Morning guys,

I am having a world of a hard time finding some suitable aluminum tubing to do some extensions with. I need it to have an id of .500 and am needing about 5-6 feet of it. I was wondering if the "hard copper", the type used for pluming would be a suitable substitute?

I am extending some old IM10X 726 All Star blanks. I have done 2 with HM graphite donor rods for the extension and they worked beautifully. I had a chance to fish one this past weekend and honestly, I was pretty impressed with it.

Thanks,
Tom

Awfully heavy stuff.

You can make your own carbon tubing per the article we did in RodMaker some time back. Otherwise a merchant such as Fastenal might be able to help with suitable aluminum tubing.

.................

Go to onlinemetals.com for a huge selection of aluminum tubing in a wide variety of sizes and wall thicknesses.

thanks guys!!!

You have plenty of options. However you are going to have to decide things like what alloy and wall thickness. You can also buy carbon tubing from places that cater to radio controlled airplanes and such. McMaster Carr is often my "go to" place at work for these sorts of things.

Copper tubing would be way down on my list....costs a lot....weighs alot....and not very strong.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Thomas;
this is my opinion as a plumber.
Copper will hold up to what you want to do.
will be costly.
will be heavy.

But my main concern would be with oxidation that will happen on the copper under the wet conditions. it WILL turn greenish then bleed that copper oxide into your threads. and will not take long to start discoloring the work you have done.
If it is in contact with the angles hands it will also discolor them as the day goes on.

I have thought many times of using copper in a build but that one concern has stopped me thus far.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2015 07:17PM by Steve Gardner.

[goodwinds.com] Tight Lines Jaa

Ill second onlinemetals.com. Good variety of tubing. Lots of different od, id, and wall thickness to choose from. They sell in short 10-12" lengths too.

CTS will roll you exactly what you want in graphite. Parallel sides or tapered.

Just let me know ID and OD and tapered or parallel.
Herb

You guys are awesome. Thanks again a ton!! I will forgo the copper idea. I only asked since I had spare laying from some recent projects. Steve, you highlighted my main concern of weight. I cut a piece of my copper and couldn't get over the overall weight and that was one of my main reasons for asking.

Matt, I will give them a look and order a couple to see which I prefer.

Jay, that is the exact type of thing that I am looking for!!!

Herb look for a message.

Thanks again guys!!

Tom

Goodwinds also has the same in fiberglass . Jaa

Take a look at Janns Netcraft inexpensive glass blanks

Bill - willierods.com

The only problem with copper tubing for an extension is that copper is heavy. This might make it necessary to add lead in front of the reel seat to balance the rod.

Forget metal.
Just continue to search, until you find a suitable graphite blank. They work well and are perfect. Check salvation army, good will, pawn shops, donor boxes at rod and sporting good shops. With a bit of work, you should be able to come up with suitable graphite, which excell's as an extension.

Be safe

Find an aluminum fabricator in your area. Tell them what you are looking for as far as ID, OD, & length. They deal with that stuff all day every day. If they don't have what your looking for they will know where you can find it. Copper is too heavy and if my high school chemistry is still any good, I think you might set up some kind of a galvanic reaction between copper and aluminum that you don't want.