I have some questions about the old Hardy fibalite glass rods, do the fibalite rods without the JET inscription have the same taper as the rod with the JET logo? I know that the rods with JET label are later than the ones without and both are made from Fisher glass blanks and jet stands for the rod designer Jon Tarantino.
Also was there ever a 8' 5wt and 6'6" 4wt fibalite rod?
Thanks

For the first 3 year In the late 60's Fisher sends the rod blanks from the US to Hardy in the UK, shipping got to expensive this is why Fisher set up a plant in Almwick, I have a Fibalite from 1974 with the graphite around the ferrule base, but without the JET label. I don't know when they changed to the JET labeled rods.
My understanding is first the Fiballte with out the JET label till mid 70s than with JET label and from 1980 Fibalite Perfection. JET and Fibalite Perfection are for sure different tapers the Perfection is faster.

Do you have an image of this that you can post? In 1974 neither Fisher or Hardy were selling graphite/glass mixes. What little graphite rod companies could obtain went into graphite rods.

Hardy began buying blanks from Fisher in the mid 60s. The first line of Hardy glass involving John Taratino was the Hardy Glaskona (brown wraps with gold tips). These rods had white ferrules (usually Hardy labeled glass had white ferrules, but not always). In the late 60s Fisher built a rod manufacturing line in Alnwick, England for Hardy (the Fibatube Company, a Hardy subsidiary). The JET rods came out in 1972 edit: 1970, see the post below (gold wraps with brown tips). Hardy made blanks for their own fly rods and for private label sellers, such as Sceptre. In addition, Fibatube rod blanks were sold by Angler's Mail in the US. The exact tapers may vary, but like Fisher the Fibatube made blanks had an enviable reputation for quality.


Tom

Below is three Hardy catalogues, a 1970 with Jet rods, a 1977 with Fibalites and 1979 with Fibalite Perfection rods. Not sure when they started with each model though. I have 8'6" 6wt 3-pc Jet rod from 1969 so they came before 1972. Maybe olandrea's rod H/Y (August 1974) is one of the first Fibalite models with carbon fibre reinforced spigot ferrule? An experiment? A typo? But definitely a 100% Fibalite rod.

As to difference between tapers; I have had several same Jet & Fibalite models side by side and sometimes felt the difference, dometimes did not. Things happen in 40 or so years and almost every rod feels different...like I have two identical 8'6" 6wt 3-pc Jets and the other feels slower and softer than the other...? Go figure... But the Fibalite Perfection definitely is improved and somewhat faster than the two before it.

Anyway the time frame is:
First JET
Then Fibalite
And finally Fibalite Perfection (introduced in 1979)

Great coverage ! Speaking of, was the black reinforcement intended to be further covered--reinforced--by a wrap of conventional nylon size A thread? That would be my instinct, but I don't know. Can you look or detail the catalog description further? It appears the black was a separate material applied after the blank itself was manufactured. Then the standard whippings would have been added both as trim and reinforcement--by the builder starting with a blank, or in the routine factory building practice. It appears that a thread wrap may have been removed from the rod shown, as it looks like remnants of tipping or finish below the black band. Can't see it well enough to tell what a closer examination might reveal. Someone who has seen several of those may remember if they were black at the ferrule on the factory rods or that was ordinarily reinforced further with nylon thread trim. The Sceptre blanks from the same family were reinforced at the ferrule in manufacture by an additional "flag" in the rollup at the ferrule stations. And Sceptre advised a double wrap of nylon thread. Perhaps that was based on experience with failures like the one Sash experienced.

Thanks for showing and the detail responses. Hope to learn more.

I have a few Hardys with the brown glass blanks.

I always thought the black stuff to be just color - appearance, thickness ....
So I was very surprised to read, that this should be a graphite reinforcement.

I just had a look with a 40 x magnification on 2 of my rods.
One a 10´ carp 2, the other a 9´coast master.
Both shows scratches in this black area. In some places the translucent varnish came off and leaves the pure none glossy black stuff.
It looks still just like black color.
The outer diameter of the blank is the same as 1/2 inch further up, where the blank is brown.
On one of the spigot ferrules ist a small black ring as if there would have some black color being painted on, just 1/4 inch of the black "painting".
I couldn´t see any kind of black fiber coming out of the scatches. The edges of the black stuff towards the blankends are uneven and just look like worn off color.
Even so there is the description in the katalog - I can´t belive in the "graphite reinforcment" for the rods that I have.
Maybe they started doing it like they descriped and changed it later.

The Fibalite Perfections have also this black around the ferrules. The JET has windings for reinforcement around the female ferrules. I can not believe that the succession models would have no reinforcement at all around the ferrules. Only black paint for esthetic reasons make no sense to me. Are the spigot ferrules on the JET and Fibalite solid? Can't find the British patent 1429309
What we can now assume is that JET and Fibalite rods don't share the same taper they are different.

Very interesting information. With the death of Jon Taratino in 1973 the contract with him and Hardy would end, my rod from 1974 no longer has the JET label, so 1974 could be the turning point between JET and Fibalite rods. It is questionable if there was enough time to develop new tapers for the new Fibalite rods in this short time, could be that they had already something going on with a new model. The JET rod were all ready for some years on the market it was time for something new. Or was the new only the additional layers of Carbon fibers at the ferrule station and they continued to use the JET tapers. The later Fibalite Perfections from 1980 have for sure new Design taper but still using the additional layers of Carbon fibers at the ferrule station.

Here is the link to the patent from 1972, but they start to use this method later than this
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/ ... GB1429309A
In 1972 the JET rods with the windings around the female ferrule are still going on. This changed with the Fibalite rods who have no windings around the female ferrule, so there must be an other support like the carbon fibers. They had advertisted it in their catalog, so they used this method. Your rods are maybe to early the white spigot points to the JET era, or it is not possible to see the carbon fibers from the outside.

Thanks. Great pic. I don't think I ever saw but one or two Hardy 'glass rods in their time, if at all, and never one of those. Don't recall seeing advertising in Fly Fisherman mag, either, and not up to breathing dust in the attic rummaging my stack from that time. Wondering if they were better known in Europe, or how widely available/distributed they were in the US if anyone recalls.

It turns out I have an example of all 3 generations of the Hardy glass rods we have been discussing!

Ferules, Left to Right:

- JET 3-piece 8ft #6, with the original white spigot and whipping reinforced female ferule (I omitted the top section from the photo!)

- A Fibalite “Richard Walker Carp” 10ft spinning/bait rod. It’s a big blank, and they got away with a hollow spigot (the single-handed fly rods were all solid, IIRC; I can’t remember if the Salmon models were). Note that the paint/lacquer has come away on the female ferule, with little/no evidence of any graphite or other reinforcing.

- Fibalite Perfection 8ft #6. As in other posters’ photos, The black paint/lacquer is a bit longer than the Fibalite on both sides of the ferules, but no additional thickness evident on the female ferule.

These are all good rods, and I have caught fish on all of them in the last year or so. I had many more Fibalites of different models, but don’t regret parting with them. And, interestingly, the Fibalite fly rods fish and cast rather better than some of the early Hardy Graphite rods!