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Thought I'd give an update in the education of this newbie, still. Through a forced relaxation period (hospital, etc for a few days) I have been at home trying to get back on task with something rodbuilding. I had finally gotten the correct ferrules, but they weren't slit or serrated. So that had put me off trying to figure what to do. Didn't want to build a new tool for one set. And the margin for error (therefore prettiness) drops considerably doing it by hand. So I borrowed my brother's jeweler's saw. Cut a narrow strip of masking tape and wrapped it around the openings of the ferrule pieces to get a circumference. Using that I could get a measurement and markout/layout ticks for where the slits should go. Worked pretty well, if I say so myself. I had to cut each slit individually for fear that the blade on the saw would torque and break. Me not having a spare. I put a small nick at each spot, then cut away. I could hold the ferrule flat and sight down the saw blade at the ferrule piece body to keep reasonably straight. Took me about an hour to get the cuts done. I used my digital caliper to ensure that each slit was at least a certain length long/deep. I did have a few mis-nicked spots about a saw blade width off, which would have looked quite bad, actually, but I simply moved over and cut in the right spot. I think I was lucky. It is amazing how thick a sharp pen mark can be! The mis-nicks weren't deep enough to be troublesome, and later during crowning, those disappeared. Once the slits were made, I went to work on crowning. I was doing the sandpaper through opposite slits process, but my hands kept getting tired. (due to the forced relaxation) so I attempted to use a dremel tool. Well, I didn't kill the ferrule piece, but I stopped using the dremel. I guess right now I am not steady enough for doing it that way. So I trolled the tips site and saw Al Baudauski's drawing of the 'flipper' and quickly made one of those out of 1.5x3.25 lath. (Thanks Al!) I had also gotten on sale a handful of small metal, orange-handled clamps from Ace, for a buck each, so that gave me a great opportunity to prove my random purchases there weren't all for nought. So only took me another hour to finish crowning. I think I learned enough that the next one won't be so time-imvolved. Just as a side note. I had earlier checked out all the machine shops in the area, and had found one that claimed he could make me ferrules for around $20 a set, but to hedge his bet, he said $25. He finally got back to me (three months) and said that unless I would order hundreds, he wouldn't touch it, and that each set would cost about $120. At least he was willing to consider it. The others simply refused outright. And they all have CNC machines to feed. So to all you who make ferrules for us consumers, my gratitude goes out to you. You make what we do (or try to do) even possible. Now to prep for gluing them on. The bamboo sections are already to go, having done the fitting already (before the slitting). So my saga continues. My first official complete hex rod, I am now working on trying to complete before two years are over. That mark comes up this summer. But I may actually have about 5 rods nearly complete by then as I have several others rough tapered out. Thank you all for your patience, and help and reading my long posts. From Idaho, where the wind keeps blowing one farmer's land into another's, and the sun still has sleep in it's eye. (Sam Nielson)
Now that Dave LeClair has retired, anyone else that can plate over-lapped ferrules? After Tim Abbot’s demo at Roscoe, I ordered the Caswell Plug N’ Plate Nickel Kit from www.caswellplating.com. Cost with shipping to Maine was about $44. Have restored a few ferrules with the kit since receiving it. Not much to it, a small power supply and the Nickel solution and some electrodes but works well and takes less than 5 minutes of plating time. Important to heat the solution in the microwave and warm the ferrule in hot water before plating. Plating seems harder than the original NS and takes some time to lap to proper fit again. If you want, you can drive up to the shop and try mine. (Tom Whittle) I have the kit and have tried twice without getting positive results. All I get is a smutty deposit the rubs off very easily. What am I doing wrong? Could you give me an idea of the extent of heating the solution and the ferrules? Solution heating in the microwave: for how long and at which power level and heating the ferrules under very hot water? (Alex Vardanis) I had similar problems at first, either smutty deposits like you or plating that could be peeled off with fingernail. Then I read the “Technical Tips” on page 5 of the Caswell instructions. I use my Micro Temp IR stream thermometer to check the water and solution temps out of the microwave, less than 1 minute for the volumes I use. I plated ferrules on the rod by hanging the ferrule into a container of water that was 140 degrees out of the microwave while getting the solution ready. Heat solution to 140 degrees or so out of microwave, switch the rod to hang into the solution, hook up electrodes and plate for 4 to 5 minutes. I also stir the solution while plating. (Tom Whittle) You can also make a female compression tool from a small tube cutter. Just remove the cutting wheel and make a brass roller. Works a real treat! Of course, you will have to lap the "good" tip ferrule. (Tom Lucas) We have a local commercial electroplating company (micro-business) who are happy to do it for about $10-15 and they do a great job. I am sure that you will have a similar enterprise over there. (Peter McKean)
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