What do you all do with “failed” rods

[Franknrod]

Makers who sell their rods often destroy their mistakes since reputations are hard to build and easy to lose. They do not want someone to judge their work based on someone trying out a rod they had given away.

Since I do not sell my rods, I save unsatisfactory rods to study my mistakes and possibly to repurpose into something usable by scarfing on a section, reducing the length etc.

I hate to waste anything - I blame this philosophy on my Irish-American upbringing! :-)

[BigTJ]

Kindling.

[Anders Johannesson]

If I for one reason or another are not satisfied the blank goes to the garbage bin.

Perhaps can it be used for some testing in the shop à la ’’is the dip tube okay” turning to check sharpness of tooling or similar tasks

In some cases they can be handles for dubbing needle for someones fly tying desk

[Badger Matt]

I use one of my mine as a trial rod for new wraps to see how they’ll look under varnish, with and without color preserver.

[tapermaker]

I use mine to scratch the backs of 2 dogs and 3 cats . they line up and wait their turns .

[Trains&Canes]

Here are a few uses for unrepairable sections: When I had a garden, they were excellent tomato stakes. I put a piece of twine on one tip, to practice casting while watching TV. With assorted feathers from the fly tying box, and a tip section, I have fashioned cat toys which keep us all entertained, but I would love to find homes for two of the three we have.