I recently got back from a fishing trip and in the middle my rod was stuck. Nickel silver ferrules wouldn’t give…my buddy and pulled the rod apart and it looked dirty…needless to say I put the rod away until I could get home and clean her properly… I try to keep my rods as clean as possible and upon cleaning found 3 symetrical scratches 120 degrees from each other on the male ferrule.
Suggestions on repairing this??? Needless to say I’m P…
I assume the ferrule was too tight before this happened.
1000 grit emory cloth may polish it up a bit. Keep checking to make sure you’re not taking off too much.
1000 grit black abrasive paper, wet, by hand, and very very slow. Then lube the joints. I think JC did a comment about lubing metal ferrules a couple of years ago. Maybe a search would help. JC could help the most.
cholcomb13 :
Scratches will usually have slightly higher raised sides on them due to the gouging of metal. This displaced metal will often times makes the ferrule fit even tighter.
If you do ANYTHING; just polish the ferrule right at the scratch to remove this extra metal. First I would try 0000 steel wool, 1000 or higher grit sand paper or the hardest sharpening stone you can find. I use a [url=http://www.lansky.com/products/hones/S2000.html:67882]Lansky Sapphire[/url:67882] stone myself followed by cream polish. Don’t try and remove the scratches completely; you MAY be sorry if you do. Any attempt to polish out the entire scratch MAY result in loosening the fit of the ferrule which means it will need to be replaced sooner rather than later.
The correct suction fit of a nickle silver ferrule means the rod should join and be able to be un-joined WITHOUT resorting to drastic measures. If the fit is too tight; (and in the summer you may find out what tight really is :shock:); you could do a lot worse; like break a rod. I’ve seen it happen more than once to other unfortunates.
The best option might be to send the rod back to the maker if possible and have the ferrules properly dressed so that the fit allows you to un-join the rod without the assistance of another fisherman. I dress my own ferrules and it isn’t rocket science to dress them down but if you take off too much metal…
…you’ll be sorry.
Those scratches will soon be forgotten once you get a few more miles on that rod.
Also RESIST the use of any lubricant, wax, etc on a nickle silver ferrule. They are SUPPOSED to fit tight when CLEAN and DRY. The addition of any oils from a bottle or the side of your nose can add unwanted acids or chemicals that MAY effect the metal and prematurely loosen the fit. All I ever do to my nickle silver ferrules is wipe them off with a clean dry cloth before and after fishing and everything if fine. If you need oil; they are TOO tight to begin with and need to be dressed.
Not every rod builder is an expert ferrule dresser since most of them don’t make their ferrules anymore; they just buy them and assume they fit correctly. All of my older bamboo rods built by makers that made their own ferrules all fit great. Most of my newer bamboo rods with “store bought” ferrules needed some “adjustment”.
…just a thought…
OK…I took some 0000 steel wool to the scratches I applied light pressure to both the male and female ferrules…I then polished with a micro mesh…I then put the rod together…as I put the ferrules together I could hear a scratching (not sure if it was in my head) I pulled rod appart and “POP” it came apart. I put it back together I didn’t hear the scratching that I heard on the initial reassembling…I pulled apart and “POP” …I did again with the same results…
As I was putting together the rod it felt snug and tight almost too tight…how do you know and what should I be concerned with now…I am having to put pressure to assemble the rod.
Suggestions?
If it were me I would call it good.
As long as you can put it together and take it apart. If it seems to tight now…it will wear over time.
You MAY have had a grain of sand or two in the female half. Try swabbing the inside of the female with a Q-tip dipped in a little isopropyl alcohol to clean out any stuff that may still be in there.
The ferrules are supposed to be tight. If you can push them together and get them apart without a whole lot of difficulty things are as they should be.
When you are done; have some alcohol yourself; NOT isopropyl and sip, relax and enjoy your rod.
thanks…I was thinking that it could have been a little dirt…but there are 3 symetrical scratches??? Oh well, I will probably do another cleaning with alcohol and then …see what happens…all appears to be well…and the POP…music to my ears:)
before i put my rod togather i put nose oil on the furrels. it cleans & lubes tham at the same time. learned that from a old man. you roll the male furrel on the side of your nose. its oily there.
i heard this causes corrosion! :shock:
im not sure someone else needs to chime in on this.
Nose oil DOES work but acids present in that oil as well as salts are not the best thing for metal. It can cause corrosion and attract dirt which is the mortal enemy of ANY ferrule.
I’m sure there are lots of people who will tell you they have been doing it for years with no issues but I wouldn’t.
A simple wiping with a clean dry cloth before and after use is really all you need to do; or SHOULD need to do.
It the ferrules are SO tight that you need lubrication; send the rod back to the maker and have the ferrules dressed down to fit. I’ve seen more broken bamboo rods due to metal ferrules being too tight than anything else.
thanks for all your comments…I cleaned…I steel wooled the scratches just enough to remove (smooth) the burrs and then buffed…seems to have solved the problem.
Hello cholcomb13, what you may have experienced was one small bit of grit being moved around with several assembly/disassemblies over time and the third time seized the ferrule. If it was really hot weather when this happened, that may have helped it stick. It sounds like you’ve got the grit out if that was it and the scratches dressed to the point that you’re back to normal. I’ve had this happen and now I’m thinking it would be a good idea to wipe the ferrules down each time before assembly as well as upon disassembly.
The heat issue can sometimes be overcome by placing the rod in the shade while unsuiting, having a rest, etc. for 20 minutes or so. It happened to me just yesterday with a fav glass rod and I even tried applying cold to first the female side then the rod just behind the male side of the ferrule to no avail. Letting it sit in the shade did the trick though. Hope you get ideas from this.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Yes thanks…I now wipe down my ferrules even if I don’t think they got dirty…shade idea is a good tip 
Not to be a smart alec, but is this the sort of agony all boo users go through with their equipment? Maybe I’m oversimplifying, but the last time I checked, fishing rods were made to be fished, and as a result of said fishing, would get nicked, bruised, scratched and sustain other assorted boo-boo’s just like the fisherperson who uses them does. If this is what boo land is like, I’m staying right here in graphite heaven.
Joseph the incorrigible
P.S. Sometimes I just put my fly rod in my truck (for days at a time) without putting it in its rod sock and/or protective tube. I even leave fish slime on my cork grips. And I don’t dry my fly lines after fishing. I just wait until they get ugly or start sinking and go buy another one. Ironically, I still manage to catch fish even though I’m a slob and treat my toys poorly.
Joe, that’s the difference between graphite and cane…but see? It’s not so much the fly fishing as it is ‘how’ we fly fish…and with cane, well…ask the others here, they know.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
MM,
I understand what you are saying, and quite frankly, this is why I’ve avoided owning a bamboo fly rod. For me, fly fishing is about getting out of my normally busy life, and relaxing on the river, stream or lake. If I had to concern myself with the smother love protection of my equipment every step of the way, I would miss out on a lot of enjoyment, and not go into areas that I sometimes have to hike through dense growth to get to. A good analogy might be the mother of an only child who hovers over him to protect him from everything that life throws his way. If he falls, she’s there to console, bandage and love away the tears. I guess coming from a family of 5 rough & tumble boys that I lack the sensitivity and appreciation for boo. No, I don’t want to own something that requires as much (or more) maintenance than my wife. One of those is enough for any man. :lol:
Joe
Joe
I too throw my bamboo in the back of the truck for days at a time and generally mistreat the darned things. I have done things to my bamboo rods that would have exploded a graphite rod and they survived. I fish for everything from bluegills to king salmon with my bamboo rods. I tell my customers that “these rods are to fish with”. I have had my fair share of trouble with ferrules on graphite over the years so ferrule trouble is not relagated to just bamboo. High maintance? I don’t think so.
I am going to make it one of my goals in life to have you, Joe, owning and fishing one of my BAMBOO rods. Just think how good you wil look out on the stream. You always say my rods make your casting look good.
fishbum
PS
Just tell me what rod you want me to deliver to you at your show in January.
Joe, I used to toss my fibreglass rods around thinking ‘plenty more where those came from’ so it’s not like I haven’t mistreated fly fishing gear. Heck, my reels are a disgrace but the drags are smooth and the reels are usually clean and well maintained albeit nicked and scratched. I never rest the fly rod and reel in the dirt though. To the point though, cane rods (looks like you’re going to be the proud owner of one soon I noticed ~S~ ) are nice to look at, historic in many cases and way out in front of all that, great fly fishing tools. Well, the better ones anyway. I have some not so good casting cane rods but they’re still pretty to look at the little witches !
Here’s an analogy for you to bring out the point a little. Fly fishing cane, for some, isn’t just about the fly fishing. It’s about prolonging joy. Prolonging joy applies to many things we occupy ourselves with. So the preparation, or foreplay if you will, is nearly and sometimes even as exciting as the act itself. With fly fishing and with cane rods in particular, this preparation may take a long time. For a user, there’s learning about cane rods, finding the one they decide they want to fly fish with, then caring for it, again if you will, wooing it, then presenting it to the stream and the trout to bring the entire ‘romance’ to consumation. You think I’m kidding? Nope, just ask a restorer and especially a builder. I’ve seen these folks fondle cane as if it were their first love…and some of us do love cane.
Back to the reality of it all, some just wish to possess cane but others, not as many I suspect, wish to use cane as as was the intention in the beginning. Since you won’t be able to avoid it for much longer, you will soon be singing your ‘ode to joy’ onstream Joe. Hey, toss that Leonard or Powell in the back of the truck, it can take it. Don’t try that with your graphite as vigorously though. It can’t take it as well. I see all of your points and to be perfectly honest, I don’t bust brush with my cane rods when I take one out for a walk. I used to with a couple of them, then I had them totally restored so now they’re too pretty. A shame really but I have a Heddon Bill Stanley that’s unrestored and ratty but it will fish, so I’ll take that one out for a stream watch instead. Joe, I hope you see the light side of all of it like I do and that you take all I say with a few grains of salt, meantime, keep on fly fishin’ !
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
P.S. Would an insensitive person
go to the trouble to write about
things for all the world to see?
That Shakespear guy said somewhere,
‘Me thinks he doth protest too much’ or
words close to that without looking them
up. You want a bamboo rod…you know
you do !
I guess it would be foolish on my part to argue with a lustful moose and a fishbum?!?!? 
Both of you make interesting points, and my good friend from Indiana has been trying to lure me to the dark side since tantalizing me with that sweet little 4wt on the evening of January 24, 2003 at the Northern Ohio Fly Tying Expo. Damn thing even made ME look like I knew what I was doing. If I hit it big one day, I’ll make a call to Jerry and order one of those 4wt’s just for grins & giggles. Until then, I’ll continue to build & fish my lightning rods. Although, I did think about building a PMQ when I was throwing out those old Tiki Torches stacked up in the shed. Thank goodness I came to my senses. 
Time to go chase some 
Joe