In the past I have lengthened one piece blanks of various types, by using aluminum tubing. The butt extensions have ranged from an inch or two to several feet. It has worked, and I never really thought about it much from a structural perspective.

Now I am getting ready to assemble a 2 piece 11' surf blank that is destined to be the (for now) ultimate rod for slinging the (1 1/2 -2 oz) iron in the Florida surf.

The problem is, I started thinking about squeezing another foot or 18" out of the blank, for just that little extra umpf.

But, as with many opportunities there is a challenge. I

In this case, the lengthening of the butt will result in the ferrule being non-centered, and thus perhaps upsetting the structural design.

Perhaps these doubts are the reasoning of folly, yet my instinct tells me to seek out the tempered opinion of my fellow boardmembers who have undoubtedly noodeled through these issues......

Thanks for your thoughts in advance!

Whit

You'd probably be okay. Generally however, you don't want to move a ferrule up into the action of the rod any farther than where the designer has it now. If the extra length allows you to cast more weight or apply more power to the rod, then you could indeed be upsetting the "structural design."

But, the ferrule is rarely the weakest part of the rod. Usually it's just the opposite. If you can't find a blank that will do what you want, in the length that you want, I'd guess you'll have to just give it a try. I would offer this one alternative idea, however... Buy a one piece blank suited for what you want to do. Extended or not. Then, cut and make your own ferrule. Locate the ferrule as low on the rod as possible, making the tip as long as you can within the confines of the maximum length that you can travel with or store.

..........

Has anyone got a good way to make the handle portion an additional piece, say 2 feet long or so, which would give you a fast 13' rod which breaks down into 3 pieces and stores in the same tube that the 11' 2pc would have? I have thought that you could even use the graphite seat as the bottom ferrul reenforcement with such a design.

Assemble the rod with the rear of the reel seat flush with the end of the butt of the rod. Find a whole separate piece of rod material, with a similar diameter and taper, that'll fit inside the ID of the butt of the blank. Built the rear grip and build the rear grip and butt cap, etc., directly on this extension, leaving enough on the new piece, of course, to reach at least 12" into the blank. Alternatively, there are several methods to mate the extension to the blank, including some assemblies that include a part that slips into the butt of the blank using o-rings, or similar screw-in systems.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods