Stuck ferrals in old wood rods!

[Hannibal Mike]

I have tried a tiny bit of oil and let set for a couple of days - no luck. Tried a couple of drops of "Gunk" for loosening stuck bolts - no luck. An earlier post provided a link for tubing pliers and I am at a point of ordering them. Would I need 2 pair? Could I just keep tapping and turning? The metal looks like corroded aluminum, but am not sure how to diagnose they type of metal. I asked for Kroil and PB locally, but have not found it yet. Have not tried heat yet! Mike

[Brian F.]

Col. Milt has suggested using a vibrating pen on frozen reel parts before - maybe that might work? I use ice on the male end of ferrules that are stuck but they are not usually corroded. You could probably apply heat to the female end and it would work the same way.

[john elder]

see if you can round up some Kroil...stand the rod up so it can seep down into the female side of the ferrule. After 48 hrs or so, that usually works.

[Robin Sayler]

whatever you do don't twist them. This will rip them right off more often than not.

[Araye50]

This is not neccessarily a bad thing.

whatever you do don't twist them. This will rip them right off more often than not.

I've found that removing the "stuck ferrals" from the blanks is often much easier than getting the ferrules unstuck. This is usually a good thing, if you can do it w/o damaging the blanks, since they're easy enough to refit. Once the stuck ferrules are off the blanks you gain access to the back side, you're free to use heat & can apply a lot more force w/o risking the blank, including driving the ferrules apart.

[Hannibal Mike]

Well, thanks! That makes sense to me. How were/are the ferrals attached to the rods? Glue/epoxie or indentations or what. If a ferral is cracked, do you think that it might me wrapped like a guide or can fairly authentic replacement ferrals be found? I have mostly ocean type rods.

[Don Champion]

Mike - There are a lot of guys out there with more experience with rods than I have so my answer may not be right in all cases. They are glued on. I have found on the fiberglass rods that if you heat the ferules you can take pliers and remove them. I have never tried to remove them from bamboo rods, but I think they were put on with animal glue.

[Teal]

Hannibal Mike,

You need to go to Clark's Classic Cane board and search (and post) their rodmaking forum:

http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=66

It may help you avoid a costly mistake--these guys make a living restoring rods.

-- Dr. Todd

[$$$$robert]

put the rod behind your knees and grab both ends close to the ferrels and bend over and pull them apart. You can push against your forarms with your legs. Worked for me a few times. Don't twist them though.
Robert

[WobblySpindle]

If the ferrules don't separate easily, you can try applying some ice - just slowly rotate the rod by hand while holding an ice cube on the female ferrule. After a minute or two, try again. The opposite approach also works - applying gentle heat. But there you have to be very careful, as heat can loosen just about any adhesive used for mounting ferrules.
If you end up having to remove the ferrules, be sure to check them with a loupe before removing them on a bamboo or wooden rod - lots of those are pinned, and the pins are often very hard to see. If you see what looks like a pin, you can usually drive it just below the surface of the ferrule with an appropriate size of punch. It may also be pinned on both sides, so check carefully. If you're careful enough and lucky enough, you can remove the ferrule and still have enough of the pin visible that you can pull it (and replace it later).

[reelworks]

I've also been able to free a few older brass ferules using air pressure once a ferule has been removed on one end. Whether to work lube into the joint or to force the halves apart, a rubber tipped blow gun can work wonders.
I wouldn't attempt it if the ferule was still on a wood blank, the air pressure would most likely separate the bamboo.

[Walter_Lars]

I have gotten PB blaster at Home depot or Lowes

[BAP-62]

You could try some CorrosionX. I use it on my boat when something is stuck and it works great. I use the boat in the ocean and no matter how well you wash it down after you use it there is always some little item that will corrod. It has save me a number of times. Out here in Oregon a lot of people use aluminum boats in the ocean and use it.