Help Cork Repair

[Troutslayer101 0]

So I posting this here in hopes someone can help. I tried to post it in the Rod building forum but I cannot create an account.

 

So a year ago my dad was kayak fishing with my son and myself and unfortunately he lost his rod over the side of the kayak. I tried several times to snag it with now luck. Fast forward a year later and my son and myself are fishing that same pond and my snags the rod. This Rod is not alot of money but it was my dads favorite rod. Maybe a 90 dollar rod.

 

Should I pay someone to replace the cork? if so about how much will that be? On mudhole they do sell a item that goes over the cork and you use a heat gun to shrink it on to the cork. what worries me is the reel seat also seems to be made from cork or at least a cork backing. I also saw that some people used wood filler and then sanded it down. Would this work? Would it look ok? Or is it to bad for wood filler?

 

Thanks for all your help!

[utyer 0]

That looks like a spinning rod, am I correct? You could get cork grips and a reel seat from Mudhole, cork fore and aft grips might run to $20. EVA foam will be about a third of that. A similar reel seat would be between $6 and $14.

 

These components are usually put on the rod before guides are wrapped, but you can work around that. With foam, you can sometimes get the forced over the butt end of the rod and pushed up into place without removing the guides.

 

I have no idea what the labor would be, since I have long since stopped doing rod and reel repairs.

[mikechell 0]

There are several online stores that sell replacement cork handles.

There are also a few rod builders.

 

Steeldrifter will chime in when he sees this, and his profession is rod building. (I've now got three of his builds)

 

Most importantly, if you do it yourself, DON'T wrap over the existing cork. It'll look and feel lumpy.

[Troutslayer101 0]

That looks like a spinning rod, am I correct? You could get cork grips and a reel seat from Mudhole, cork fore and aft grips might run to $20. EVA foam will be about a third of that. A similar reel seat would be between $6 and $14.

 

These components are usually put on the rod before guides are wrapped, but you can work around that. With foam, you can sometimes get the forced over the butt end of the rod and pushed up into place without removing the guides.

 

I have no idea what the labor would be, since I have long since stopped doing rod and reel repairs.

Utyer,

 

Yes that is a spinning rod. Sorry if not allowed on here please delete post. Just hoping to be able to get it repaired.

[Troutslayer101 0]

There are several online stores that sell replacement cork handles.

There are also a few rod builders.

 

Steeldrifter will chime in when he sees this, and his profession is rod building. (I've now got three of his builds)

than

Most importantly, if you do it yourself, DON'T wrap over the existing cork. It'll look and feel lumpy.

Mike,

 

Thanks, I have wanted to get into rod building and repair for awhile now just have not had the time. I really don't want this to be my first project. Like I said its not that expensive of a rod but my dad loved this rod so hoping to get it repaired and give it back to him for fathers day. Thanks for the heads up. I guess I will see what Steeldrifter thinks about getting it repaired.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Nice to be thinking of your dad... but.... I've been building and repairing rods since 1971 (and build every rod on my skiff that my anglers use - except fly rods since I can't build a fly rod quickly enough if one of my anglers breaks one... and we break a fair number of rods fishing the saltwater parts of the Everglades...).

 

First things first -you're going to need to replace both the reelseat, and the cork grips (and judging from their condition you're also going to want to strip the blank down completely and in essence build a new rod on the old blank... Whenever someone asks me about this sort of work I do my best to talk them out of it - since by the time you buy the all the parts needed (tip top, guides, thread, reel seat, cork grips, etc.) - then consider the labor needed to make it look "like new" you're far better off buying him a replacement rod, period.

 

An alternative, if your'e wanting to get into rodcrafting is to simply go through all the tutorials that an outfit like Mudhole offers (mudhole.com) and build your dad a new rod... These days, though, for spinning rods there's a lot of pretty well built rods being sold in stores that actually cost less than you'd end up spending on the parts to build your own - but that's a decision you'll have to make for yourself...

 

By the way a salvaged old rod, left pretty much the way you found it, can make an interesting wall hanger...

 

Hope this helps.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Unless the rod has some REALLY big sentimental value I would suggest as Bob mentioned above and just use it as a wall hanger with a great story behind it. Because replacing and getting it back into fishing condition is just not going to be worth it. You can get cork grips and seat for a decent cost, depending on what you get I'd say around $35-$50 range for seat & grips, but the real cost is going to be getting it into ready to rebuild condition.

 

To strip off the old cork and seat will take some time/work, and then after those are off then there is a lot of old epoxy that is on the blank that needs to be cleaned off without damaging the blank which is a pretty good bit of time & labor involved. So you could very easily end up with $125 or more into a rod that may only be worth less than half of that. And if you have never done rod work yourself then it's not something I would suggest you start with because it's not an easy nor fun job and you would also need to buy finish, thread, set up some sort of wrapper, and try to cure it without sagging since you don't own a rod dryer.

[vicente 0]

Can you read the make and model on the rod still? If so maybe you can find an identical one on ebay

[mikechell 0]

I like the idea of a wall decoration. And ... since Father's Day is Sunday, you have time to mount it, etc.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I do a fair bit of rod building myself, and I am going to agree with Capt. Bob and Steeldrifter -- that is a BIG job, and not something to tackle as your first foray into rod building/repair. Turn it into wall décor -- maybe you can find a "before" pic of your dad using the rod, and frame it with or alongside the salvaged rod or something?--and build your dad a new rod. I have to imagine that a custom build from his son would have at least as much--probably much more--sentimental value to him as the old rod did. (I built my dad a rod once, and, by all accounts, he showed it off to everyone he knew for the rest of his life! )

 

Capt. Bob is spot-on in his recommendation of tutorials on YouTube by Mudhole and/or Flex-Coat -- they are excellent.

 

Best of luck!

[Troutslayer101 0]

Thanks for all your help! I think it may just be best to give it back to him and hang it on the wall. Wish I could repair it but I don't want to have 100 or more in a rod that he paid around 90. Thanks again and tight lines to all.