Replacing Dewey Rod Handles

L

Larry Elliott

Guest
Late last year I ordered some replacement rod handles from Dewey for some rods that had shot bearings. The instructions say to clamp the rod in a soft face vice - being careful not to cut or twist the coating on the rod - and unscrew the handle using pliers on the handle ferrule. I'm sure that someone can do it that way, but Dewey uses some pretty good adhesive on the threads.

After thinking about it for awhile I unscrewed the nut that holds the handle in place which leaves the aluminum ferrule and stem on the rod. Since the handle is no longer any good anyway, it could be clamped in a vise and sawed off with a hacksaw too. Then I heated the handle stem with a propane torch for 5-10 seconds, and it could be unscrewed by hand (after it cooled down!) with no problem and without harming the rod coating.

Dewey says to use super glue or epoxy on the threads when installing the new handles, but after consulting with my machinist neighbor I decided to use blue loctite. Seems to work fine and should allow easier disassembly if it's ever needed in the future.
 
It's unfortunate we have to replace the handles on those Dewey's cuz the bearings sieze-up. :eek: I got tired of the issue 15yrs. ago, :mad: the Dewey's that were still good aro. 5 set's of 2ea. I gave away to new shooters, they thought they were the "cat's meow" over jointed rod's. I went to Pro-Shot and Neil Jones rods, they're like the old Timex watch "take a lickin and keep-on tickin, a good value no matter how ya slice it :D BTW... never had a "bearing failure" with either rod manufacture. ;)
 
2-3 years ago ( I forget) Dewey changed their handle bearings so that they have an outer race that is metal, instead of the handle plastic. The new handles work well.
 
I switched to Bore Stix rods approximately 10 years ago & don't have to rework Dewey rods/handles ever again.
 
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