I have seen a lot of pictures on the internet lately of graphite rods where the rod appears "swelled" from the end of the handle down to the blank. These areas are very smooth and have a great transition from the handle to the blank. I am just wondering if anyone has done this and how it is done. It almost looks like the blank was made that way, that is how good it is. I have no idea how to achieve this.

Some blanks are indeed made this way. It's not new, really. Shimano had such rods on the market in the 1980's.

You could likely do something like this via a foam core, carbon skinned grip if you crafted the core in such a way as to allow a smooth transition from blank to handle portion. You'd probably have to do the skinning portion with the core mounted on the blank to have things blend well. With a little thought this would certainly be possible.

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I think this is what you're talking about. [www.rodbuilding.org]

I use this quite often to make a larger "canvas" on which to apply decals; [www.rodbuilding.org] or other art, i.e. feathers, [www.rodbuilding.org]
or perhaps a painting of a vintage lure. [www.rodbuilding.org]

There are probably several ways to achieve the "swelled butt." The technique I use involves using a two part gel epoxy which I apply to the area to "swell" with a small spatula as the rod is rotating on my rod dryer. I build up the epoxy as best I can to form the desired shape of a cone on the rod up against the fore grip. The use of the gel epoxy works best as it does not run or drip. After the epoxy has cured I turn the rod on the lathe and shape the epoxy to the desired size and shape with various grits of sand paper. I usually start with 100 grit and work down to 400 grit.

If the swell is the shape I want, I paint a coat of liquid thread epoxy finish, (Trondak U-40), on the swell to fill in any small holes or divots in the cone of cured gel epoxy. If everything goes as planned, you have a smooth, cone shaped, swelled butt on which you can cover with thread to achieve any desired color for your background or design. You can also wrap in a hook keeper in this location. Obviously how you choose to decorate is limited only to your imagination. Hope this helps.

I questioned a picture that I saw on Facebook, and I got a reply. The swell on the butt was achieved with EVA. Once it was sanded they way they liked, then it was epoxied over, smoothed again, and then the blank was painted. Looks amazing.

Are you the wade Christensen I know?

I seem to remember a post a few years ago that stated it could be done with a product like rod bond. Tape everything off, mix it, apply it with a spatula, let set for short time, then use a wet finger to smooth it out to the shape you want.
Then you can put your thread over it and put what you like.
I have used Flexcoat to build a ramp from the blank to the end of the fore grip(then wrap) instead of using a winding check but it takes multiple coats and is a pain to make it very long.

Jon Hood