Question about ferrules

[kengore]

I'm kind of new to the rod building world but I will try and make a guess as to why ferrules are different in graphite and cane...

On graphite rods the ferrule is built into the blank by adjusting the size of the mandrel on which it is built. When the male ferrule is part of the butt end the mandrel is a continous taper, thick at one end thin on the other. The mandrel is wrapped with graphite and cured in an oven. The finished blank is then slipped off the tapered mandrel. If the female ferrule was on the butt section the mandrel would need to swell near the jointed connection, this bulge would prevent you from removing the finished blank.

On cane rods, in particular ones with step down ferrules, you need to remove some of the cane to fit the inside diameter (I.D.) of the nickel silver ferrule. For an SD ferrule the I.D. of the male is slightly smaller than the I.D. of the female end. By placing the male on the tip side less material needs to be removed, since the tip end is slightly smaller than the butt end. Some modern super Z style ferrules are the same I.D. on both male and female ends, I suppose it wouldn't matter which direction they were installed.