Rod modification = hacksaw?

[Shane]

Hiya...

Just got myself a Heartland Z IM6 for chucking softies, all I could afford . I went out and had a flick yesterday and was getting a little annoyed with the length of the butt. Maybe it is just the way I fish however the rod butt just kept getting the way.

If I take a hacksaw to it will I fudge the rod?

Or if I can take a certain amount off what would that amount be?

...Cheers

Shane

[fatman]

A hacksaw is OK to hack the butt off. Try to use a fine tooth blade, as many teeth per inch as possible. Personally, I use a fine tooth coping saw.

FATMAN

[Shane]

I was just concerned the blank might run down through the cork. I'm assuming not if you can go at with a hacksaw. Cheers for the info, now just need to guess what length will be cool

Id suggest the blank will run down through the cork.
Taking to it with a hack saw can be risky. If you muck it up, the blank can crack further up along the blank (unseeable due to teh cork). Also the rotation effect of the blade may damage the blank.
Maye be worth asking a rod builder about it.

Dave

[Mick]

Shane all blanks run down through the cork, they are attached by being glued to the blank.

I've shortened a couple of handles on HL X's and it's very easy.

[Robert B]

Im pretty sure the blank does run down through the cork. I want to do the same but would rather hand it over to a rod builder. That way Ive got someone to yell at if it doesnt go as planed

Rob

[fatman]

I would'nt worry too much about blanks cracking after they are cut, personally I've built and modified over 200 rods, and I've never seen it happen, unless you cut it with an axe.
If you take it a rod builder, all he is going to do is whack it in the vice and cut it with a hacksaw, might as well do it youself. Just remember fine tooth blade and go slowly.

FATMAN

[madsurfe]

Hi Guys

Fatman is on the money. Pretty easy to shorten the butt with a fine tooth hacksaw. Just take it easy and make sure your cut is straight. I always use the original butt cap as well so take that into account when cutting. I think the fiddly bit is keeping the butt cap in one piece depending on how much epoxy they use to glue it. I have a Heartland Z that lost 3" of the butt and not a sole person notices the difference.

[Robert B]

madsurfe would you mind elaborating on how you modded the heartland Z? I have one to and have been contemplating doing this for a while myself. Mainly wondering how the silver butt end joins back to the rod. Hard for me to explain but is it cut straight through or should the blank stickout a bit from the cork and then the buttend fits in?

Cheers Rob

[madsurfe]

Hi Robert

here is a pic of said 'Z' and some detail as to the process:

[bigred]

There is one other way fellas.....

A hand tube cutter is a very good way to do this. Most plumbers have one, in various sizes. What they are is a circular blade attached to a little clamp. If you cut the cork away from the blank, and then put the tube cutter onto the blank, you can cut the tube (slowly I might add) with very little risk of creating a crack or flaw running straight up the blank.

What you do, is increase the clamp slowly, and run the blade around the blank. The blade cuts a little further into the blank. You do this over & over until the cut is made nice & clean.

so there you go.

[Robert B]

Cool pics, thanks. Have a project for the weekend

cheers,
rob

[madsurfe]

and now the details:

This is a simple job but care must be taken to be thorough. You only get one opportunity with the original components.

you can see in the pic that the Heartland Z 631 LFS - ti has 3" removed from the butt. The vertical piece of cork shows where the blank runs down the centre of the cork and subsequent cut with fine tooth hacksaw has left a graphite rub mark against the cork, akin to a lead pencil.

Once the shortening has been accomplished you will need to remove the original endcap. This is only necessary if you wish to retain the original look. A lot of epoxy was used by Daiwa on this rod so I took to hacksawing the endcap off a couple of millimetres into the cork. I then methodically removed cork and epoxy with my Dremel Tool and a stanley knife. If you can't be bothered then a new endcap can be purchased or fashion one from a champange cork, just cut to shape and sand with some fine grit paper. I have used champagne cork with success on Mims IM6 Browning and Pacific composites Bass stick.

Pic 1 shows the raw end of the blank once shortened. You will need to do your best with a scalpel or stanley knife to remove cork as in pic 2 to reveal the blank the endcap to which the endcap will be attached, preferably epoxy.

NB: your measurements and cutting will need to be precise to achieve a good strong join that is also neat. No room for uneven cuts otherwise you will end up with unsightly gaps.

Sorry Guys but BM Server had a little problem last night and thus delayed the posting of the details

[madsurfe]

a pic of the Browning and Pacific Composites rods where I used champagne cork on the butt instead of plastic or rubber.