The Mezz Ignite I ordered finally arrived with the outer box looking like Fedex stomped on it. The inner box with the shaft was a bit damaged through all the bubble wrap, but the shaft itself looked OK. Upon closer examination, I noticed a faint line running straight up and down the shaft. Is that normal and part of the process to make carbon fiber shafts?
Vertical line on carbon fiber shaft?
- Thread starter chenjy9
- Start date
Nope
It can be, All the Cuetec Cynergy CF Composite shafts have that line. They don't spray the carbon fiber onto the shaft.
Thanks, I sent a message to Mezz USA asking about it.
They lay carbon fibers onto a mandrel in a spiral formation
Its possible they lay these up instead of filament winding. If so the line would be visible.
I’ve got 7 Ignite shafts. I’ll check them out tomorrow and send out an updated post. From my memory, I do not think I’ve ever seen a line like that on any of mine. However, I don’t think it has anything to do with the damage to the box during shipping.
I would be contacting Mezz in a New York minute. Especially giving the cost of a Mezz Ignite shaft. That appears to be a defect in manufacture to me. I see in post #4 you have done so already, please keep us up on their reply. I have been considering a Mezz CF shaft for quite some time...
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Here is a link to how CF is used in fishing rod blanks. https://rodgeeks.com/pages/blank-tech#carbonfiber This is just an example of how specialized the CF shafts can be made....
Having made my own rods out of bamboo, fiberglass and carbon fiber I can say that all had a spine/spline in the blank no matter which material was used in construction. It is important to locate that spine especially when making a rod in sections like a travel fly rod. That spine should be located on either the top or bottom of the fishing rod according to how it is going to be used. That is when looking directly down on the blank from above.
Does this mean it's expected to have that line then?
NO I did not intend that at all. In fact I believe the opposite is true. I will wait to hear what Chris in Boone has to say about the shafts he has and more importantly the response from Mezz. I do not expect Mezz to give any solid technical answer as to what or why the line is there, but it will be very interesting to see what they do and say, if they say much other than they will be willing to replace it and compensate you for any shipping/delivery cost..
Flag-wrapping prepeg sheets around a mandrel will always leave a line. On golf shafts/rods you don't see it 'cause they're painted. Another method is filament-winding cf thread onto a mandrel. Revo's are made this way. AFAIK this method leaves no lines.
Bamboo has a spine just from growth characteristics. Critical when building rods for small streams or any area with a lot of woods behind a fishermen, where roll casting is used a lot. Guides up or down and where it is optimal for the application, that is the ticket. I would think that filament wrapping would be the better/best option for pool cue shafts for obvious reasons..
middleofnowhere
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From the picture It looks pitted with little voids. Looks like the coating is not well done.
Most rods these days are spineless filament wound cf. Same with the golf shafts. I guess some rod makers still use prepreg sheets. The latest MFW(multiple filament winding) machines are VERY expensive. Mostly used in aerospace, F1 cars,etc.
A lot of cf looks that way up close. These cue shafts are just super-finely sanded. Basically left in-the-raw. That's how they achieve the super-slick finish.
Just checked all 8 of my ignite shafts and none of them have a line on them that looks as noticeable as yours. On some of them I could make out an extremely faint line, but nothing like yours.
I assume if you run your fingertip across it you can’t feel it at all? It will absolutely not affect your playing in any way. But if it bothers you, I would contact them before using it. Once you use it, it might be harder to return/replace.
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I still think we're looking at cosmetic deal. Have you hit a ball with it? If it's structural you'd know pretty quick. I just msg'd another small-volume builder who buys his tubes. He said all flag-wrapped prepreg tubes have lines on them to some degree. Its where the sheets intersect/overlap. After sanding to final finish there are still lines visible. Even with filament winding depending on the direction of the tow(cf thread) you might see lines. Not saying that this case is 100% cosmetic but it looks likely.
Thank you for the info. I have not shot with it yet because once I chalk the shaft, I will not be able to return/exchange it unless it’s covered under the warranty.
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