Oops - Again!

Last year I managed to snap a quiver tip while carrying my rod from one swim to the other. I 'fixed' it by cutting it down and refitting the tip ring (See HERE). Last week I managed to damage another quiver tip by trying to cast a feeder while the line was looped over the tip and caught around the second ring. The force of the cast compressed the tip, fracturing the gel coat but leaving the glass fibre strands intact.

The top has not parted company with the rest of the quiver tip so it will only need a new gel coat

I had a spare tip so it was not too much of a problem on the day. Buying spare quiver tips for cheap rods is a bit silly as I can buy a whole rod (including three new quiver tips) for the cost of buying two tips on their own - almost!

The jig supports the tip while it is rotated

As the tip is not actually separated, I decided to have a go at re-coating the existing fibre. I have some gel-coat left over from the pole repair, that will do the job. All I need to do is construct a simple jig to slowly rotate the tip while the gel coat cures. I made my jig from Meccano and similar parts but a wooden jig will do. This will result in a perfectly smooth finish. The very short video below is a bit fuzzy but shows the speed of rotation.

Only a very small amount of gel coat is required in the ratio of 10 parts resin to 3 parts hardener. In this case it can be measured in drops from a length of wire. Dip the wire in the resin and drip 10 droplets onto the mixing surface - I use a small piece of glass. Wipe the wire and use the other end to drop 3 droplets of harder on to the surface. After mixing apply the resin to the damaged area, start the tip rotating.

Applying the new gel coat

Mine is running at 10-12 RPM. While it is curing, if you have any gel coat over, place a ring of card or putty around the surplus resin and, after wrapping in cling-film, put it in the freezer. This will prevent it from curing and can be used to re-coat the repair if required after the first coat has cured.

The gel-coat did its job but there was still a weakness at the joint. I tried to strengthen it with some shrink tube but this did not make enough difference to make it worthwhile so I stripped it off and started to sand the joint ready for another coat of resin when it snapped.

Well, that was not the plan - Grrr!

Short top section

I decided that rather than cut it down to the next ring, as I had done previously, I would just refit the tip ring to the shortened top section. The tip ring is easily removed by heating it gently and pulling. Any remaining glue is cleaned out with a small drill bit or screwdriver. The tip-eye was glued onto the shortened section of the quiver tip and aligned before the top section was painted yellow.

A coat of yellow paint identifies it as a repaired tip in my stock

Not the repair I had planned but at least I have a serviceable quiver tip now.

Ralph.