What technique do you use to anchor weight to your rod like do you use glue or a kit or some other way. ??????????????

Glenn McMurrian



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2015 04:48PM by Glenn McMurrian.

Glenn,
I use the lightest and fewest guides possible with the appropriate back grip so that you do not have to add weight to a rod.

I would just like to know how some do it over other's,I personally like to use a bolt cut down until it is at it's lightest point but still balances the rod and I only balance my bass rods. I always hear people talking about using led shot in the butt of there rod to balance it out but how do you stop all those led shots from shifting down to the front of the rod.

Glenn McMurrian

I think trying to balance rods is counterproductive. I used to do this with the BPS weighting system, but found if I added enough weight to balance the rods they were really heavy, and in some cases unstable in casting. Just build as light as you can and if balance is really important to you, invest in one of the new really light reels.

Glenn,

Since you haven't gotten much feedback, I'll bite.

I try to avoid balancing a rod when possible, as most bass rods built on nice blanks with thought given to mass distribution are not excessively tip heavy. However, you should have seen the eyes light up when I placed a cheap Walmart factory rod in the hands of a couple guys at the ORBS Gathering, and then put a sister blank that was stripped and rebuilt using this crude balancing system [www.rodbuilding.org] . One guy said "This is why you build custom rods." Then I showed them that it was balanced and actually about an ounce heavier than the factory version. The rod does feel good in the hand.

If needed, this is the way I do it now. [www.rodbuilding.org] It's only slightly refined. The hardware is replaced with stainless hardware, and the butt grip is recessed to allow wrapping the blank with lead tape, as the steel washers or lead weight I made to hide under the butt cap didn't get it done on its own. The lead tape is hidden with rod bond mixed with cork dust. The rod in the picture is a MHX 1262 steelhead blank. He wanted to give split grips a try, and balanced as well. I did what I could to make him happy, and I think it worked out well in the end.

Joe

Joe,
For rods where the client wants to have perfect balance and is willing to put up with a heavier rod, I use lead tape.

I cut down the end of the grip and wrap the end of the blank with lead tape. I wrap as much as needed, and then use masking tape to build up the tape if necessary to put a butt cap onto the end of the grip.

Be safe

Roger,

If I could have gotten by with just 2 or 3 bands of lead tape, I might have gone that route, but I didn't want to have to bore out the entire butt grip to get it done. My goal is to keep the weight down as much as possible, and that means putting as much as I can behind the blank. For a bass/walleye rod, a few wraps of tape will likely get the job done, a 10'6" steelhead rod w/ split grips and a 5" fore grip, not so much. There was just too much weight ahead of the seat.

Joe