Some 25 plus years ago I acquired several “now” vintage fiberglass spinning and bait casting rod blanks. They sat in a corner of my shop until I found this website and was inspired to build them into finished rods. Now these are some of my favorite rods.

There are two Fenwick blanks that I’d like to build, but not sure how because of their unique characteristics. For the sake of brevity I’ll address one of the rod blanks in this post.

It is a Fenwick SC 622. I believe the SC denotes a “spin cast” rod and it has a metal ferrell on the butt end that would fit into a spin/casting rod handle. There are no other designations inscribed on the rod blank defining rod action, line or lure weight. The rod blank is only five feet long and with a spin/cast handle a finished rod should be close to six feet. It has a very light action that I would describe as between ultra light and light action.





Even if I could find a spin/bait cast handle to fit the ferrel, I believe this would make a better spinning rod. To make this into a spinning rod would require removal of the ferrell and probably a stint glued into the butt end of the rod blank that a cork spinning rod handle could be built. Something like this 8 inch handle on another Fenwick ultra light.



I can’t see building the cork handle on the blank because that would have an effect on the action.

The stint would obviously need to be about 10 inches long to accommodate the 8 inch cork handle and 2 inches to be glued up into the rod blank.

My concern is with that lengthy of a stint, will it pose any issues as the only stints I’ve used were 3 to 4 inches long to accommodate a fly reel seat.

Also, if I can’t find a solid fiberglass stint of this length, could a substitute stint of a wooden dowel be used.

Finally, would prefer not to cut the metal ferrel off. Can it be removed by soaking in hot water or some other source of heat that would not damage the rod blank?

Or, am I missing something that would work even better? All suggestions appreciated.

Matt offers a nice grip there. Personally, I would lop that male aluminum ferrule off in a "NY secont" for all the aggravation it's going to cause. If you want, try some gentle heat directly to the ferrule, or give boil-in-a bag a try.

You can use a wooden dowel for a stent, but I think a 10" glass or graphite would be lighter, and the slight flex you would gain might make the rod feel more comfortable in-hand. You probably only need overlap the blank 1.5", or 2" max, so a 12" section out of an old rod, might be all you need. Try to get as close as you can to the inside taper of the blank.

Well done! I like it