aluminum butt

[Redfish King]

Anybody built an aluminum butt rod before? I was wondering how you order the blanks the length you want the pole and then cut the handle and fit the aluminum.Are there special blanks just for aluminum butts?

[harryk3616]

hi      when i used aftco aluminum butts awhile ago, they come with a feurrel that is part of the butt, the feurrel and the butt has a groove and a pin ,so when you put the rod together,the groove and the pin lock it into place so the blank doesn't spin and the guides are on top where they belong.  as far as the blank goes, thats your preference, you buy the desired lenght you want, the blank only goes into the butt maybe 4 to 5in. you got to roll the blank with an arc to it putting downward pressure maybe 18in. up from the end of the blank to find the hard spot, you can actually feel it jump when you go off of the hard spot, this way your rod won't twist to the side when you get a big fish on. i'm not up on the new stuff, this is how i built rods 30yrs. ago, i'm sure the components haven't changed much.  hope this helps.    harryk

[Bryan Young]

There are blanks specifically designed for use with detachable aluminum butts.  The blanks have a really stout bottom section that goes into the fuerrel since there is a short section of securement and a lot of stress is placed in a small area.  At least that is the way there were built when I was building rods 20 years ago.  I discovered it while cutting a trolling blank down to fit into a downrigger that was used for bottom fishing. 

[Jeri]

Hi ,

As Harry mentioned, the butts are designed with the ferrule, and supplier as such. The spine finding method he describes is good, it will indicate the soft side of the blank to you, which will if you mark it, offer you the option of either having a softer or stiffer action, depending on which side you put the rings or rollers. It is only a small difference, the rating of the finished rod will not be compromised, just a small factor that will help with your personal fighting style. Trolling rods that we build are usually built stiff for menfolk, as they tend to be more bullish in their fighting style. This spine issue is present in all rod blanks, and can at times be critical for the sheer pleasure of using a rod.

Most of the blank manufacturers build their blanks to suit the standard sizes of the mainstream aluminium butts, like Aftco and Stuart, others might be a case of measuring the ID of the ferrule, before buying the blank. It is fairly essential to get the right blank to fit the right aluminium butt. Most of the blank suppliers show the bottom OD of their blanks, and the tip size as well as the IGFA rating.

Shaving down the bottom 3" of a trolling blank to fit into a too small aluminium butt is a disaster waiting to happen. The aluminium butts are usually rated for the weight class of rods they are intended.

Hope that all make sense.

Cheers from sunny Africa

Jeri

[UKChris]

Just to add, if you do buy a blank intended to make a 1-piece rod, you can cut the blank to fit an Aftco ferrule and butt but I would advise (a) making sure the final rod length is the same as it would have been without cutting, (b) that the blank at the point you cut it is small enough to fit into the ferrule (don't shave it - you'll weaken it at the point of highest stress) and (c) if you need to build the blank up to fit the ferrule you do it with some care or again it can become a point of weakness.

You can cut blanks to change their action when fitting Aftco-type butts but please make sure you know what you are doing before experimenting - blanks are not cheap these days.

But, as said, you can get blanks specially build to fit the ferrules, both to make trolling rods and stand-up style. Again, make sure the blank you get fits the ferrule of the butt you want to use. Obvious, yes, but a pain if you forget to check.

Good luck!

[Jeri]

Hi All,


Just a quick point about cutting blanks down in the length, to get to a point of reduced diameter - most blank manufacturers actually strengthen the blanks at the bottom 3-4" to take the additional strain. Before you start cutting down blanks, check the manufacturers web site to see that it is acceptable, in terms of their product. Cutting too far, could well put you beyond their deliberate strengthening - with similar catastrophic results.

Just a point - beinga  rod builder, I am always wary of chopping bits off blanks, as unless you know how the blank was built, you might well compromise the performance drastically. We have the same issues with surf blanks.


Cheers from sunny africa


Jeri

[harryk3616]

hi    harryk  again   i never cut a blank, i always used the white either lamiglass or shakespeare, sorry i don't remember for sure, it was over 30 years ago, the blank had raised spiral ridges on them , not very high.   i would mark where the fuerrel fit into the blank and the about 1/2 down or so and then on the bottom i would build up the blank with masking tape so it would fit snuggley into the fuerrel. after this was done i would mix up a batch of epoxy which had the consistency of toothpaste , it was called  ''filled  epoxy ''   i would load the blank up with the epoxy and spin it slowly so it wouldn't all run out, then slide the fuerrel on, BUT  you have to have the locking groove of the fuerrel  horizontaly to the hard spot of the blank where the guides are going to go.  then just stand it up plumb and let the weight of the blank hold it into place.  hope this helps, any other question please ask and i'll try my best to answer them for you.

[Redfish King]

Thanks yall - some great advice here.Good point about contacting manufacturer I wasnt going to do that but will now.Still planning on posting pics when all done.Shark pics too- as soon as it warms up.

[lawaia]

When I wanted to have some custom big game trolling rods made for me, the first thing I had to decide was the length and weight class of the blank.  This type of rod blank seems to be made in fairly standard lengths and diameters based on the weight class of the blank.  Rod component manufacturers and rod blank makers seem to have agreed upon some basic diameters for given weight classes.  So, once a blank of a given weight class is selected, the rod builder can find a matching diameter ferrule, the ferrule has a matching diameter butt, and the rest is the the grip, the winding check and the wrapping.

Here's a photo showing a 130 lb blank (at bottom), and the ferrule on a completed rod (top) and the matching butt (center).


The foregoing pertains only to big game trolling rods with aluminum butts.  There must be infinitely more variation in spinning, casting, freshwater, and fly rod blanks, and I know next to nothing of those.

[Glos]

Guys, how relevant is the material in the butt, for jigging.
I think metal is better, because it resonates and gives better responsivenes overall.