I'm ordering gimble butts for a pair of personal rods I'll build in the next week or two. I searched the archives & turned up basically no details on the install. I assume I'll mount the gimble directly over the butt 1-2" of the blank w/ graphite spacers & plenty of epoxy for a stout connection. But I'm pretty clueless on the sizing. I'm considering saving some weight by using a nylon gimble butt or a small diameter aluminum gimble butt that is narrower than the grip and then sanding the grip down slightly on the bottom 1-2" to get a flush grip / gimble butt connection.

You gimble-veterans, are either of these ideas ill advised? Do you think the nylon gimbles make a custom rod look cheap?

G'day Brian,

Personally I wouldn't use the plain black nylon gimbles, I think they do look cheap. The Fuji graphite gimbals are a different matter and I think they look very neat and would be no heavier than the nylon.

Your other suggestions seem fine to me.

Cheers

Jason

Just a tip, make sure you watch your shimming on install. Although it's less critical with a gimbal butt than with a ferruled gimbal reel seat, you can still end up with a gimbal butt that is crooked and it looks odd. Make sure you shim carefully on both ends of the gimbal to ensure it's in line with the rod. Don't just shim the middle.

Other than that, it's pretty straightforward.

Terry