LadyFisher]

How sad. This was not a rod failure, it looks like the rod was not properly assembled, that is, put together straight on, and either was not fully seated and the person attempted to fish it that way, or in
taking it apart torked it. This was not the fault of an 8 in. rainbow (which by the way is a huge fish in Japan.)

If you decide to return any of his money, I would deduct for the damage and the cost of replacing the ferrule, plus your shipping costs. It did not get to him in that condition, and whatever happened it was 'his' fault, not yours.



------------------
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

[CTCaneman]

It looks like the male ferrule. The bamboo should be seated all the way into the ferrule. My guess, is the rod was previously broken at the ferule, when repaired only enough bamboo pushed into the male ferrule to hold it together. Thus creating a hollow tube which would bend under a lot less stress than a hollow tube filled with bamboo. Take it apart and let us know what you find. Is the tip say 1/4" shorter than the butt?

Pete

It looks like a stress failure to me. I think the cause was that the male was not fully seated, with about 1/4" extended. Being a step down ferrule, the male slide looks to be 1/32" skinnier than the male shoulder or the female. When the rod was cast, the skinny part flexed, and this caused a concentrated stress at the lip of the female, where the flexing abruptly stopped. It's sort of like flexing a thin piece of metal until it weakens and breaks. I think the break would have happened quite soon, even if there was no fish. I can't tell from the photo if the metal ruptured. If it did, examine the surface of the break. If it looks grainy, you almost certainly have a stress failure. If it's bright, I would suspect a sudden trauma.
Other things, like excessive heat at some time might contribute, If the rod is a typical Edwards Quad powerhouse, the stiff taper may have helped concentrate the stress at the weak point.
I would get the ferrule off carefully in sections and examine the cane and the metal, just to satisfy my curiousity.

[dleo6446]

Thanks for the input...a little further information.

the ferrules were made by a very well known machinist that is credited with the creation of various designs of rod making tools, reelseats, rings etc and is highly recognized in the bamboo and rod building industry as an expert. I trust his work and the quality of the products I get form him. Too, the bamboo was completely seated in the ferrule because I built it and turned the new ferrule stations myself, I too am fairly accomplished in machining and rodbuilding. As I removed the ferrule, the bamboo in the bent section of the ferrule was broken and a portion of it stayed in the end of the ferrule. I am now convinced that he had the rod in some sort of a situation that put stress on the ferrule that would be perpendicular to the ferrule and that is what caused the damage. I would also say that I am going to repair it for him for the cost of the scarfing, and the ferrule alone. This is far too nice a rod, though, to be handled by someone that could cause this kind of damage.

[This message has been edited by dleo6446 (edited 21 June 2005).]

[dleo6446]

good thoughts Tom, I took a close look at the ferrule before I took it apart and could see no signs of any stress as a result of a typical flexing action stress or fatigue failure. there is a short area on the inside of the radius of the bend that looks almost polished with a few very light scratches on it that appears to be the result of the ferrule bending against the inside of the female ferrule and the female ferrule is distorted in that same direction. That almost tells me that the rod was bent fairly hard in that direction and that is what caused the damage. fortunately, the bamboo is not damaged, other than the loss of the end of the station which will be a fairly easy scarf.

[dleo6446]

JC and Ladyfisher, I appreciate your thoughts on this too, there is doubt in my mind that this damage was caused by an 8" rainbow. I agree with you that it was mishandeling of the equipment and it is a pity, this is such a great old piece from one of the original masters....

[jchanner]

Leo;
Looks like it got stepped on to me. You said you seated the ferrule fully on the bamboo, I can't imagine just casting would have caused this, there has to be a foot behind it.
john

[dleo6446]

I agree John, something put undue stress on the ferrule in the wrong direction, but it sure wasn't me that did it. Dave LeClair agrees that it wasn't the fault of the ferrule or the bamboo failing that caused this sad damage. Something (foot, tree, falling) and not having the rod completely assembled caused this.

[AgMD]

Might have had an encounter w/ a car door. Lots of force was applied here, and something must have suported the metal on the outer portion of the bend , both above and below the bend while a single point of force was applied to the inside of the bend. I bet you could replicate this, roughly, by placing a ferrule or cheap copper tube at right angles to a "V" groove while a blunt "knife edge" was forced into the groove.
AgMD