Building the Universal Ferrule

Transcription

1 Ted at 06 Catskill Gathering (photo - C. Bogart.) Building the Universal Ferrule By Ted R. Barnhart with any questions 10/29/07

2 In the Planing Form No. 77, Sept/Oct 2002, I wrote about A Universal Ferrule for any Bamboo Rod. Here, I want to describe how I make the Universal Ferrule. The Universal Ferrule works and you may want to give it a try. A few summers ago, at Tom Smithwick s home in New Jersey, I demonstrated building the Universal Ferrule on a two piece quad blank that Bill Fink had built. A number of other rod builders were present. I later saw the finished rod. Tom had finished the rod for Bill. It looked great! He left the ferrule black. The guides were wrapped with black thread and tipped with red thread. To demonstrate how to build the Universal Ferrule I have included a number of pictures. Included are some pictures, taken by Tom while I was building the Universal Ferrule on Bill s quad blank. Tools 1. Rod jig. You need to build a rod jig to hold the tip and butt of the rod blank in place. Figure 1 It is five feet long and made out of 1 by 4 boards. An eight inch opening is cut out of the top to allow for wrapping the graphite pattern and to accommodate the hot box. There are two hold-down clamps on each side of the jig. They are held in place by anchor bolts and wing nuts. There is a raised edge to keep the two rod sections straight.

3 2. Hot Box. Build a hot box to heat shrink the shrink tape and set the epoxy. Figure 2 The box measures 7 ½ x 8 inches and is 6 inches deep. It has a removable front held in place by two anchor bolts and wing nuts. Install a 60-watt bulb and a heat shield above the bulb. Drill a hole in the front cover above the heat shield to insert a thermometer. Cut openings on each side so you can slide the hot box forward so the ferrule section of the rod blanks are inside the hot box and the front cover can be put in place.

4 3. Rod-pulling jig. Build a rod-pulling jig out of a 2-foot piece of 1x4 board. Figure 3 Cut two 4-inch pieces of 2x4. Cut a shallow 60-degree groove in each block of wood. Install a 60- degree center gage one inch from the end of one of the blocks of wood. Fasten the blocks to each end of the 1x4 board. The jig is used to pull the butt blank out of the shrink tubing and ferrule. A 90- degree quad rod pulling jig is on the left in figure 3 and a 60-degree hex rod pulling jig is on the right. Each pulling block is grooved to fit the rod that you are building a Universal Ferrule for. The metal gages slide into the front block and extend about 3/32 of an inch above the groove. The front end of the shrink tubing or ferrule is rested against the gage as you gently pull the butt section loose from the tip section.

5 4. T tool. Make a T tool to assist in wrapping the pattern around the rod blank. It is made from two 5/8 inch wide by 3 ½ inch thin boards glued together in a T shape. Figure 4 Flat board. Make a 4 by 8 inches flat board from a thin piece of plywood, bevel one end. It is used to hold under the graphite pattern while applying the epoxy to the pattern, see figure Leather punch. 6. Scissors. 7. A small weight. 8. Two small spring clamps.

6 9. A Radio Shack digital temperatu temperature indicator and timer. 10. A pair of nipper pliers. 11. Two c clamps. Materials 1. Graphite cloth. Buy a graphite cloth to make the pattern th that measures.005 inches thick and 22 threads to the inch. Purchase a long curing epoxy at the same time. It is best to use a very thin graphite material. Composite Structures Technology Note: It may be possible to use fiberglass cloth instead. 2. Shrink tubing that will fit over both the butt of the tip and the tip of the butt, figures 4 and 5. Hardware store electrical department department. 3. Shrink tape 22 to 24 inches lon long and 3/8 inches wide, figure 4. Dunstone, Epoxy glue,, 5 minute and 30 minute epoxy. 5. Masking tape. 6. Releasing agent. I now recommend using Super Lube Synthetic Grease for the releasing agent. It is available at hardware stores. 7. Varnish. 8. Contact cement. 9. Paper board. Procedure 1. Prepare epare the tip of the butt by beveling the edges on an electric grinder. inder. Do the same for the butt of the tip. Wrap masking tape around the butt section 2 ½ inches from the tip and apply a thin coat of varnish. Allow to dry and then remove the masking tape. Coat the varnish by smearing a thin coat of the releasing agent grease over the tip of the butt. Be careful not to get any of the

7 releasing agent on the bare cane because when you finish the rod the varnish will not adhere to the bamboo. The tip and butt sections should be marked for orientation. 2. Make two patterns out of stiff card board as follows. (Rectangle base = 3½, right side = 6½, left side from base to diagonal cut = 2, top from right side to diagonal cut = 2½ ). Pattern No. 1 is laid on the graphite material (use a weight to hold it in place) and outline the pattern with masking tape.

8 Trim 1/8 off all edges of pattern No. 2. Remove pattern No. 1 and overlay pattern No.2 over the pattern and hold down with a weight. Contact cement is applied to the graphite material that is showing around the edge of pattern No.2. After the contact cement has dried cut out the pattern. The contact cement keeps the edges of the graphite material from unraveling while you are working with it. We have allowed ¼ for cut off of the ferrule once the ferrule is complete. The female ferrule finished depth will be 1¾. 3. Cut a piece of shrink tubing 1/8 longer than the width of the pattern i.e. 3 5/8 long. Mark the shrink tubing at 1½ from one end. Using the leather punch smallest hole spike, punch 5-6 holes through both sides down the center of this end of the tubing. Rotate the tubing 90 degrees and do the same. This end of the tubing will be fitted over the butt of the tip. 4. Shrink tape. The shrink tape is used to wrap around the graphite ferrule.

9 5. The tip is wrapped with masking tape 1½ above the butt. This acts as a marker to limit how far up the butt you slide the perforated end of the shrink tubing. 6. Clamp the rod jig to the worktable with the raised edge towards you. The tip of the blank is clamped to the left in the jig, the butt to the right and centered in the 8 opening. Be sure to maintain orientation of the tip and butt. The butt of the tip and the tip of the butt should be aligned. If not, rotate both sections together to see if they will align. If necessary, shim either the tip or butt to bring them into alignment. 7. Slide the butt section out of the opening in the rod jig. Mix a small amount of 30 minute epoxy. Apply a very thin coat of epoxy on the butt of the tip, none on the end, up to the masking tape. Slide the perforated end of the shrink tubing over the butt of the tip up to the masking tape. Slide the tip of the butt into the open end of the shrink tubing. Shrink the heat shrink tubing with a hair dryer or heat gun. Do not overheat. Let it cool and remove the blank from the jig. Do not try to pull the butt out of the shrink tubing by hand. You will only pull the shrink tubing apart.

10 Clamp the pulling jig to the worktable and place the rod blank in the groove of the pulling jig. Place the shoulder of the shrink tubing against the center gage and gently pull on the butt. Rotate the rod and gently pull until the butt separates from the shrink tubing. Wrap the tip of the butt with masking tape 2 from the tip. Apply another thin coat of grease on the tip of the butt. Put the tip and butt sections back together and make sure they are oriented correctly. 8. Clamp the rod back into the rod jig with the shrink tubing centered. Remove the masking tape from both the tip and the butt. Put clean masking tape around the butt right up against the shrink tubing. This is to prevent the epoxy from sticking to the butt. On one end of the shrink tape wrap a 2 piece of Post-It note paper around the end. This is to prevent you from getting epoxy on it. Epoxy on the tape will prevent you from anchoring the end of the tape. With masking tape, tape the other end to the butt just past the shrink tubing. Tape it so that the shrink tape can be spiraled around the ferrule towards you. Move the tape to the right out of the way. Orient the graphite pattern over the shrink tubing with the slope to your left. Turn the pattern over and apply a narrow bead of contact cement on the long edge and let dry. Put a narrow bead of contact cement on top of the shrink tubing and let dry. Square the pattern to the rod

11 over the shrink tubing, line up the left side of the pattern with the end of the tubing and stick the pattern to the tubing. You should have 1/8 of shrink tubing showing on the right side. Cut off two 1 pieces of masking tape and lightly stick the ends on the rod jig to the left. The masking tape will be used to anchor the end of the shrink tape once it is spiraled around the graphite ferrule.

12 The graphite material has its own epoxy. Weigh out 6 to 8 grams of it in its stoichiometric ratio. Put on a pair of plastic gloves. Have two small spring clamps and the T tool at the ready. Take the flat board and place it under the pattern with the beveled edge forward. Apply a thin coat of epoxy to the surface of the pattern. Do not use an excessive amount of epoxy. With the flat board still in place, take the T tool and run it down the surface of the pattern to remove any excess epoxy. Remove the flat board and wipe clean the T tool. With the T tool in one hand and the other hand holding the end of the pattern, use the T tool to lightly press wrap the pattern around the shrink tubing while the other hand is keeping the pattern straight. It is imperative that the wraps be snug, no bulges. Anchor the pattern at both ends using the small clamps. If there is any excess epoxy showing, remove it. Wipe your gloves clean and take the shrink tape (remove the clamp) and wrap it around the pattern in the same direction you wrapped the pattern, over lapping the shrink tape by 50%. Remove the last clamp and wrap the tape to the end of the ferrule. Clamp the end of the tape in place. Take off the gloves and remove the paper from the end of the shrink tape. Tape a 2 piece of masking tape to the end of the shrink tape then finish wrapping the shrink tape and

13 anchor it with the masking tape. Clean off any excess epoxy that has seeped out between the wraps. 9 Slide the hot box over the ferrule and put the cover on the box. Insert the thermometer in the hole on the front cover. Set the timer for 35 minutes and plug in the electric cord. In 35 minutes the shrink tape will shrink the graphite pattern around the shrink tubing and set the epoxy. The temperature will increase to about 190 degrees F. Remove the hot box and inspect the ferrule. If any excess epoxy has seeped out between the wraps, nip it off with the nipper pliers otherwise it will make it hard to unwrap the shrink tape.

14 Unwrap the shrink tape in reverse order. If you did not use an excess amount of epoxy, the tape will unwrap very easily. Let the ferrule cool and remove the masking tape from the butt. Take the rod out of the rod jig. Place the rod blank in the pull jig and pull the butt out of the ferrule, rotate the rod as required.. 10 The ferrule was built with a 3/8 excess pattern. This excess length can be cut off to give you a 3¼ ferrule. The ferrule is sloped toward the tip because the left front corner of the pattern was cut off. I finish off the ferrule on my lathe.

15 I insert an extended ferrule plug into the ferrule. The tip section is inserted in the hole in the headstock and the extended plug fits in an inverted cone live center. I use grit paper glued to a block of wood to sand and shape the ferrule. A bead of five minute epoxy is applied to the top of the ferrule to make a smooth transition to the bamboo.

16 You can leave the ferrule black or paint it any color. The Universal Ferrule I made for this report weighed 5.46 grams before cutting to size and sanding as follows: Grams Graphite pattern 1.45 Shrink tubing 0.95 Epoxy Est. loss of cut off and sanding 1.00 Finished ferrule weight 4.46 The rod pieces I used would require a 16/64 Super Z ferrule. This ferrule weighs some grams. The Universal Ferrule weighs some 55% less than a comparable Super Z ferrule. The Super Z ferrule length measured 3 7/16 versus the Universal Ferrule length of 3¼. A ferrule plug must be made and kept in the ferrule when the rod is apart. A ferrule can be snugged up by revarnishing the tip of the butt. Standard for patterns for the Universal Ferrule. 1. This new standard reduces the weight of the finished ferrule to 35 40% of a comparable Super Z ferrule. Must use roller to apply epoxy. 2. U. ferrule using the polyethylene core to shape ferrule = wrap 5 turns of.005 inch thick graphite cloth around core. U. ferrule made completely out of graphite cloth (no core) = wrap 7 turns of graphite cloth around rod. 3. Note: use.005 inch thick paper to get length of pattern if using.005 graphite cloth. Then make pattern to fit rod with the following basic dimensions

17 Note: The tab on the bottom is required to hold the right side in place when making the pattern without the shrink tubing core. (A) Length of rod 6 6 (78 ) 7 (84 ) 7 6 (90 ) 8 (96 ) (B) Section Length 39¾ 427/8 457/8 49 Butt Length 39¾ 427/8 457/8 49 (C) Tip Length 38¼ 411/8 441/8 47 (D) Ferrule Length 3 3¼ 3¼ 3½ (E) Tip collar 1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ (F) Tip Pocket 1½ 1¾ 1¾ 2 (G) Butt Shaft tape 1½ 1¾ 1¾ 2 (H) Shrink Tube Core 3 3/8 3¾ 3¾ 3 7/8 (I) Perforated Portion 1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ (J) Cut off after made 3/8 ½ ½ 3/8 (K) Top right to diagonal ¼ 3/8 ¼ ¼ (X) Right side w/core 5 wraps Right no core 7 wraps (1 longer) 5½ 5½ 6 7 6½ 6½ 7 8 (Y) Base 3¼ 33/8 3½ 3¾ (Z) Left base to diagonal 2 Right side cut off ¼ 2 2 2½ 3/8 ¼ ¼