For the builders: Extending a butt to become a handle?

[gfen]

So, the rod I'm interested in purchasing comes with a fighting butt attached. The butt itself is cork rings mounted directly onto a piece of the blank that extends beyond the reel seat.

Ergo, it should be easy to cut and peel the cork off. This would leave me with ~2" of open blank.

Now, I've read you can just epoxy a piece of cut-off scrap blank to where the rod ends, and then put cork over it to make the handle, but that seems like it would introduce a real convienent place to break, especially as I want a longer handle to facilitate the occasional two-handed overhead cast.

Would it be possible to purchase a piece of aluminum tubing from the hardware store, expoxy this to the 2" of exposed blank and then cover with cork rings to form the handle of my desired length? IE, the extended handle is 5", 2" over the blank and 3" over just hollow tube.

Do-able, or am I simply building a point where the tube ends upa gainst the reel handle where it'll sheer off the blank eventually, anyways?

 

[jayL]

Unless you get a snug fit, I think you will be in danger of damaging the blank. Luckily, the damage should be inside the reel seat, so it shouldn't be that risky.

If it's snug and doesn't rattle, it could be fine. I'd give it a shot. It should be recoverable if you don't like it.

 

[Fredrick]

use tape to build up the blank to get the fit yoyu want

 

[gfen]

So far, this seems like a pretty easy and lwo cost mod to the rod... What kind of tape do you use, and are we talking using someting like 5 minute epoxy to glue the extension on, or am I going to have to get something specifically built for this in a quanity I'll never actually use?

Otherwise, its a matter of buying rod, and then buying some cork from a retailer and putting it all together.

 

[jayL]

I used masking tape on the blank to get a good fit.

 

[CPR]

Your on the right track. Strip the cork off the blank and then sand off all the residue. Watch that you don't actually sand into the graphite of the blank though. Scruffing the surface is OK, getting down into the scrim is not.

Take a piece of scrap blank and measure it out so that it will OVERSLEEVE the blank of the rod. You want it to cover the rod blank up to where it will meet the reel seat plus however long you want your extention to be. You'll figure it out.

You want it to be a snug fit but not to tight and not too loose.

Use a rod builders epoxy. I'd suggest rodbond.

http://www.mudhole.com/Shop-Our-Catalog/U-40/U-40-Rod-Bond

It's crazy strong, waterproof, and it's a paste so it stays where you put it! Unlike a liquid epoxy which will run all out from under the sleeve and all over you. Cleans up with rubbing alcohol also.

Attach the scrap blank and don't be stingy with the epoxy.

Give it 24 hours to cure and your good to attach your piece of cork. Use the rodbond for that too.

I'd suggest using a low modulus graphite blank or fiberglass for the extention as they will be less brittle and more secure.

Let me know if you have any questions.
matt

 

[gfen]

CPR wrote:
Let me know if you have any questions.
matt

Just one, because I've never actually seen any of the raw materials: The scrap blank is, or can be easily, hollow? Ergo, I'm actually just going to sleeve over with the scrap rather than relying on a piece of something else to act as my sleeve.

I just assumed there was a fill up the whole thing, because, well, its the only way I've ever seen a rod, but its actually hollow the whole way up not unlike where the female ferrule might be on a factory rod?

Well, heck. That makes it easier. After that, I guess its a matter of hitting a place like rodbuilder.org up with a few measurements and a well-phrased plea for someone's scrap.

 

[CPR]

blanks are made by wrapping graphite or fiberglass cloth around steel mandrels. Once glued and baked, the madrels are removed so the blanks are hollow up through the tip.

Over-sleeving is ideal for strength but depending on the taper of your rods blank it may not be possible and you will then need to insert the scrap blank into the butt of your rods blank and do it than way. That will create the most secure bond between the two becuase the tapers will be congruent but it will put stress on the inner wall of the rod blank, much like at the ferrule points. It's better to have the scrap blank crack than the rod blank. I've extended quite a rods though and have never had one fail.
It sounds a lot more complicated than it is. Just strip the cork of your rod and get a piece of scrap blank. It's pretty self explanatory.

I'd suggest this forum www.rodbuildingforum.com

if you can't find a piece of blank local send me an email and I'll get a piece to you.

matt

 

[gfen]

Thanks very much, I'm definatly going to give this a shot.

 

[CPR]

Just a final thought to answer your question about the make up of the blank. The solid end you see on the male end of each section is plugged. The section is hollow but they plug the end for aesthetic reasons, I guess.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

gfen - check this out...

 

[gfen]

Y'know, I didn't even think to see what LL Bean was dropping for the new year... THis is pretty fancy, and slots right in among the TFO and Echo factory rods I was looking at.

I was actually pretty pleased with the Teeny you had, enough that I've moved it to the fore front of options. With a little cramping, I could do a second hand on just a butt, but extending it 6" would've opened it up, and kept rod to a pretty managle length, coz honestly, what the hell am I gonna do with an 11.5' rod around here.

I'm not buying anything til after Somerset, so that's some time for Bean to get tehse in stock. I'd like to see how light it is, but if I get dragged out for steelhead next fall, I think I could see my way to adding an 11.5' 6wt to the quiver.

 

[abbrod]

CPR has given you good advice. I would only add that you should ensure that you have at least 6 times the butt diameter in length to oversleeve your extension to avoid possible failure. Personally though, I would just build a rod from scratch rather than retrofit something like that. You'll spend the same time or more extending and adding a small cork section as you would just mounting an entire assembly. Add a few more hours to wrap the guides and you got the finished product exactly as you want with all your sections the same length. This is important if your rod has a tube with it because it will no longer fit you extended section. Just something to think about. I have built many rods with these longer butts.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vJDrkeOfvyM/S0KubCa9e2I/AAAAAAAAACU/WSzdp86oZGI/s1600-h/Steelhead+rods+with+long+FB.JPG

 

[gfen]

I don't want to undertake the effort, and this seems like a good way to start the learning process a bit.

Also, I doubt I'd be doing this out of the gate, but I'm happy knowing hte option is not only there, but is actually pretty easy in the scheme of things.

Down the line I'm going to attempt a full build, just not yet.