If I have an 8' fly blank and I want to cheat and make it a 8'1" rod, can I merely space it out 1 inch from the bottom of the reel seat or will this cause problems? If not by this method, is there any other way? Thanks for all your help.

Brandon

An inch of the seat beyond the end of the rod blank isn't going to be a problem.

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How much could I get away with?

I wouldn't push my luck. Without knowing exactly what type and style seat you're using I wouldn't begin to hazard a guess. An inch wouldn't be of any real concern on most any seat, but with some you might be looking at some sort of failure or problem if you go much past that.

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It's an 8' 2# (3-4 piece) medium action blank and I'll probably be using a Struble U-24 up locking seat which is 3.75" long.

You're just going to have to look at it and use your judgement. Depending on the barrel and what it's made of (wood, one-piece aluminum, etc.) you can only hang so much off the back end of the blank before you run into problems.

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it's a wood reel seat with a wood barrel with a .360 diameter. But, I'll stick with an inch to be safe. I appreciate your time and sharing your knowledge.

Kind Regards,

Brandon Edwards

Don't rely on the wood barrel hanging off the end of the blank to safely support the rear barrel. An inch should be fine.

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One more question- will there be an effect on the action of the rod by doing this, if so, how much?

No, the rod will still flex initially in the same place and an inch length added to the butt isn't enough to change it to the extent that you'll ever know the difference.

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EXCELLENT! Thanks again, Tom.

If it's something special, you could also extend the blank with a short section of graphite that slides over the taper.

how would you go about painting a rod, and finishing a rod on a wrapping lathe or rod dryer, this is going to be my first paint and finish job, I'm open to all and any suggestions! Thanks!