Sage LL

[DFoster 0]

On 8/5/2024 at 8:36 AM, Steeldrifter said:

Capt Bob- that right there is the WORST job you can get when it comes to being a rod builder. Every once in a while I will get a customer that wants a rod fully restored, and removing the old grip and all the epoxy underneath it is nothing but time consuming agony. There's not much in rod building I don't like doing, but that is one thing I hate to have to do 😣 Sometimes you get lucky and there's not a ton of old epoxy on the blank. But other times it's just covered with it and is a nightmare.

 

Just curious Steve, how do you recommend removing epoxy from the blank?   I have restored 2 bamboo rods from the 50's and fortunately the epoxy was old and brittle.  A Dremel was required but it wasn't too bad.  That said I never know when I might find and old graphite or glass rod somewhere and in a moment of weakness, buy with the intention of restoring.

[Steeldrifter 0]

3 hours ago, DFoster said:

Just curious Steve, how do you recommend removing epoxy from the blank?   I have restored 2 bamboo rods from the 50's and fortunately the epoxy was old and brittle.  A Dremel was required but it wasn't too bad.  That said I never know when I might find and old graphite or glass rod somewhere and in a moment of weakness, buy with the intention of restoring.

Mainly just start out with a fresh new xacto blade in a knife is what I start with. That will usually get some of the high spots off. Then I take sandpaper starting around 80grit. After that I'll go down to about 120, 220 and just work my way down to finer grits till it gets down to the blank.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Since I'm working with saltwater gear (usually much heavier and sturdier than freshwater rods....) all I ever use is the old stiff boning blade shown in one of those pics, and a single edged razor blade or two as scrapers... First I make long slices through the cork down to the epoxy and quickly split the cork away from the blank then comes the tedious work of hand scraping the old epoxy from the blank - never the first bit of sandpaper for me... My first scraping efforts are done with the back side of the knife shown -then it's razor blades to complete the removal..  Holding the side edge of the razor blade to the blank at right angles then carefully remove old epoxy a few inches at a time from top to bottom (the reel seat) with just enough force to engage the old glue without damaging the blank.  Having some good "working music" makes the hour or so needed to clean off that blank bearable...  As already noted - not a fun job but, as long as the blank and epoxied reelseat are in good condition that prep work will make for a good foundation whether you're working with a  ready made cork grip or starting from scratch and individual cork rings (and all of the work needed to glue, clamp, then turn them down from scratch..).  Cork is a bit forgiving if there's a tiny bit of old epoxy left here or there on a blank you're re-doing - and will never be noticed when the job is done.. This whole process is much quicker when removing and replacing EVA foam grips on spin, plug, or conventional rods...