Right on my Fenwick rods it says to use paraffin, but I can’t find any. I see that Loon makes a ferrule wax, but it looks black and messy. Anybody use it? Use anything else? Open to suggestions. Thanks!

Just bought a Fenwick FF85 off the auction site. Am I going to like it?

I believe St. Croix markets a ferrule wax.I think I even have some.I have only used it once but it seemed to do the job.I found it. Looks like candle wax to me. fiberglassflyrodders.com/u/1041/DSC05229.JPG[/timg]

candle wax is fine, you can buy a lifetime supply of gulf wax paraffin off of amazon for about $10.

but for a fenwick, I just like to keep the ferrule clean. Unless it is coming loose on you, keeping it clean will prevent grit from building up. Unlike bees wax which is sticky, Paraffin is a lubricant and makes the ferrule seat further. I haven't seen the need for it. I have tried it, but if you use it, put a little on and then rub all of it off with a cloth. What is left is all that you need.

totally disagree - only too much paraffin holds grit.
You have to be a bad cook (if a little bit is good, a lot is better)
Also sorry to hear that you mom never canned pear preserves.

Seriously, the first thing I do with Any rod is paraffin for the male ferrule.
The idea is to remove whatever you put on - the film that's left behind is all you need.
Keep this up - also cleaning the female ferrule with a q-tip and alcohol - and you'll never have any issues with that ferrule.

I'll stay out of the wax or no wax fray, but Tom's suggestion is spot on, go to the supermarket or Walmart to the aisle where they have canning supplies; (Ball jars, etc.) and you will find Gulf Wax in a box.

It is more than you will ever need in three lifetimes, but just so it isn't a total waste...

...keep a small piece in your toolbox to rub on wood screw threads or nails to make them go in easier or use it for sticky dresser drawers that don't have a drawer glide.

If you live where it snows and you don't fish when it snows, use it to wax your Flexible Flyer runners or in combination with a heat gun to lay a nice coating of wax on your snow shovels...

Wow! It seems like this is a definite maybe! LOL! Well… at least I know the what and where if I want to do it.

As an aside, I should have told my daughter about spigot ferrules on my CGR rod before she jammed it together so hard. Took quite awhile to get it apart. Maybe wax would’ve helped?

With glass-to-glass ferrules, you are seating the surfaces of tapered cones, like setting--much exaggerated to visualize--a highway safety cone upon another. Thus, they don't slide to together with continuous pressure increasing as the amount of surface area increases like tube-to-cylinder metal ferrules. Just snug into place when the tapered ID of the female overlaps and matches the tapered OD of the male. So cleanliness comes first, "lube" or no "lube." There isn't much frictional wear during assembly unless done sloppily. "Lubrication," as from wax, isn't primarily to slide the surfaces more easily, just as lubrication performs other functions in most applications. Film strength--just enough to suspend contaminates--is the important purpose. By applying it as bulldog described, only the thinnest film remains. One of our members years ago gave some detail on a favorite way to do this, a leather pad, rubbed to soften and absorb the wax, leaving only a film on the ferrule itself. Same idea as polishing out carnuba auto wax or shoe polish.

What good does this film do? Not essential, I guess, if you wipe your ferrule clean every time, but who does that? The wax film is not thick or viscous enough to hold any bulky abrasives, and the rod would not assemble right if it got really dirty somehow, wax or no wax. What the wax film does is repel water--remember the car wax--and suspend any mineral fines or fine debris left behind. Silicates, just as they gradually wear guides, are the most damaging source of gradual wear. And the ferrule surfaces do get damp on occasion in outdoor use, just as there is exposure to airborne particles. The wax film repels them or suspends them, thus preventing wear to the ferrule surface itself. Now when the rod is assembled or disassembled, or works slightly in use, the film does its "lubrication" job, minimizing the effect of any suspended fines.

I disagree with one point above. A lifetime or three lifetimes is a low estimate for one pack of canning wax. Just one slab could go four, maybe five. One votive candle will do, and they can still light it when they bury you with your favorite fly rod. If you use beeswax on spigots as Winston recommended, one little container from a sewing shop will last a a lifetime, and your heirs will still be able to wax up some thread and sew the buttons back on your old fishing shirts.

I remember rubbing metal ferrules on the
side of my nose to get a little natural lube.
On my fiberglass and graphite rods I rub on a little candle wax and then try my best to wipe
it all off.

I made that stuff ONCE... (which is maybe why I still have so much left over wax )

When I want liquid floatant now, I buy the stuff Harry Murray makes which is probably the same stuff in a fancy bottle...

A 3-4" piece of taper candle is the secret to starting a fire with one match in wind or rain and as such should be included on all outdoors outings, in the years that I worked in the woods I carried one in my pocket most days, keep one in each pack or vest and it will always be available to lube your ferrules between fire duties. Rub it on then rub it off. The remaining thin film won't be thick enough to hold grit and it will fill in some of the imperfections of the ferrules while providing lube.

used soap on the wood screw threads, when replacing the wood gunwales on a canoe. Then used the bar of soap, my wife looked at me funny and asked why the soap had holes in it.. maybe I will get some Gulf ;-)

waxing the snow shovel, never thought of that, brilliant !

I struggle with the ferrules on Phillipsons, clean them about every 3rd outing because they'll start to jam before seating properly. I'll try the paraffin..

I've always rubbed a little candle wax on graphite ferrules, but now starting to question whether this is beneficial or not? On the plus side, I've never had two graphite ferrules "get stuck" or become loose.

No. Soap attracts dirt until you wash it off.


Tom