The Weekly Tip – Rod Tip Repair

Welcome to “The Weekly Tip” presented by American Legacy Fishing Company. This is a weekly installment that brings you helpful tips to help you be more efficient on and off the water!

This week’s tip is a bit on the nose… We will be showing you the correct way to repair your rod tip (Hint:  You shouldn’t be using hot glue).

You will need:

• Quick Setting Epoxy
  • You want to look for a clear, quick setting, two part epoxy
    • Loctite 5 minute epoxy is the go-to for us
• Spatula/Mixing Tool
  • Use anything from a toothpick to this sadistic looking dental tool
• Lighter
  • Matches won’t do it here… You need a lighter for the sustained heat in order to remove your existing tip
• A Mixing Platform
  • Sticky notes are an easily disposable option, but you need something to mix the epoxy on/in…
    • Use cardboard, disposable plate, or whatever you have laying around the house that you don’t mind ruining
• Replacement Tip
  • You ideally want to find a tip that most closely resembles the one you’re pulling off of the damaged rod;  Obviously
    • Try to avoid the kits that have a stick of glue and a “One size fits all tip” in it… Those require you to use hot glue to fill the gap that will inevitably be between the blank of your rod and the tip.
      • Ideally we want NO gap, but we will show you how to combat a small gap here in just a moment

• The idea here is to use even and consistent heat while rotating the tip between your index finger and thumb
  • Slowly rotating the tip like this will provide even heat distribution and avoid damaging the rod
    • Too much or too much concentration will greatly damage and weaken the blank
• DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE BY HAND
  • Use pliers or any tools you have handy… Nobody likes burnt fingers

• You ideally want to avoid mixing too vigorously, as doing so will lead to little air bubbles forming in the epoxy
  • These bubbles are essentially unavoidable with this type of epoxy but it is ideal to create the least amount possible
    • Too many air bubble could result in some space in the tip devoid of epoxy, which means you’ll have to repair it again before too long
• Apply the epoxy to the actual tip of the rod first by spreading on a thin layer with your mixing tool
• Use your mixing tool to push epoxy up into the replacement tip
  • Don’t worry if you’ve put too much in the tip or on the tip of the rod… We will fix that in the next step!

• Secure your rod in a “Guide-down” position as seen in the first picture and push the new tip onto your rod
  • This will result in any excess epoxy being forced out as seen in the second picture
    • You want to have your rod positioned this way so the excess epoxy fills any gap that may exist between the blank of the rod and tip, thus protecting your line as it comes through the guide
• Using a folded piece of paper/sticky note, gently wipe away the excess epoxy that will start to drip down
  • You do not need to remove ALL of the epoxy being forced out, but you want to avoid letting the epoxy dry in the form of a big bulge
• Voila! Let this dry for the requisite 5-10 minutes and you’re good to go
  • For best results and peace of mind I would suggest letting things dry for at least an hour before you start fishing with your newly repaired rod