Hey guys,

I have a rod that i love for jerkbaits, however the handle is about one to one and a half inches too long.   I am planning on cutting it down, was just wondering if there are any tips from those of you with more experience in rod building on this?  Any certain way I should cut and how should I finish the butt of the rod?  Any input or direction is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Try to remove  the grip from the rod first. Then cut. You can the shorten the grip on the open end and slide it back on. You'll still have the nice looking butt of the handle

BIll

I thought this was answered before on another thread, but i'll try.

As a builder if I were and I don't like to modify older rods, this is what I would do...

First off if the rod has a black poly butt cap remove that carefully. Then take notice of the shape of the area the butt cap sits on.

If no butt cap then move on to the next step.

Measure and mark how much of the original cork you intend on removing, and mark the rings...

Now take a box knife (with a new sharp blade) and cut around on your mark. Make the cut all the way to the blank. Now peel the cork off of the section you intent to cut...

Next using masking tape, tape around the blank (don't worry about cleaning any old epoxy off), now using either a dremel and cutoff wheel or, a hacksaw (with fine cutting blade). Carefully cut the blank at the mark you have made...

Now using a superfine 3M sanding pad clean up the blank edges and with some 60grt start re-shaping the cork to accept the butt cap again...

Once you have it all ready to be epoxied use a 5min 2 part waterproof epoxy and remount the butt cap...

I think that's it, if I have forgotten anything I am sure the other builders here will chime in.

Ohh...Here is the link to an article on how to remove the poly butt cap if you need.....

Replacing Those Old Black Poly Butt Caps With

A NEW Cork Composite Butt Cap

Good Luck!

Thanks guys this will help,

Reel Mech thanks for the link, this will be the first rod that I will be modifying a handle on and this will help alot.

Yeah that article I wrote for replacing the old black poly caps you see on a lot of rods. I figured that if you had one on the rod your working on then it would help explain the process with some pics..

I don't use those caps anymore (mostly rubberized cork), and haven't had a chance to write one for those types of butt caps yet.

Good Luck & Tight Wraps!