I need some insight into what might be happening. I'm hand fitting a set of ferrules and am working with 1200 grit paper and 0000 steel wool. As the fitting is progressing all of a sudden it feels like the bottom falls out of the ferrule and I have lost the fit. I now have a ferrule that fits up to a point and then just slops. I mic the male and it appears to be consistent along the length(no signs of a waver in the dimension). Not being able to check the female dimension the total length of the fit I'm at a loss. I had this happen another time and just got another ferrule. Would like to be able to give feedback to the person making the ferrule or have an idea myself what is happening. (Jim Tefft)

Is the male ferrule being inserted straight in? If it is, it sounds like the female may be tapering to a larger diameter as it gets to the bottom, or it may have been reamed out of round the further you get into the barrel. (Mark Wendt)

Sounds like you have some poorly made ferrules. I found that same thing once on a set of ferrules made by a friend of mine (not currently on this list). I finally figured out that the money I saved bluing ferrules that cost a few dollars less per set would have been better spent on quality products. I now use only ferrules by CSE (Bailey Wood), REC, and Tony Larson. I really have no favorites among those, but have chosen to build all my rods with the same style of ferrules and will only buy from one maker in the future. (Harry Boyd)

I like those three as well. The range of sizes from CSE is really nice. I like to use a truncated on the butt of 3-piece rods with a full size on the tip.

I used an REC Uniferrule for the first time recently and it fit easily and looks great on the rod.

I'm looking forward to using the step-downs I got from Tony. (Jerry Madigan)

On my latest rod, I got lazy and didn't mic the male ferrules often enough while lapping them, and ended up with a sloppy fit. I was checking the fit regularly, but didn't realize the tip of the male ferrule was causing it to fit tight rather than the shoulder of the ferrule. One of the tips makes the nice "pop" sound when you pull them apart but has a little click, almost a hinging effect when the rod is flexed, and the other is just plain sloppy with minimal "pop". My question is: are these ferrules ruined, or can they be salvaged. Can a guy rub them with a little beeswax or other such "lubricant" (the kind people said I should use on ferrules as a kid) or do they need to be removed from the rod and thrown away? (Wade Turner)

There are 2 things I know of besides deforming the male that may make the rod usable. One is to use hard candle wax. It does not attract grime like beeswax. The other is to smear a little super glue on a clean male end and when it is dry, sand it lightly to fit. This will last a surprising length of time.  (Timothy Troester)

You can try this, it has worked for me on some old rods with loose ferrules. Wrap one layer of masking tape around the female ferrule, make the ends of the tape flush. Using a three jaw chuck, tighten it on the ferrule just a bit, loosen and turn the ferrule 1/3 turn and tighten again. Be sure that the welt of the ferrule is back behind the inner part of the jaws as not to damage the welt. Tighten just a slight bit at a time and check the fit each time. Hope that will work for you.

I fit my ferrules before gluing them on. (Tony Spezio)

Another trick that I've used is to use a couple pieces of lead as a hammer and anvil. The lead is soft and will not mar the nickel silver. Rest the female ferrule on one piece of lead and use the other to tap on the ferrule as you rotate it. Check the fit frequently and gradually reduce the size of the female until you get the fit you want on the smaller of the two males, then fit the remaining male. (Robert Kope)

There are a lot of tricks like wax or squeezing the female, etc. But, these don't really work all that well. The best way to take care of this is to either replace the ferrules and start over, or the males can be nickel plated and refitted to the female. I just did two sets this weekend for a couple of guys.

If you decide you would like to get them built up with nickel plate and refitted, just email me and I will see what I can do to fix this problem for you. (Dave LeClair)

I have a 2 piece Wojnicki rod; one tip fits perfectly but the other tip is very tight and I can only seat the ferrule about 3/4 of up the male ferrule. Obviously the problem is with the male ferrule on the tip since the other tip fits great, right? I have cleaned both the male and female ferrules thoroughly. So what's the next step? I'm open to any suggestions. (Bob Murphy)

My first suggestion would be to contact the maker and see if he can adjust the fit for you. If that won't work, I have a minor treatise on ferrule refitting I would be happy to share with you. (Harry Boyd)

I am sure many of us would like to see this. Is it on the tip's site? If not, it might be nice to have it there. (Rich Jezioro)

Not sure if I have posted this to the List before, but most of the information was, I'm sure, gleaned from generous friends here and other places. Sorry if I fail to credit anyone (John Gierach) I should.

Below is what I send out with each new rod I ship. I include some 1000g sandpaper,some Q-tips, and some 4/0 steel wool in a little "Rod Care Kit," and these instructions.

Boyd Rod Company

Adjusting Ferrule Fits

A proper fit on ferrules is essential to the well-being of your rod. The male ferrule should seat all the way to its shoulder. If it doesn't fit all the way you run a serious risk of damaging the rod. My ferrules fit fairly snug, and require a good steady push to seat fully. Always keep your hands close together while seating the ferrules, and keep your hands as far apart as possible when unseating them. Remember the mantra "Hands together, rod together. Hands apart, rod apart."

No one seems to understand why ferrules "grow" a little after the rod is a few months old, but it is not unusual. I'm glad to give a little instruction on re-fitting the ferrules. I'll be just as happy to re-work them myself if you send me the rod. The choice is yours.

To re-size the ferrules, start by cleaning the male slide and the interior of the female with some kitchen cleaner like Formula 409 or Fantastik. If that doesn't do the trick, start with some Scotch tape. Tape off the shoulder of the male ferrule and the ferrule wrap. Cover the Scotch tape with a wrap or two of masking tape. If you don't still have what I sent you when your rod was delivered, get some 1000 g sandpaper from the auto section of Walmart, and some 4/0 steel wool. I always send along plenty to make the ferrules fit perfectly again.

First, before you start, be sure _you_ try to seat the ferrules yourself. Most folks are scared to put enough pressure on them, but remember "hands together, rod together - hands apart, rod apart." A good nickel silver ferrule takes more pressure to seat than a graphite ferrule. It should fit with about the same pressure it takes to fasten your belt a notch or two tighter than is really comfortable.

If the ferrules don't fit on the first attempt, try just a little steel wool polishing. In fact, I carry steel wool in my reel bag and polish male ferrules almost every time I put the rod together. Make a "rope" of steel wool by pulling off a little steel wool from a pad. Wrap the rope around the male end of the ferrule and give it 4-8 twists. Wipe the male off on a paper towel (or your t-shirt) and set it aside. Stuff the rope of steel wool down in the female ferrule and give it a few twists. Then clean out the female with a Q-tip, and give the ferrule another try. If a few tries with the steel wool doesn't do the trick, it's time to go to the sandpaper.

Wrap a small piece (2.5" by 3/4" to 1") of the 1000g sandpaper around the male ferrule. Hold both ends of the paper in one hand and keep things just snug, not tight. With the other hand, give the rod 2-4 turns. Remember, you can always take off a little more, but it's tough to put it back on. You should see a very fine scratch pattern on the ferrule. Polish the scratches away with 8-10 turns of the steel wool. Wipe on the paper towel again, and test. This may well do the trick. If it doesn't, be patient. Make a few more turns with the 1000 grit, and the steel wool, and try it again. Remember, never go more than half a dozen turns with the sandpaper/steel wool between fitting attempts. The difference between a good fit and a loose fit is only .0001"!!! Of course with 1000g sandpaper, you are only removing a teeny-tiny fraction of a thousandth per turn.

This all sounds more scary and difficult than it really is. I can fit all the ferrules on a 3pc 2 tip rod in half an hour. It isn't hard to do. Once you've done this the first time, it won't seem so scary. Go slow, test often, and you will do fine. But my offer to do this for you always holds. It only takes me minutes to do this, and if you don't want to fool with it I'll get the rod back to you in less than a week. (Harry Boyd)

Three strokes with fine steel wool. Try the fit, and repeat as necessary. One gets better with practice, but I typically never do remove enough being very conservative about reducing male ferrules.

However... be sure that clean both the male & female ferrules thoroughly first, before even contemplating resorting to more drastic measures. I use conventional silver polish, with Q-tips for the female ferrule. (David Zincavage)

The first thing that I would do would be to carefully mic the ferrule that fits in several places and then do the same to the tight one. That way you can determine what the problem is. IE, a bulge, out of round, bent or just oversized.

If it is a nickel silver ferrule you can probably remove a bulge or take down some extra material. However, if it is a plated ferrule you will very likely expose some of the metal that the ferrule is made of. I have made out of round and bent ferrules work, but I have never been satisfied with the results. They never have that "pop" when pulled apart. (Don Sargent)