So I own a Lew’s TP1 Black Med Fast action Rod and absolutely love it. I saw this TP1B Heavy Fast rod on a local auction site with a broken tip, knew how easy a fix that would be and ended up winning it for $.45 

 

Once I picked it up though I noticed it is splintering a bit just above one of the guides. It’s minimal and I see no other cracking underneath or anything else, but I wondered if it may be shot then or if it’s possible that it could hold up with some wrap or something. I posted a photo of the splintering and it appears to be a little of the top layer. Everything else about the rod other than the tip is completely fine from what I can see. 

 

Again, for $.45 it’s not going to crush my soul if it’s gone, but I just thought it was well worth the $.45. 

Is there any chance the mfg would replace it cause I think you got taken.

15 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

Is there any chance the mfg would replace it cause I think you got taken.

Well, it was only $0.45! 

No, and I knew going into it that there was a breakage. But that was just the tip of the rod, not the splintering. It’s just a local auction where stuff is sold as is. All of the items are usually open box and have things wrong with them.  I’ve done a lot of purchases through it and had some go great and some things are duds. It’s just the luck of the draw. I just wondered if there was a way to patch up the splintering or if it’s just a dud. 

To clarify, all of the items are returns. Hence the price lol. 

You might ask a rod builder if anything can be done.

Since it was just 45 cents I would make a fly swatter or spatula out of it.

If you don’t know how to wrap thread like you were wrapping a guide you could put a thin coat of epoxy on it and see how she casts? For an investment that’s less than a half a buck it’s worth a try? ?

If not, then go the fly swatter route. ?

By the way.: Who would put up a broken rod for auction!? ?

Did you use PayPal with buyer protection? I hope you did

3 hours ago, garroyo130 said:

Did you use PayPal with buyer protection? I hope you did

It wasn’t through PayPal. It was a local auction site in the city I live in.  I knew I was buying something broken, but I didn’t know there was splintering too. I just want to know if that is something that would cause the rod to be unusable, or, if it’s something that isn’t an enormous deal and can be fixed some way. I only paid 45 cents for the thing so I’m not too worried if I have to pitch it. 

7 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

If you don’t know how to wrap thread like you were wrapping a guide you could put a thin coat of epoxy on it and see how she casts? For an investment that’s less than a half a buck it’s worth a try? ?

If not, then go the fly swatter route. ?

By the way.: Who would put up a broken rod for auction!? ?

I thought about just putting an epoxy on it and taping it or wrap it. I agree, it’s worth the investment for what I paid for it. It’s make one heck of a fly swatter if not. Those heavy rods are HUGE. 

7 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

By the way.: Who would put up a broken rod for auction!? ?

I think there are some people that would auction off a half-used q-tip if they thought they could sell it.

25 minutes ago, Big Hands said:

I think there are some people that would auction off a half-used q-tip if they thought they could sell it.

Sooooo...What’s your point? What’s wrong with used q-tips? ?

Are you familiar with Loctite 420? It is a superglue, with very low viscosity, so it flows into very fine cracks and splintering. It is commonly used for repairing fine cracks on wooden and fiberglass bows. Clean prior with denaturated alcohol, than wrap the broken section with rod guide winding, and coat with an epoxy finish.

Assuming it breaks again, you are not really out anything.

Looking closely at the photo the rod is cracked straight down to the next guide or the entire length of the photo.

Basically it was smashed or stepped on.

Try wrapping the entire cracked area using black guide thread. Coat with clear enamel and try using it.

Watch Mud Hole videos, nothing to loose and may learn how to repair guides.

Tom

That blank is toast. For what you have in it, trying WRBs idea might get a little use out of it. 

Thank you all so much for your insight. I’ll give it a try and see if I can get a little bit of time out of it! 

5 hours ago, Whatever said:

Are you familiar with Loctite 420? It is a superglue, with very low viscosity, so it flows into very fine cracks and splintering. It is commonly used for repairing fine cracks on wooden and fiberglass bows. Clean prior with denaturated alcohol, than wrap the broken section with rod guide winding, and coat with an epoxy finish.

Assuming it breaks again, you are not really out anything.

I am! I’ll look into it! Thanks for your help! 

5 hours ago, WRB said:

Looking closely at the photo the rod is cracked straight down to the next guide or the entire length of the photo.

Basically it was smashed or stepped on.

Try wrapping the entire cracked area using black guide thread. Coat with clear enamel and try using it.

Watch Mud Hole videos, nothing to loose and may learn how to repair guides.

Tom

Yes, it pretty much is. I’ll give it a shot and see if I can get some use out of it. If it breaks it’s no biggie and I may try to figure out a different use for it. 
 

if the tip was the only thing missing I might have landed on the most incredible deal. 

I’m not sure if you still have the rod or not but you could try having Lew’s replace it under warranty. I had a TP1 Black that the tip broke on and when I called them to discuss it they didn’t even question how or why it happened. In fact, they were out of stock of the TP1 Blacks and ended up sending me the supergrip (costs about $50 more than the TP1) as it was the next tier up that they had available. Great customer service. 

8 hours ago, Gazz said:

I’m not sure if you still have the rod or not but you could try having Lew’s replace it under warranty. I had a TP1 Black that the tip broke on and when I called them to discuss it they didn’t even question how or why it happened. In fact, they were out of stock of the TP1 Blacks and ended up sending me the supergrip (costs about $50 more than the TP1) as it was the next tier up that they had available. Great customer service. 

My wife worked LP for a Sporting goods company, and one of her duties was to manage RTVs and make the ones not required to be sent back to the manufacturer unreturnable for just this reason. 

8 hours ago, Gazz said:

I’m not sure if you still have the rod or not but you could try having Lew’s replace it under warranty. I had a TP1 Black that the tip broke on and when I called them to discuss it they didn’t even question how or why it happened. In fact, they were out of stock of the TP1 Blacks and ended up sending me the supergrip (costs about $50 more than the TP1) as it was the next tier up that they had available. Great customer service. 

 

It's worth a shot, and I have only good things to say about their customer service. Last summer I broke two rods (my precious TP1B MH/F and one of their cheapo Laser Lite rods), and they replaced both of them no questions asked.

 

I will say that it was a real chore getting ahold of them, but this was when COVID was new and everybody was scrambling. Maybe they're easier to get on the phone nowadays.

 

They were out of both of them, so, like you, I got a free upgrade to a Custom Series for the TP1.

 

Worst they can say is no, @BrianAllan87. Give them a call.

On 3/23/2021 at 8:56 AM, galyonj said:

 

It's worth a shot, and I have only good things to say about their customer service. Last summer I broke two rods (my precious TP1B MH/F and one of their cheapo Laser Lite rods), and they replaced both of them no questions asked.

 

I will say that it was a real chore getting ahold of them, but this was when COVID was new and everybody was scrambling. Maybe they're easier to get on the phone nowadays.

 

They were out of both of them, so, like you, I got a free upgrade to a Custom Series for the TP1.

 

Worst they can say is no, @BrianAllan87. Give them a call.

That's awesome. I was given the same option actually but I don't love foam so I told them I'd really prefer something else. He bumped me up to the next tier to get me back to winn grips. I prefer cork over everything but I'd rather winn grips over foam. 

7 hours ago, Gazz said:

That's awesome. I was given the same option actually but I don't love foam so I told them I'd really prefer something else. He bumped me up to the next tier to get me back to winn grips. I prefer cork over everything but I'd rather winn grips over foam. 

Oh, for sure. I was really, really impressed with the people I worked with over there. I got upgraded to a really nice rod in a situation where I would have absolutely understood if they told me they couldn't help me at all (due to the way it broke).

 

I like the Winn material, but I couldn't tell you why it matters to me, if I'm honest. I choke up high enough on fishing rods that I'm not ever really in contact with the grip material anyway, so it's kind of whatever.