Rod lengthening

4wheelangler · Post by **4wheelangler** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 6:03 pm

Ok, I'm prepared for the flood of silly comments BUT

is there any way to make my rod longer?? I have a 7 foot, MH shakesphere that I'd like to add at least 6" to the butt end. Is this something that can be done easily?

snakehead terror · Post by **snakehead terror** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:19 pm

Im not even gonna say it. Havent you seen the comercials???

nutsoffish · Post by **nutsoffish** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:34 am

Sharkman954 wrote:Yea it can be done.Don't k know on the complexity of it but it shouldn't be that hard.Its called a but extension.

he said he wants to extend his rod not get a bigger but!!!

4wheelangler · Post by **4wheelangler** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:53 am

rob762 wrote:I just added a foot to the butt end of a rod I bought. Not too hard, at least the way I did it.

I took the end of a surf rod blank, cut 2 ft off at the point it would just slip over the butt end of the rod I wanted to stretch (after removing the bottom portion of the handle). I then slid the new blank section over the old blank backwards (taper down) until it hit the reel seat. The taper at the butt end with 2' of blank is almost flat, so it allowed me to do it this way. Once I got the dry fit right, I slid the extension off, slathered epoxy on the old blank butt end, and slid on my extension. Once dry, I used a heat shrink grip material to finish it off.

Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

I'm sure one of our rod building mates has a junk section of blank that will fit your needs. If not, try Chaos or one of the other rod building cos. Someone will have junk sections around in their shop.

Hope this helps

Thanks Rob! BTW your girls DO outfish boys! I've seen it with mine 2 eyes.

screamendrag · Post by **screamendrag** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:03 pm

yepp what rob said is a good way to do it.......

just find a peice of old rod, or buy a peice of extension that has the right taper......skuff both the butt of the rod an the new butt where they will be attached and epoxy.....after thats dry add some epoxy at the joint and match the taper with some sand paper.....the last step isnt really necessary unless ur gunna use shrink wrap handle or cork...

hope that helps

-Jeff

Lomax aka ZEBCO · Post by **Lomax aka ZEBCO** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:52 am

Extending a rod is simple. And it is better to put the
seam under the grip. Have seen an extension come to
failure in the past with someone who did not do that.

Lomax aka ZEBCO · Post by **Lomax aka ZEBCO** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 9:13 pm

pier-afficionado wrote: light lines, as long as there is not a HUGE distance between seem or joint and reel seat, should not be a problem.

I have seen separation with light rods extended. Blame it on the bad glue job. If I were to leave the seam below the seat, it surely would only be on a small light rod. And I'd try to use a longer piece of glass on the inside if possible. But unless I was forced to do that, say just adding a few inches, I'd still place it under just to be sure. It would suck to have to go back and start from scratch.

cudaman · Post by **cudaman** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 4:59 am

Zebco wrote: I'd try to use a longer piece of glass on the inside if possible. But unless I was forced to do that, say just adding a few inches, I'd still place it under just to be sure. It would suck to have to go back and start from scratch.

This is a late response on this thread but hopefully it will help somebody.

I don't know if this is what Tommy meant but this is what I did back in June 2007 and has worked really well:

1- Took the rod butt cap off and added a 6 inch glass on top of the original rod,and got it under the EVA, sorry no pics of that (what was i thinking?)

2- Added the extension. What you do not see in the pics is that I did add a 4 inch ring of black beauty fiberglass over the original blank, covering the joint of the grayish brownish original blank. Looks white after sanding it to join.

3- Extension before cutting to fit

4- Tested until it felt right, cutting away until rod butt was not on my way.

In the end I added 12 inches to the rod. I did use 5 minute epoxy to join the "under insurance" rod piece and to join the extension piece. I did not take the old EVA grip (which was a new EVA grip added to this rod by the previous owner. I just don't understand why someone would cut a perfect surf rod butt to only a 12 inch butt. I just added new EVA and covered the joint with Tennis racket tape (really comfortable, weather proof, and nonslip), it worked for me and the old Harnell rod does what it once intended to do, SWING A BAIT WAY OUT THERE.

If you are wondering what a Harnell is, they invented the original hollow fiberglass blank back in the 1950's and were the pioneers. I went to an old shop in Miami, Biscayne Rods they had a piece that matched perfectly which just happened to be an old piece of that great hollowed good resin fiberglass.