Removing everything down to bare blank...???

[ITO_ZILLION]

Newbie to rod building and I want to start building my own rods. I have a couple older fishing rods lying around that I was wondering if I could remove everything down to the bare blank in order to have blanks that I can start practicing rod building on. A while back I saw a youtube video of someone using a heat gun to remove all the hardware but I am not sure if that is the proper way to do it. 

 

Is it possible to remove everything all the way down to the BARE blank...? What is the best way to melt/soften the epoxy in order to try and remove everything...? Will I have to resort to using some kind of dremel in order to cut the reel seat and grips open in order to get at the epoxy...? How do you guys remove hardware/epoxy from used fishing rods...? 

[GlennMc7]

You should be fine with just using a sharp razor blade to cut the guides off the rod. Simply cut as much as you can of the guide wrap off and you should be good and just peel the epoxy off the guides. You can also do like in the video and use a heat gun on a low to mid power setting. On the grips you can just cut the EVA or Cork grips off there is not much chance to hurt the blank. When it comes to getting the reel seat off if it is metal or aluminum you can use heat and channel lock pliers and just heat and twist.

 

[Lead Head]

Getting the reel seat off is the hard part. Watch videos and be careful. If you get into the graphite you will seriously compromise the blank. Too much heat will also destroy a blank. If you don't care about damaging the blank then use the heat gun and everything will come off easily. If you want a functional blank I would suggest not using the heat gun, its pretty easy to fry a blank with those.

 

For guides, I apply light heat by waving a lighter under them. Very little heat, just warm, not hot. Be extra careful near the tip, it will heat faster. Slide a razor blade into the epoxy against the guide foot so there is no chance of getting into the blank. If you can get a piece of thread lose you can usually just unwind it all, it will cut through the epoxy. 

 

I do my scraping with a old credit card, or some similar thin piece of plastic. If a spot is being especially difficult I lightly apply heat then scrape.

 

For stripping paint down to bare graphite, citristrip has worked well for me. It takes a long time (hours usually) but works and doesn't seem to harm the blank at all.

 

 

[Michigander]

This is exactly how I got into rod building. 1/3 of the way through stripping my first rod, I decided it was way too much of a time investment and just ordered a new blank. There's quite a few inexpensive blanks out there if you just want to practice.

 

I ordered a kit for my first rod just so I knew all the components would be right. That rod looks horrible compared to my second rod, lol.

[Lead Head]

Oh I agree absolutely. I loved the blanks I stripped down and just really wanted to rebuild them. The time and effort it takes to strip a rod is astronomical compared to the price of a cheap practice blank. I did learn quite a bit in the process though, and ended up with a couple of rods I absolutely love.

 

 

[A-Jay]

I've done the guide replacement deal a few times

but have never been brave (or confident) enough to go for the whole enchilada . . .

A-Jay

[MickD]

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I've done the guide replacement deal a few times

but have never been brave (or confident) enough to go for the whole enchilada . . .

A-Jay

If you have the guide wrapping/epoxy down pretty pat you've gotten the hardest part down.  Assembling grips/seats/etc isn't that hard.  Locating guides can be learned pretty quickly.  Lots of good info on line, videos/tutorials.  Unfortuneately there is a lot of bad info out there, too.  But there are some pretty reliable sources, so if you want to go further, let me know and I'll get you pointed in the right direction.  

[Michigander]

8 hours ago, MickD said:

If you have the guide wrapping/epoxy down pretty pat you've gotten the hardest part down.  Assembling grips/seats/etc isn't that hard.  Locating guides can be learned pretty quickly.  Lots of good info on line, videos/tutorials.  Unfortuneately there is a lot of bad info out there, too.  But there are some pretty reliable sources, so if you want to go further, let me know and I'll get you pointed in the right direction.  

You certainly helped me!

[MickD]

55 minutes ago, Michigander said:

You certainly helped me!

Thank you!  I appreciate your comment.  By the way, first try at Sag Bay tomorrow.

[Michigander]

Just now, MickD said:

Thank you!  I appreciate your comment.  By the way, first try at Sag Bay tomorrow.

Good luck up in Sagnasty!

[BrianMDTX]

I know nothing about rod building, but I have refletched many a carbon arrow. I would guess a fletch stripper would work well. It’s designed to prevent damage to the carbon fiber. 

 

 

[spoonplugger1]

One of the problems facing us now days is that your rod wraps and decals may not be under epoxy anymore. They can very well be under a UV light setting finish, heat that and you get zero results. Import rods use it, so far I haven't seen it on a US built rod .Your blank is baked in an oven to set the epoxy prepeg cloth, wrapped on a mandrel, into a finished rod blank shape, the difference in temps between help and destruction are miniscule, especially in the tip. I don't use heat to remove anything but tip tops, it wastes time and can damage more than it helps.