I have questions about cutting blanks. I've searched the RBO archives, and while I've found a lot of techical, how-to information regarding cutting blanks, I haven't found information about how much of a blank is OK to cut. Let me explain.

Last fall I built myself an extra-heavy (6-16 oz.), bait-heaving surf rod. Since the blank that best fit the specs I wanted and my budget was 12'6" long, that was the one I got.

Normally, I like my surf rods to be much shorter, in the 9'6" to 10' range. But two and a half or three feet of the blank (or roughly 20%), seemed to be WAY too much material to remove. Because of this, and because the finished product would be a specialty rod that I would only be using a handful of times a season, I left the blank uncut. Now it's longer than I like, and a bit unwieldy, but for the most part I can handle it OK.

But I'll be building more surf rods in the future, and since most surf guys prefer longer rods than I do, what's available in blank catalogs is usually at least a foot longer than what I want. I've seen the chart on this site that illustrates how shortening affects blank performance, but my question is broader: how much of a blank can I remove before performance will be drastically affected? How much is too much?

All other things being equal, of course, I would vastly prefer to purchase a blank that meets my specifications exactly as manufactured, and doesn't need to be altered in any way. But I'm starting to realize that this may not always be possible. Any suggestions out there? Thanks.

The characteristics of the blank will be changed as soon as you trim the first inch. The more you trim the more apparent this change becomes. Small amounts result in minor or subtle changes. Larger amounts result in much more noticeable and drastic changes.

How much before you "ruin" someting? I would think that by the time you trim 10% to 15% of the total blank length, from either end or both, you have created a much, much different animal than what you started with. It may be what you want, or it may be to such an extent that it is no longer even close to what you had hoped for.

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Have you tried to look at other then " surf " blanks ? Any blank will work as long as it will fit the specs you want. How long, the weight it has to throw, pieces action?? The blank does not know what it will be used for .

Yes, Bill, I have looked at blanks other than those categorized as surf blanks. The problem -- at least as far as this novice builder can tell -- is that there is a dearth of rods between 8 and 10 1/2 feet or so. This isn't really a problem for plugging rods, as blanks in the 1-3 oz. range are widely available in a large variety of lengths. But for bait rods, especially of the heavier variety, most blanks that I've seen are longer than what I prefer.

This is probably a case of supply following demand; most surfcasters chucking bait prefer longer rods than I do (I've always been an oddball). So if you want a blank rated, say, 2-6 oz, there are lots in the 7-7.5 range, and lots in the 10.5-12 foot range, but not many in between.

How much of a rod blank can you safely cut, and not noticeably or significantly alter the rod’s original performance properties? ... Generally, IMO:

From the TIP-END: 1/2 INCH (0.50”) per 3-FEET (36”) of overall rod length.
Example-1: For a 6-ft (72”) rod blank, 1.00 inch is generally safe to remove.
Example-2: For a 9-ft (108”) rod blank, 1.50 inch is generally safe to remove.

From the BUTT-END: 1/2 INCH (1.00”) per ONE-FOOT (12”) of rod length.
Example-3: For a 6-ft (72”) rod blank, 3.00 inch is generally safe to remove.
Example-4: For a 9-ft (108”) rod blank, 4.50 inch is generally safe to remove.

The operative words here are “safely”, “significantly” or “noticeably”.
Opinions will vary, for a variety of reasons. ... C’est la vie !!!

You can “safely” trim a rod blank a lot more than this, but ONLY if you WANT to achieve some unusual, but desired, results. It is possible to over-trim, and thus ruin a rod.

Trimming too much from the tip-end will overly stiffen the rod taper, and stiffen the tip section. Cast-ability may suffer.

Trimming too much from the butt-end will overly moderate or slow the rod taper, and may shift the rod’s backbone so far down into the handle section as to leave almost no backbone above the fore-grip where you need it.

Think about what you’re doing before committing to the saw. Most of the time, the safest thing to do is to avoid trimming a rod any more than the guidelines listed above restrict. Until experience teaches you otherwise. Once it’s done, it’s done. Proceed with caution. Idle Speed is suggested. … IMO, -Cliff Hall+++, Gainesville, FL-USA*****

Table of Effects of TRIMMING or EXTENDING a ROD BLANK on its Various Performance Properties - [www.rodbuilding.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2006 02:11PM by Cliff Hall.

Chris,

Obviously you have what you want (that you have already used) to get to the point where you know which length and action you prefer.

Take the rod you like, go to a rod dealer that carries a lot of blanks and just compare them to see if there's a rod out there you like, that can be cut and still achieve the result you're looking for.

Short story: Like you Chris, I could never find a suspending jerkbait rod that was to my likeing. I had a feller in Kentucky (this is how I started rod building) that was selling StCroix blanks (given to the girl scout troop as a fund raiser for free) for a scout troop and I explained what I wanted. He cut and sent me a blank. It was nearly perfect, it only lacked a little more give in the tip. I built that rod as my 1st ever and you know you're 1st rod is never done the way you like to see them after building many more. So, I started looking for a blank like mine to make a "nicer" jerkbait rod, and the only way I found what I wanted was to handle the blanks and "dream" of what each one would feel like when I cut it down. I bent each one and compared the diameter and so on.

It took me two trys, but I finally built a jerkbait rod I'm happy with.

Go compare, buy, cut and get what you want, it may take a try or two but it's worth it.

DR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2006 02:04PM by Duane Richards (DR).

I deal with much smaller rods, but I've taken as much as 2 feet off of 7 foot blanks and wound up with outstanding rigs. I've also gone and blindly taken 2 feet off of different 7 foot blanks and wound up with buggy whips that quite frankly, weren't even much good at whipping buggies.

If you want to cut it down, I would advise removing small sections at a time, say 2 to 4 inches. Slow going to be sure, but you'll be able to monitor what is going on and if you start to cross over to the dark side, you'll be able to stop where you are and still have yourself a very fishable rod, rather than two chunks of blank that you can't salvage.

Check out the CCS system. If you can set it up you can use it to measure a blank before you cut to see what you may wind up with. Before triming the tip and butts. Also it can be used to measure a blank with a added section to see how it may act when completed. Good tool.