i would like to extend a 7 ft rod blank to 7 ft 6 in.i read Toms article on extending and it recommends making splice under the reel seat.is it safe to make splice under the rear grip that is 12 in long? if so,what is preferred wall thickness of aluminum or is heavy graphite acceptible.is there to much stress under the rear grip to make splice?by the way,blank is 7 ft mag bass,fast taper,fast tip,heavy power.i know,i know bass fisherman can tear up an anvil.thanks to all.jim g.

James, Before I learned this craft, I changed several of my own rods to a split rear grip. I also extended 3 of these rods rear grip length at the same time, making my spices at the rear grip. This was not the way to go as all 3 have failed. 2 broke on hookset and 1 on casting. If you are working with a blank, I would put the splice under the real seat, as Tom recommends. This will of course require that you have more than 6 inches of new blank to work with.

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Steve

No need if you're only doing a 6" extension. At that length your handle is long enough that the reel seat will still be on the original blank. The recommendation to put the join under the reel seat applies only if the desired handle length and the extension length coincide in such a way. That said, you could trim enough of the blank and the extend it back out to 7'6", but that's extra work for no benefit.

steve,thanks for the come back and info.should be able to e-mail me now.thanks again,jim g.

Steve,email address jbfarms@aristotle.net .

You could easily put the joint under the seat, even trim the blank shorter and build the entire handle, butt and seat, on the extension. I've done this many times. It ends up being a very good method for doing such.

Yes, a scrap piece of graphite will work. It should be as stout or stouter than the butt section on your current blank.

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James,
Tom is right in that if the splice is under the reel seat, you will have the strength of the reel seat, aid the joint.

However, if you make the splice so that you get a 3 inch over lap of a scrap piece of blank that goes OVER the butt section, it doesn't matter where the splice is.
If you have the extension, LARGER than the original butt section, the larger diameter is actually stronger than the original butt. By using a 3 inch overlap, you have a butt section that is actually stronger than the original blank, including the splice area.

Take care
Roger

p.s.
In contrast, if you use a pice of graphite scrap that is SM ALLER than the butt section and the extension in placed INSIDE the butt section, you will find that the extension is a bit weakert than the original butt.
However, for most rods, the size of the butt is such that you will get a sufficiently strong splice by going up the inside of the butt - unless it is a very light action rod with a very small diameter butt.