Today I bit the bullet (apologies to Bullet). I cut the first quarter inch off the no,4 male end of my pole. Somehow I had managed to get a small split which I was concerned would spread down.
I wrapped the limit with masking tape and off I went with a fine hacksaw blade. The end was finished with fine wet and dry.
The result is pleasing and I cannot see that tiny piece affecting its strength.
Its something I have been putting off and dreading.
Cant wait to try it.
I know what you mean -always one slip from an expensive mistake. I've got a little saw that's very very finely serrated, or sometimes use the edge of a file to grind grind through, as it's the teeth snagging that causes splits.
It's worth putting something into the male end of sections you unship a lot. The bottom one here is a Maver Clean Cap - a tough foam plug, a bit oversize. The idea is, being oversize, it wipes out the female joint and prevents the make section being split or crushed in use.
The one avove is one of a pair mail-ordered from Leslies of Luton nearly 30 years ago. It's a hard plastic which protruded in a cone another 1/2 ". I cut it back to sit 1/8" proud, glued it in, and it has stayed put since then.
The fact that these sections are still in use after all this time and countless bags of fish proves their value. I also regularly coat mail joints in a product called Joint Save. Preston don't sell it any more - I bought the last 3 bottles in a local shop - but you can get a dry PTFE spray which you'll find next to WD 40 etc.
After he'd watched me faff about cutting back pole top sections to fit bushes, my engineer mate, sadly not here anymore, turned up a couple of days later with this ingenious jig. it even has two sizes of groove for thick and thin tips!
