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For 30 years plus, I've been using contact cements for ferrule fitting. First it  was  Reed's  Ferruleflex  (anyone remember Reed's?), and then Weldwood Contact Cement, flammable (That's important. The fireproof type is NG). I played around with Pliobond which is great for knots and things but found Weldwood to be superior for ferrules.  (Bill Fink)

Weldwood flammable contact cement is best for ferrules, felt soles and any tough job, in my experience. Pliobond is best for knots and things like that.  (Bill Fink)

For years I've used Weldwood contact cement for ferrule mounting with complete success. I get good tight fits and this glue never hardens.  (Bill Fink)

I can understand why you might like contact cement, but I can't quite figure how you get the ferrules to seat on the ferrule station since CC bonds instantaneously.  Another question do you hammer it once you have joined the pieces.    (Ralph Moon)

Ralph raises a good question. CC does indeed bond instantaneously. But it also softens with heat. So what I do is to apply the glue to both surfaces, cane and ferrule interiors and let it dry for an hour or more. Now it will grab like crazy. I then light my alcohol lamp (a Zippo or lighter will work) and warm the ferrule and the cane, and start inserting, adding more heat as needed to fully seat the ferrule, with substantial pushing. I hand-fit my ferrules pretty tightly. I also clean the ID's of my ferrules with a broken-off chain saw file. Maybe that helps.  (Bill Fink)

The first few rods I made I used an Australian epoxy  (24 hour Araldite).

On rod #1, I used a very dubious set of ferrules, not knowing any better (ferrule tabs fell off, male was visibly oval etc. etc.). The problem came about a couple of years later when I couldn't stand the slop when casting and I came to replace them. A couple came off with heat (it was a 3/2 rod) but one of the tip males wouldn't budge. More and more heat, from an alcohol lamp. BANG, it came of like a firecracker, put a dent in the wall of my kitchen, and left the end of the rod section like a frayed cigar in a Yosemite Sam's mouth after Bugs Bunny has blown him up.

Rod #2, with the same glue, had the ferrules glued on during a day of about 43 degrees Celsius (110 F). After I moved back to somewhere cooler, I was lawn casting the rod in 0 degrees C (32 F),  (out of the Frying Pan, into the Freezer), and disassembling the rod, 2 of the ferrules literally fell of. I pushed them back on, sulked of home, where it was warmer. Guess what. Couldn't get them off again! Managed to get them off with some effort, reglued them, pinned them. OK since then.

Since then, over several years, I've built close to 100 rods, using Ferrule-Tite, and pinning, without any problems. Why? They won't budge, but if you want to get one off, just knock the pin out and apply some mild heat from an alcohol burner. Touch wood, I haven't had any come back yet though...  (Nick Taransky)

I have used 24 hour epoxy (Araldite) for circa 40 rods made over the last fifteen years and have never had a failure yet. One of these rods (my own) has caught in excess of 1200 fish (I keep a log) and is fished up to three times a week (in season). I never pin my ferrules as I am a firm believer this does nothing but weaken the joint. The trick when using epoxy is to MAKE SURE THE FERRULE IS A VERY TIGHT FIT TO THE CANE AND HAS TO BE PUSHED ON TO THE CANE HARD. Epoxy needs a thin glue line to maximize strength. If the ferrule is a relative easy fit to the cane when gluing then epoxy will not work.

Always use SLOW set 24 hr epoxy. The fast set 15 minute adhesive is useless for ferruling.  (Paul Blakley)

With the commercially available epoxies:  the slower the cure, the less brittle the bond (more flexibility).  A 24-hour epoxy sounds just like the right stuff.  (Rich Margiotta)

Let me tell you what I know of the history of using contact cement to bond ferrules. Back in the 60's the popular cement was the stick-glue, melted by any convenient heat source like a Zippo, and smeared on the mating surfaces. With a little more heat you had a bond. For a while. This may be why so many ferrules were pinned in that era.

I was unimpressed and looked for something better. The REED FLY CO.  located in N. Jersey and long since gone, had a product called FerruleFlex(?). I tried it and liked it. It was a modified contact cement and I used it 'til the supply was gone. I had a supply of  Pliobond which I used for coating of line and leader knots. I also had a supply of Weldwood flammable contact cement which I used for the heavy jobs like securing felt pads to wader feet, tough job indeed. I went with the Weldwood (now marketed by DAP) and never looked back. Which is better?  I've made no measurements and it's probably a toss-up. But contact cement in general has a lot of advantages: never hardening,  easy removable, easy to use and easy availability.

There's been a lot of good comments about the "flambé''' usage of Pliobond. I minimize the pyrotechnics and mostly just gently warm the mated pair with lots of pressure. I try to always allow escape channels for the excess glue.  (Bill Fink)