Epoxy for a cracked Bamboo tip repair?

[Joshua Field]

I've got a bamboo rod (1wt) and the tip has a fracture but is still well attached... I'm going to attempt a re-glue with epoxy and here is what I've read so far:

1. use pins to hold the crack apart
2. liberally apply golf club makers epoxy to the area
3. wrap in waxed thread (or floss)
4. remove thread and excess epoxy
5. varnish and thread wrap

Does this sound right?

[Joshua Field]

Kim had some trouble with the boards so he wasn't able to post but sent me this answer via email:

I like rod bond ( U -40) epoxy which you can get at Golden Witch. The key is to get the epoxy into the farthest reaches of the fracture. Pins, razor blades, and even a thin shiv of 35mm film is good for this.

Push/ massage the split together and whipe the worst of the excess epoxy.Wrap with heavy cotton ( synthetics stretch). Carpet thread or deli string
is about right. Start in the center of the split and wrap a ways beyond the end of the split, reverse directions and wrap past the center and past the other end of the split. Reverse direction again and wrap back to the center, more or less where you started. All wraps should be thight against each other, much as the guides or ferules are and should firm arround the rod but you don't have to be so tight you crush the rod .Tie off. Whipe off the extra epoxy. CHECK FOR STRAIGHTNESS.!!! Roll on a flat surface w/ moderate
pressure if it needs straightening.

I don't like the idea of waxed thread here. Wax can cause problems with glue adhesion and varnish adhesion, anyway you don't need it.

Let the epoxy set the required time, and remove the thread. Cut the end and just unwrap. Gently sand /scrape ( razor blade) the epoxy from the surface
of the rod ,care not to round corners, or flatten the natural curve of the cane. Best if you don't remove any cane at all, wonderful objective, not likely to be reality.
Wrap the fracture site with Persalls Gossamer silk in white, ( Golden Witch) starting bellow the site and continuing to above the site. Wrap exactly as you would wrap a guide or ferule, except do not wrap with any more than just a bit of pressure. ( do you know how to wrap guides? -- if not let me know and i'll link you to somewhere) Singe w/ ALCOHOL lamp, anything else will soot your thread and/or is too
hot. -- Just pass the wrapped section over the flame quickly. The object is to singe off all the fuzzies.
Varnish with Man-o-War spar varnish, 50/50 with turps. dry, repeat. Varnish with MOW 10% turps -- extend all varnishing to the edge of old varnish and
even overlap a bit. Continue with successive coats of 10% solution untill desired depth is desired . The wraps should be smooth and the old and new varnish should more or less blend. Rotate rod while varnis dries. I assume you don't have a rod drier handy -- no problem -- two "V" shaped notches in a cardboard box to cradle the rod and turn by hand --1/4 turn every min. or
so less as it dries. If you only laid down a thin layer ( which would be good) it will stiffen after an hour or so. A good thing to do while you are watching a movie or lurking at Clarks. Anyway the idea is to avoid sagging
of the varnish.

Let cure a coupla weeks, and sand / blend the new varnish w/ wet/dry sandpaper moisened w/ boiled linseed oil. You might need to start w/ 360 or
600 grit but want to finish w/ 1000 grit.

When you apply the 50/50 varnish the white silk should become virtually transparent. If you get the "shimmers" little air bubbles in the silk you may have wraped too tight, or it may be because of "who the hell knows what?" I apply the varnish w/ a needle ( heavy sewing needle stuck in a thin dowel) and you can try to massage in the varnish. This is just one of those things that can make you nuts, and has bee the subject of many threads on Clarks, ( search invisible wraps). At some point you may need to just give up and re-wrap.

[Joshua Field]

Here is a status report:

The epoxying went really well... I was able to use fine sewing pins to hold the cracks open while really getting the epoxy in there. Used cotton string to wrap it and was happy to find that it unwound from the epox without any trouble. I used a sharp exacto knife to get the larger bumps off of the surface and then a dull one to scrape it down to a smooth surface. I didn't end up using sandpaper at all (this is a pretty small tip - was worried sandpaper might do some damage).

I've got everything cleaned and prep'ed for winding and some white silk on order. I'll have more than enough if anyone wants some. Kim was kind enough to offer to bring varnish to the next meeting so hopefully the back-up tip will be ready to roll in a week or 2.

Thanks for the help bamboo master Kim (a.k.a. AgMD on this board)! I should've taken pictures but I was worried about the working time of the epoxy. I'll try to get some of the winding process.

An inspiring thing to watch while you work on a project like this is a Francis "digger" DeGere video which I bought a while back - Digger: Portrait of a Bamboo Fly Rod Maker. Digger, who passed away in 1999, is great to watch work and really focuses on the craft without all of the fancy equip that people seem to try and sell these days. You can borrow the VHS from me or order it here: www.aldercreekpublishing.com/videos.htm