I recently had a warranty blank that was replaced, when I got the new blank it was just HORRIBLE. I am not going to mention names of manufactures here, but I have heard from another builder that agreed the quality (straightness being the big complaint) of the blanks from a couple of manufactures?

Is anyone else seeing this trend? Is it the decisions of many companies to move manufacturing overseas? Or are the cutting corners to compete with overseas prices here in the US?
Thanks Dave

I've seen very few straight rod blanks in my day and I've been building rod for over 25 years now. Obviously, there's a difference between a gentle overall bend and severe crooks or kinks, but I'm not so sure that this is any worse than it has been in the last 15 years or so. High modulus graphite blanks are almost never going to be extremely straight. You're dealing with very fine diameters (some mandrels have tips not much larger than few human hairs) and somewhat difficult materials. So I guess that depends on just how bowed or warped you're actually talking about.

The blanks made overseas and sold through US companies actually seem to be on the upswing both quality and performance-wise. Go back 10 or more years and the blanks coming from the orient were almost laughable. You can't say that now.

Across the board, I can't say I have seen a drop in quality - if anything, today there are more quality products available for the rod builder than ever before.

...................

Two reasons other than cost that have the blank business trending towards blanks built overseas is quality and uniformity. Many overseas manufacturers are now producing blanks that domestic manufacturers are hard pressed to compete with in these areas.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2005 10:10AM by Stan Grace.

In my twenty plus years of rod building I have not had to return a blank due to poor quality. Recently I have bought Pac Bay, Batson, and St. Croix and got very good quality in rod blanks.
Cheers, Ellis

I build on a lot of blanks from several different manufacturers but have only a had a problem with one in their high modulus blanks but this problem has been going on for several years. I can tolerate a small bend in one plane but when a blank has significan beds in it that go in two different directions I can not tolerate that. The problem is when I send one back I get a replacement that is just as bad. Plus most other companies that I am familiar with that build both rods and blanks select what they call blank quality out from what is called rod quality and the blank quality is the best that they build and is what we get when we buy a number one blank. I do not belive that this company does this selection though because the blanks and the rods that I look at in the sporting goods stores are equally bad in terms of straightness.

I just had a problem recently with a Cabelas IM7 bass blank. I was trying to scrape a bit of epoxy off the blank with my fingernail and the finish actually chipped off. I put LS Supreme over the top as it was in the same area as a decal and chalked it up to a cheap ($$) blank. Hope the finish on all of them isn't so brittle though, or they won't last long. Maybe good candidates for painting?

I started making rods prior to graphite. The very best graphite blanks I ever experienced were made by J. Kennedy Fisher when Joe Fisher operated the business. I am fortunate that I still have many Fisher blanks to work with. Today the quality just cannot compare. Lamiglas seems to have the edge now at least in straightness. The greatest drop in quality has been in guides, in my opinion.

I have to say that consistency and quality are first and foremost here at Lamiglas. We do cull our blanks for the custom builder and save the slightly bowed blanks for rods. Even when we were selling blems most of them were better than some first quality blanks I have inspected. I do have the opportunity to check thousands of blanks in import rods. The quality has increased considerably of the past couple of years. The consistency is great in each batch but is lacking from batch to batch.


Todd

If you don't like the quality send it back. I have seen plenty of straight blanks with no noticable doglegs or bends. In fact Don Morton had a set of eight that Lamiglas produced.

This is supposed to be high tech so, it is my opinion, that you should get straight blanks. If you cannot, then switch manufacturers. This is not to say you might have problems from time to time but I'd put my money on Batson, Lamiglas or St. Croix.

Jeffrey,
I am not very familiar with St. Croix and can not comment on their blanks but I agree with you about Lamiglas and Batson. I have built a lot of rods from blanks from both Lamiglas and Batson and have never had any problems with straightness with their blanks.

One thing I can say about Lamiglas- I have three "blems" that I purchased and have been saving, recently building my cousin a walleye rod on one. I have no idea what's wrong with them. I think one is the very butt of the rod came out kinda screwy, about 1/4 of an inch of the bottom is fatter than it should be. It's gonna be under a butt cap anyway.

Phil

I had Bob McKamey send me 6 more Lami's after Charlotte. Beautiful; straight and I'm impressed and really, always have been with them. Good work you're doing, Todd!!

Putter
Williston, ND

Who should pay for the return shipping if a blank is bent to bad build or broken? I just ordered several rods from a sponsor, one was very bent and one broke doing a static test. These two blanks, compared to others just like it I have built , appear to be seconds but are advertised as first runs???????? Also, the blank that broke on me had about four inches sticking out of the plastic cap it was shipped in! I Wonder why it broke?

This kind of thing will kill your customer relations if you don't handle it right. Shipping is very expensive these days (7' blanks) and it is almost not worth shipping back their trash if you have to pay for it.

Mike,
I would call them first and see what they can do for you. In some cases they will just replace them, especially if the price of the blank is less than it cost to ship.

Todd