i think i will do a narative of this build like i did with the 8' lami.
as you may know i am starting with a 3piece 3wt 7' lami honey blank and extending to 7'9". my goal in this build is to get more reach with the extra length but to maintain the fine casting characteristics of the original 7' rod. i won't know if i have achieved that until it is done but i will be able to compare side by side with the 7' rod since i have one.
all of my components have been ordered. cork and burl cork from andy dear of lamar. a nice DL reel seat from "inserts by less". bronze snake brand guides with a snake agate stripper.
i will start this build with black thread and gold inlays but who knows, i could rip it off and do something else. i have already installed the extension. i will paste in a photo later. the extension is a butt piece from a graphite blank that was a 7piece blank on which i had dropped two sections so i had the section sitting around. an extension needs to be stronger than
the original blank but you need to be careful not to extend it too far up the blank. you want to avoid inserting it in such a way that it extends to the natural flex point of the rod. this flex point is usually above where the cork handle would normally go. you also want the overlap to be enough. in an articl;e in rodmaker magazine by tom kirkman he indicates that
an overlap of 6 times the diameter is enough. that would be
2.7 ". that is what i have. i have epoxied this in place with slow set epoxy and have wrapped it with thread with more tension than i would ordinarily use for a guide wrap or a ferrule wrap. i have extended it so the overlap also extends about 1 1/2 inch in front of the cork which will be much further back (about 9") from where it would be on a normal build on this blank. it won't extend to the flex point by a long shot so should not create a stress at that point. will wrap part of it this weekend.
the insert extends past the end of the thread wrap. the end of the thread wrap coinsides with where the end of the cork with the winding check will come to. once the handle is on there will be the hookeeper wrap there as well. this should provide enough reinforcement of the overlap of these two pieces and give hoop strength to prevent any possible split out of the joint.
one other thing. this extension will technically make this rod a
"faster" action. the flex point will be further away from the handle. not sure if it will be significant in terms of the rods actual performance on stream. it could be an improvement or maybe not. i will be using this rod on more open water than my 7 footer so it might be benificial. i am ever the optimist.
as you may know i am starting with a 3piece 3wt 7' lami honey blank and extending to 7'9". my goal in this build is to get more reach with the extra length but to maintain the fine casting characteristics of the original 7' rod. i won't know if i have achieved that until it is done but i will be able to compare side by side with the 7' rod since i have one.
all of my components have been ordered. cork and burl cork from andy dear of lamar. a nice DL reel seat from "inserts by less". bronze snake brand guides with a snake agate stripper.
i will start this build with black thread and gold inlays but who knows, i could rip it off and do something else. i have already installed the extension. i will paste in a photo later. the extension is a butt piece from a graphite blank that was a 7piece blank on which i had dropped two sections so i had the section sitting around. an extension needs to be stronger than
the original blank but you need to be careful not to extend it too far up the blank. you want to avoid inserting it in such a way that it extends to the natural flex point of the rod. this flex point is usually above where the cork handle would normally go. you also want the overlap to be enough. in an articl;e in rodmaker magazine by tom kirkman he indicates that
an overlap of 6 times the diameter is enough. that would be
2.7 ". that is what i have. i have epoxied this in place with slow set epoxy and have wrapped it with thread with more tension than i would ordinarily use for a guide wrap or a ferrule wrap. i have extended it so the overlap also extends about 1 1/2 inch in front of the cork which will be much further back (about 9") from where it would be on a normal build on this blank. it won't extend to the flex point by a long shot so should not create a stress at that point. will wrap part of it this weekend.
the insert extends past the end of the thread wrap. the end of the thread wrap coinsides with where the end of the cork with the winding check will come to. once the handle is on there will be the hookeeper wrap there as well. this should provide enough reinforcement of the overlap of these two pieces and give hoop strength to prevent any possible split out of the joint.
one other thing. this extension will technically make this rod a
"faster" action. the flex point will be further away from the handle. not sure if it will be significant in terms of the rods actual performance on stream. it could be an improvement or maybe not. i will be using this rod on more open water than my 7 footer so it might be benificial. i am ever the optimist.
