I have a few blanks that i would like to trim down to 6ft. They are graphite. How do you trim up the graphite rod blanks?

Kevin Gross
Many men will spend their whole life wondering if they made a difference. Marines dont have that problem - Ronald Regan

I only trim from the butt. If I need a different tip, I usually buy a different blank. You can do it though.

I usually tape off where I want to make my cut with masking tape - to stop fraying and give me a cut line - and cut using a diamond wheel on my dremel. Never had a problem.

You'll hear guys using all kinds of stuff, but that's what I had the best luck with.

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Kevin,
Any abrasive wheel will work just fine.
You can use a high speed grinder, a dremel, a chop saw or something similar.
Quick and easy. I do it all the time and have no issues.
Roger

Kevin,
This is the saw that I use for much of my rod building, to trim blanks, cut arbors, and clean up cork:

[www.harborfreight.com]

I remove the metal blade from the chop saw and replace the blade with a 3 inch abrasive wheel:

[www.harborfreight.com]

I keep a vacuum running behind the wheel to take care of any dust when cutting and it works very well.

I modified the saw by removing the rotating base, and grinding off all of the lettering on the base. I then attached a piece of 1/4X1/4 inch angled aluminum to act as a backstop for the abrasive wheel. I only wanted this saw to use in my rod building and I only wanted to chop at 90 degrees.
I then mounted the saw to a 2X6 to give some mass to the saw, so that it wouldn't walk all over the bench without being clamped down. I also put rubber feet on the underside of the 2x6 to keep the board and attached saw from moving across the work bench.
I place the saw in a small rubber maid container that is sitting on one end to contain any dust that might get missed with the vacuum.
All in all a very satisfactory system, that is quite compact and very suitable for any type rod building application.

Roger

Roger -
Exactly the same "system" I use for all trimming work - and "tricked out" the same that is remove the metal blade & replace with an abrasive wheel, mounted on a 2x6 - the only difference it that I put a piece of non-skid rubber shelf liner from "Ollies" under the 2x6 rather than rubber feet to keep the saw from sliding around.

Ken,
Great idea. I have a 30 foot roll of non skid liner in the shop that I picked up for a $ at a garage sale. I use this material all of the time under my other bench tools to keep them from moving as well.
Thanks again for reminding me.

Roger

Thanks Roger, I've been looking at this same saw for quite some time. Clicked your second link for the abrasive discs and the saw popped up again. (Will a 3" wheel fit this?, mentions that it comes with a 2" blade.)

Thanks! Mike

Mike -
I found a bunch of 2" abrasive disks (bulk lot) on sale on that big re-sell site.

Mike,
The 3 inch wheel fits just fine.
You just have to either run it without the blade guard, or make a 3 inch blade guard.
Or, as Ken pointed out you can always find some 2 inch wheels. I prefer using the 3 inch wheels due to the deeper available depth of cut.


Roger

Kevin, Closing them in a car door or hatch back works great for a lot of guys. The problem is, its not always in the right place.
Me, I spin mine in a lathe and just touch it with the edge of a fine file or fine toothed saw.Wear eye protection!!! THAT'S ONE LESS TOOL YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

Thank you Ken and Roger, appreciated. I've been using a dremel cutoff wheel with good luck but don't trust my shaky hands anymore!

Mike,
If you use a dremel, try the following method.

Have a board that you don't mind marking up.

Lay the blank on the board.

Lay both of your forearms on the table and on the board, with one hand holding the dremel.

Have the tip marked. Then, with both of your forearms braced on the board, and the blank laying flat on the board,, hold the the blank near the tip wiht one hand.
Then, with the forearm of your "tood hand" braced on the board, just lower the spinning dremel to the tip and using the abrasive wheel, chop off the tip at the mark.

The key is to have everything braced by use use of the boards or bench top and not try to to the trimming in free air where the parts and tool can not be braced.

Roger

Thanks again Roger! ...much like applying finish - steady as she goes!

Appreciated, Mike

I have used a fine-toothed E-xacto saw while the rod was spinning in the lathe, a hack saw, and even the jeweler's saw that is meant to be used for making cork checkerboards, but they all scare me a little. Thanks for the tip (pardon the pun) on the chop saw and I may grab one of those soon, although I think that would be best for larger rods. It would scare me for small fly rod tips, but then those don't need to be trimmed very often unless you are cleaning one up for a repair.

Matt Smith
Greensboro, NC