Hello everyone,
I've been thinking about building a four or five piece float rod with a length of around 14'. I don't want to use a two handed rod because when I get to that length all I've seen are rods that weigh close to six ounces. I've seen a 7' blank with the butt diameter and the tip diameter I'm looking for. What I'd like to know is about how many blanks would I need? Would I need one blank for each section of ro I intend to build? Just wondering. Thank You for your time and comments.

I have a customer that had me build float rod similar to this for himself , then each of his friends wanted one. I used a St. Croix G130L3 blank. It's a SCII 13' 3pc. (52" broke down) rated for 4-8lb. line, with a butt dia. of .490. The problem with building these rods is they are hard to find in multi piece blanks, unless you use a fly rod blank. Most of the rods I build are pack rods for Steelhead, and I find that the fly blanks work great, although sometimes your customers don't like the Idea. I just let them fish one of my personal rods like this, and that usally sells them on the idea. The fly blank might be the only way to go for 4 or 5 pcs. at this length. Sage makes a blank (71364) that is 13'6" 4 pc. (40.5" broke down) rated for a 7/8wt. line that might do the job for you, but the blank lists for $338.00. a bit steep in the price considering the St. Croix is only$110.00. I guess it just all depends how bad you want the extra 1 or 2 pcs.

Bryan,
I've built the three piece blanks Raven Rods. I want to try to make something that is truly unique and my own. I don't want to spend over $300 for a blank. I've seen the specs on the Sage you are talking about and thought about giving it a try but, the price turned me away. I've thought about getting a few very cheap one piece rod blanks and try to make one. I think if I ever come up with something like this I could offer my customers a rod that is truly custom. Any Ideas?

I think that you could get away with 2 blanks since they are 2 piece sets any way. You could make a 4 piece rod that way. I would use the 13' Rainshadow blanks as they are a great blank for the price. Check out the specs at Rainshadow( left side of screen ). I know that Richards Rod and Reel carry these blanks.

Hope this helps.

The rainshadow blanks are very nice, infact I'm building 4 rods on them now. I'm not sure if the idea of using 2 2pc. blanks would be cost effective or not, as I have not done and R&D work in this area. I would give Bob Batson a call at Batson Enterprises(Rainshadow) @ 1-360-681-2381 and see if he has any other blanks in the works. I know that they are really on top of the game and would be the place that I would start. Good luck, and I would be interested in knowing what direction you decide to go.
Bryan