I finally got my ferrules from Jann’s to put on a blank piece of rod to make my “banty” with. Only problem is that one female ferrule is too big and the other is too small. Are all ferrules the same size for the designated size? Or would another brand of ferrule have a tighter fit? Should I just attach the blank piece of rod with the reel seat to the larger ferrule and then enlarge the male ferrule on the mid piece to fit with epoxy or something?
I’m not exactly certain that I understand your question but I’ll tell you what I know about ferrule fit. First off, there probably will be some variability in sizes between manufacturers so make sure you use the same brand for both male and female. The male typically comes oversized and must be “lapped” or sanded down to fit using very fine files or sandpaper (400 and 600 and 1000 should do it). I hope this helps.
Bill O.
Bill is 100% right on the ferrules needing lapped, but that is if they are nickel silver. The ones you got from Jann’s I believe are plated brass.
I think what you probably need to do is to match the ferrules with some take offs from the same type of rod. It will be almost impossible to find another maker’s ferruls that will fit yours. Your other option is to buy two sets and change yours out.
From my meager experience,
Ferrules should be bought in pairs. This way they will fit one to the other. If one side is broken, replace both ferrules in the set.
They come in metric or american sizes for the fit to the rod blank.
If the ferrule is too small to fit on the rod, don’t use it. If its too big then you can put a wrap of thread under it to fill up the space.
Hope this helps.
jed
I’m sorry I didn’t make my question clear - I have a 3 pc rod that I would like to make into a banty with a minimum of destruction to the old rod - I was hoping to be able to find a female ferrule that would fit the existing male on the mid section, so I could just fit that onto a piece of scrap on which I could mount a new grip and seat - then just mate the two together without having to mount any new ferrules. Is there a way I could fill the space on the old male ferrule so that I could use a new, bigger ferrule on the scrap piece?
Ferrules need to fit perfectly, tolerances in the 1/10,00 in range. Each manufactor has slight differences for particular size. Brand new nickle silver ferrule sets are designed with the male ferrule slightly oversized so it can be hand lapped to a perfect fit during assembly. Plated brass ferrules cannot be lapped since the plating would be damaged in the proccess. If your ferrules cost less than $30/pair they are most likely plated brass, not solid nickle silver.
To make a banty rod as you have suggested you will need to find a perfect match, or buy 2 pairs of ferrules and replace the old mid to butt set so it matches the new handle exactly.
One option would be to take the rod (or mail the rod) to a supplier and see if they can provide a perfect match. Rick’s Rods of Denver stocks a lot of older ferrules and would probaly be willing to do this for you… It is really hard to find a perfect match, I ended up replacing the ferrules on my banty project.
My apologies too herefishy, as I am not so sure that I really understand what you are tying to do to get he desired end result.
Well, I think the answer to your question is no!
If you are going to use a piece of scrap to make a handle for the banty, and I do this often, I would find a ferrule that mates exactly to the male on the mid section.
on the cork grip and seat that you can see in the picture, that consists of a section from a discarded bamboo butt section that measures around 9 inches long. I fitted a ferrule to the smaller end of it that matched the male on the mid that I was going to use, then put the seat and grip on it so that the end of the ferrule is flush with the end of the grip.
I am not quite sure what you mean by “Is there a way I could fill the space on the old male ferrule so that I could use a new, bigger ferrule on the scrap piece?” if you are talking about filling the space on the inside of the female ferrule so that the male would fit it, I think you would be wasting your time. If you are talking about filling the void of a larger male ferrule between the ferrule and the bamboo, that can be done but I wouldn’t trust the integrity of it over a long period of time.
OK, thanks for the replies - I think what I will do is try to put like tape, or epoxy or something, on the male ferrule of the mid section, and see if I can mate that to the larger female on a scrap piece, and if I can’t get a secure connection, I can still chop the old butt section that has a perfectly fitting female ferrule - I don’t really need that old butt, as I will never fish the rod as a 3 pc.
dleo said, “Your other option is to buy two sets and change yours out.”
Go with that one. A second set from Netcraft will only cost you $2-3 dollars. And you will have a rod that you can use both ways.
Of course, if you personally are not ever going to use the butt section of the old rod, take the female ferrule off of that and fit it on the scrap piece you are using as a base for the new grip. Save that old butt section just in case you or anyone else ever wants to restore the original rod. Remember, at this point, you do not even know if the “shorty” will perform.
Most of us are just pleading for you not to start cutting up that butt section. Once it is cut up, the integrity of the original rod is lost and no one can restore it. Whereas, if you have all the pieces intact, your surgery will be easy to reverse.
How much of a difference is there? If it’s large difference, then you possibly have the wrong size female ferrule. If it’s just slightly off, have you tried some wax on the male?
Good news - I put a small bit of “Knot sense” on the male end and it tightened it enough for the larger female to fit fairly tight, so I’ll just find a rough piece to mount that female on and I should be set without chopping up the old butt. If it loosens up later, I can add a little more knot sense on the fly - that’s great stuff! I use it for mending my garden hose, sewer hose on the RV, and lots of stuff.
You might get luck and find some tubing that fits. Go to a hobby store where they stock 16" sections of brass and alum. tubing and see if you can find a fit. If you own a drill press you might be able to drill out some tubing that a little under sized. Note: mount the tubing in the drill chuck and place the bit in a vice, this makes it self centering.
I’m not sure the masking tape or epoxy will be strong enough and it might gum up the works so you couldn’t seperate the handle. If you are looking for ‘shim’ material I would try the metal tape sold for sealing air ducts (Home Depot) or some thin sheets of brass sold as shim stock (hobby store)
If you find a fit thats close, you can compress a female tube/ferrule a few 1/1000" using a pipe cutter. Remove the cutting wheel and replace it with a smooth metal bushing. Place the rollers on the ferrule and run the cutter round and round while slowly tightening the handle.
By the way, if you trash the old butt section to get the ferrule you have no reason to make the handle removable. Why not just mount the handle in the conventional way. Then you will end up with a two piece rod where both sections are the same length and fit onto a rod sock and tube more easily.
Kengore, I was going to do that, but when somebody suggested the handle on a separate piece, I thought it would be because mounting it on the mid section would make it another 10 inches or so shorter - would that make it stiffer, lighter, or both? Also the folks that have chimed in about me chopping up the butt section would be equally horrified about altering the mid section, but that is a thought.
By the way, I have been meaning to ask - this rod has marks across the rod - parallel straight lines like you might make by gripping the rod in a tool of something, but they are on the entire butt and mid section, here and there - any ideas what could cause that?
Shorter usually means stiffer,although I’m not sure that 10" will make a huge difference. At least not at much a difference as changing the rod from 3pc to 2pc.
It’s easy enough to test it as a 2pc. wrap a little plastic wrap over the end of the mid section (to protect it) and make a temporary handle/reel seat by wrapping layers of masking tape and cardboard. Tape on your favorite reel and do a little lawn casting.
One of my banty projects turned out nice and pretty, but I soon found I had little use for a 6ft 2pc 6wt rod. Wish I had test casted the rod prior to all the work.
I did test cast it, put the reel in my pocket and just held the rod - it seemed like it might be OK with a 4 wt line - guess I’ll just have to try it. Can I get 2 ton epoxy to come loose if I give up on it and want to use the handle elsewhere?
It worked! I got a short piece of rod and mounted the handle on it, and just came in from casting it - it feels nice and light with a 4 wt line and flings it pretty easy - now to catch a fish.
I love it when a plan comes together. 