removing butt cap

[DireWolf53]

I just received a birth year rod (6'6""Orvis Deluxe 1953). the rod itself is in excellent condition but the finish on the reel seat spacer was virtually
gone and there were some black water marks. I've carefully removed what was left of the finish cleared up the water marks and would now like to refinish the spacer. Removing the butt cap would make it easier to do the wood work...having searched the forum I have seen the recommendation to wrap the rod and dip the cap only into boiling water for a period of time. That seems iffy to me. Am I being too cautious? Isn't there a risk of delaminating the rod? Any advice from makers/restorers would be appreciated.
FWIW the cap is not pinned. I've attached a photo below.

[sanderson]

I've removed butt caps using a heat gun, carefully heating as I go until the glue breaks down and it easily pulls off.

[mentorsteve]

Use a plastic bag to keep water from contact with bamboo.

[mduval]

Heat gun, heat gun, heat gun. Start slowly with the heat, May need a few cycles of hot, cold, hot... If you ever need to go really hot you can wrap a rag around the wood just to be safe.

[DireWolf53]

Thanks guys, I just used the boiling water in a bag method and the cap came off cleanly after 3-5 mins in very slowly boiling water.
It did not take 10-15 as recommended in another thread. Now on to finishing the wood spacer.
Thanks again.

[SpringCreek]

For future reference removing the cap isn't necessary. You can use products like Arrow Wood Finish to hand rub a finish on the seat while it is in place. I can't speak for other products, but Arrow is compatible with virtually everything. Over the old finish, no problem. On unfinished wood, no problem. The process is a little different, but the results are the same. May not be as quick as other methods, but it isn't invasive.

[DireWolf53]

For future reference removing the cap isn't necessary. You can use products like Arrow Wood Finish to hand rub a finish on the seat while it is in place. I can't speak for other products, but Arrow is compatible with virtually everything. Over the old finish, no problem. On unfinished wood, no problem. The process is a little different, but the results are the same. May not be as quick as other methods, but it isn't invasive.

Thanks that's good to know. I went with removing the cap so as not to have to work around the ring. I'll look into Arrow as it is going to rain here for the next few days and I have plenty of time to think about it.
PJ