Gluing wood to solid fiberglass fishing rod handle

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redfishsc

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Feb 11, 2006
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I have an offshore trolling/bottom fishing rod (Tidewater 66) that I am modifying to make the butt end shorter for my short arms to hold all day when bottom fishing. I'm lopping off about 6" of the butt.

I'm also going to replace the EVA foam with Lignum vitae on the bottom and Pau Ferro for the upper grip.

I have the foam and reel seat removed and just drilled out the L-V blank ready for turning. Cant wait[:p]


Anyhow, would our standard 30-minute epoxy bond sufficiently to fiberglass or are there special epoxies that are made specifically for fiberglass? By the way the epoxy adheres to the varnish on our kitchen table [V] I'd guess it will glue oil to water.

I can get the LV to bond very well to the epoxy, all I have to do is to swab the inside of the blank with acetone well and allow it to dry before gluing. It's the fiberglass I'm not totally sure of.
 
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Thanks Fritz. I'm looking forward to using this rod again soon, the problem is I live 2-3 hours inland and don't get a lot of chance to use this beast, it's just way to big for freshwater stuff in NC. Great for sharks and king mackeral on the piers though.


Once I do this one I may replace the handles on my 7' Ugly Stick, it needs a new handle!
 
I'd use West System Epoxy, especially if you're going saltwater with them. It's designed for marine use and is much tougher than big box store epoxies. That's what we used for laying up carbon fiber daggerboards and rudders back when I was a boat junkie. :)
 
Well, the problem is West System 105 is a very thin and runny epoxy. Do they make a thicker version? I need something that is gel-like and thick--- This is not unlike gluing a brass tube into a pen blank, but with a touch more slop. Does West System make a gap-filling epoxy?
 
You can add fillers to it to thicken it up, and they have different grades as well. I get my stuff from Jamestown Distributors, and they have a bunch of West System additives and components. Hope that helps! :)
 
2-part epoxies bond quite well to fiberglass. I've done several boat repairs (a couple on race day) with off-the-shelf 5 minute epoxy. They are holding up just fine. In fact, it's what the manufacturer (International Fiberglass) recommended.

I doubt you'll really need marine epoxy, unless you are planning to store your rod underwater.

Regards,
Eric
 
Originally posted by Sylvanite


I doubt you'll really need marine epoxy, unless you are planning to store your rod underwater.

Regards,
Eric

Lol, the rod holders are specifically designed to keep fish from "borrowing" my rods, so I won't be using the submerged storage.[^]
 
West System epoxy is not a bonding epoxy, it's more of a clear coat style. Don't use it for a structural application. For your purpose, the 30 minute epoxies that are waterproof will serve you just fine. The big thing you DON'T want is a big gap between the rod blank and the handle pieces. Bore/taper the LV to the blank diameter so you don't have gaps over 1/32 or so. Myself, and most serious rodbuilders, use a product called RodBond by Trondak/U40, or another newer product by Lamar called Ultimate Gel. Both are thicker style 'paste' epoxies that do a phenomenal job bonding rod components together.
 
If you really want a product made for exactly that building rods try Rod Bond made by Trondak it can be purchased from various rod building component dealer, MudHole, custom tackle supply etc
John
 
Based on your name, roddesigner, I'd wager you know a thing or two about rod design. I have a 7' Ugly Stik that's about 10 years old and is still my favorite rod, and I'm thinking about swapping the grips on it to wood as well.

The grip is almost identical to the one below (not the exact model but really close)--- do you know if the Ugly Stiks are fairly straightforward to strip and re-handle----- I want to retain the reel seat and trigger.

Thanks!

98109l.jpg
 
I'll argue against the broad statement that West System is purely a laminating epoxy, because they have many different grades of products, and I've personally used 105 with the proper components for structural sub waterline applications and it has performed better than anything else. BUT

It's pretty expensive, there's a lot of metering and product knowledge that needs to be considered, and for what you're doing, all of that is probably overkill.

It sounds like there's already a product out there that's specifically designed for what you're doing, and that's always the best bet. I'd steer clear of the cheapo epoxies and go for the Rod Bond stuff if it were me. I imagine that there's people out there way smarter than all of us that have tested and re-tested the exact application that you're going for, and that's always a good direction! :)

Good luck, and let's see some pictures when you're done! I have a rod or fifteen that I might follow your lead with. I wonder how a pine cone would look as a rod handle...heh
 
Originally posted by karlkuehn



It's pretty expensive, there's a lot of metering and product knowledge that needs to be considered, and for what you're doing, all of that is probably overkill.


Expensive is for darn sure. I have used 105 before and if I were to bother with it (which I'm not) I would just buy the pumps.


I have actually cast and turned 105 epoxy, it makes a decent pen. I made a sierra a couple years ago (no pic at the moment sorry) and it's held up very well. BUT the stuff is much more heat sensitive than acrylics--- it'll swell up on you if you overheat it, which doesn't take much.
 
Originally posted by redfishsc

Originally posted by karlkuehn



It's pretty expensive, there's a lot of metering and product knowledge that needs to be considered, and for what you're doing, all of that is probably overkill.


Expensive is for darn sure. I have used 105 before and if I were to bother with it (which I'm not) I would just buy the pumps.


I have actually cast and turned 105 epoxy, it makes a decent pen. I made a sierra a couple years ago (no pic at the moment sorry) and it's held up very well. BUT the stuff is much more heat sensitive than acrylics--- it'll swell up on you if you overheat it, which doesn't take much.

That's interesting to know, too! I've only ever used it for below the waterline and aggressive furniture repair (thickened for loose dowel joints in chairs mostly), so I've never seen it in heat situations. Does it get rubbery when hot?
 
It did get rubbery, and it expanded and lifted off the tube (which the centrifugal force from spinning 3700 rpm might have something to do with it also).

Oddly, I let it cool down and finished turning the pen-- the glue even still held plenty enough. The pen looks very cool.
 
Ok Ugly Stiks are not my favorite blank but there is a loyal following to the older models,personally I would remove the reel seat also they are inexpensive cut it off carefully with a dremel it would be a shame to put all that work into a rod and have the old seat fail shortly after being put to use.
If you leave the seat on you will have to install the rear grip from the butt end to do so you will have to remove enough wood on the inside to fit over the butt, what happens then is you will have a gap under the wood in the area by the seat and will need to fill that gap with something depending on the dia of the gap, string ,cord etc.

Usually a mild heat source is used to soften the epoxy on the guides then slice across the top of the guide foot unwind the thread clean up and rewrap a new guide be extremely careful when using heat and an ugly stick they are easily damaged by heat.

Couple of thought re wood handles they will add weight and if used in a rod holder may take a beating.
One way to lower the weight factor is over boar the wood then use something like flex coat or Batson arbors glued inside the wood. They will offer enough support and less weight.
For other ideas check out Rodbuilding org. you need to register to post but you will get some great answers about the best ways to use any type of wood on rods
John
 
Thanks for the info John.

I have had only 1 Ugly Stik, and none of the newer ones. This has been the best rod I've ever had thus far. Nearly every other rod I've had either broke too easily or eyes came off or otherwise malfunctioned. Yes I am rough with my rods-- my opinion is that if you have to be gentle and ginger with your stuff, take up golfing:D


Since the reel seats aren't terribly expensive I'll probably replace it as you suggest.

As far as the added weight, I'm not overly concerned with it b/c I typically do more bait fishing than lure fishing, with the rod in a holder of some sort.

I don't mind the wood taking a bit of a beating, partly b/c I'll use some seriously hard woods like LV or cocobolo, which can scuff but are hard to actually tear/shred compared to oak or maple.

I really appreciate the info. Thanks!
 
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