I received a new blank today that is at least two inches shorter than its specified length. This is supposed to be a premiere quality, made in the USA blank, and it was purchased from a highly regarded sponsor of this site.

It's labeled as being the correct model, and the tip and butt are the proper size, but when I stood the blank next to a rod that is supposed to be 2" shorter than this blank, the new blank was in fact a bit shorter than the rod (and yes, I measured to confirm that it isn't the rod that is irregular.)

Is this unusual?

Thanks.

Dan

2 inches? Yes, that's a bit off. Generally blanks should fall within a quarter to a half inch of their advertised length. I have no idea what the QC parameters are for the company in question, but that sounds a bit far off to me.

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Tom,

I didn't use the company's name in my post because I didn't want to make an issue of what could just be a "one off" sort of thing, though this doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the quality of this particular blank, and I wonder how close to its correct action it can be. Do you suggest I contact the company, or should I go ahead and build it see how it performs?

IMO, all discrepancies SHOULD be addressed, along with any and all perception issues, immediately and with the source (in this case a distributor). Open communications are the foundation of any good relationship.

I'm with Jim, more than once I've had the wrong blank in the packaging.

I also agree with Jim call your supplier. This should be done with any product a builder receives from a supplier and there is a question

Good Wraps Bob

Call the blank manufacturer and ask. I think they'll replace it for you. 2 inches doesn't seem like much but it can make a whale of a difference if it was trimmed short from the tip.

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Dan,
Tom has it right.
If it was the right blank, and if 2 inches happend to get trimmed off the butt - no big deal. You can always extend it if you want.

However, if 2 inches were trimmed from the tip - and especially if the blank is supposed to have a fast or extra fast tip - the trimmed two inches would have ruined the blank.

Check with the manufacturer and find out.

Take care
Roger

Dan,
Just as a double check, put a tip sizer on the tip of the rod.
You have the specifications for the rod, so you should know what the tip is supposed to be.
Most rods have a reasonably quick taper as it nears the tip of the rod.
If 2 inches had been trimmed from the tip, the tip sizer will normally show this change quite quickly.

Take care
Roger

Thanks for the replies.

I spoke with a rep with the blank company and he is researching it. So I'm waiting for his return call, and will post the outcome.

He seemed alarmed when I told him that the blank was over two inches short, and that model number sticker, and the tip and butt diameters are all correct.

It makes you wonder that if they have a large inventory of this blank that are this short that they will soon have a "New Blank" that has been added to the line...

Dan

not sure if it was sent that way or got damaged during shipment, but here is what happened to me once. I had ordered a number of 7' one piece blanks and when I got them I found that when I removed the shipping tube end cap that a few of the blank tips were imbedd in the cap. Never thought too much about it until I got all of them out of the shipping tube and found that some of them were 2" shorter than the rest. Here is what happened. During shipping a shipping handler must have thrown the tube like like a harpoon with tip forward. When the tube hit something stopping it, the blanks kept moving forward piercing the end cap then in the shipping process were sheared off. From that point on I really make sure for the rods I ship that the butts are secured in the tube so it won't move forward if thrown like those blanks.

I wrap well in news paper. Top Bottom and wrap them in it. They go in very snug.

Bill - willierods.com

I tie the butt ends to that end of the shipping container, so I KNOW they won't slide forward.

Kerry - I agree with you that securing the butt-end of a blank or rod is the best way to ship them. This blank wasn't shipped that way, but the tip was confined within a poly bag with a rubber band and tape, and it didn't appear that had gone through the bag. The PVC tube also had a ball of newspaper on each end and a foam and tape "end cap" so if the tip would have broken in transit to me it would have been in the container.

Before I called the blank company, I measured the blank more precisely and it measures 2.75 inches shorter than it should, and there are no other blanks in this line that are listed as being close to this length (6'7 1/4".) The tip doesn't have any splintering or chipping around it, and with a micrometer it measures .068" which seems about normal, if even small for a 4.5 tip? It could be that this was broken before it was shipped, but I would think that with that much of a tip missing that the tip would measure bigger than that on an extra fast action blank?

My best guess is that this was just made short. In any case, I hope to hear from the blank company rep tomorrow and have this blank replaced.

Dan

Just got off the phone with the blank company customer service rep, and they are replacing the blank and sending UPS to pick up the old one.

He asked if I had looked for a piece of broken tip. I had looked, and had even removed the packing from the other end of the tube and there was nothing there, so it sounds like this was probably missing its tip before it was shipped.

The rep also mentioned that this was shipped in an 83" tube, which after I hung up I thought "Eighty-three inches? The blank should have been 82" and add an inch of foam and a ball of newspaper on each end of the tube, and this couldn't have been a full length blank when it was shipped."

After that I was curious and looked at the tip with a magnifying glass and it does show damage that I hadn't seen without magnification. So this does appear that it was damaged before shipment and not an odd length blank as I had originally thought. The fact that the tip appeared to be intact, and had been well secured in its packaging had thrown me, and I didn't think of it being broken prior to shipping...

Thanks to all that posted their thoughts and suggestions.

Dan