I want to alter the tip of a rod blank to make it very fast, extremely soft tip. Going to start with solid glass and carbon ice fishing blanks.
Anybody have any ideas about doing this. I am thinking about using my power rod wrapper and fine sand paper.

See you on the water, Doug
Captain Paddlefoot

With a solid blank you may be able to do this. With a tubular blank the margin for error is slim.

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

Doug,
Easy to do.
After all, the manufacturer starts with a larger blank and does the final grind to get the action that is specified.

When I do this, I start with 220 paper and work down to 400.

Run the blank just as fast as you need. I typically turn at about 2000-3000 rpm. Keep an eye on the blank to avoid blank whipping.

Also, keep a caliper on hand to measure your progress. Before you start, use your caliper to take measurements along the length of the blank. Then, keep track of the diameter changes as you work.

Don't make the mistake of going too far, somewhere down the blank which essentially makes the blank useless.

If you start with glass ice blanks, these only are about $1-$5 each, so you have very little invested when one or more go bad. It is pretty likely that you will ruin a few before you get exactly what you want.

But, that is how you learn, so that your final product will do exactly what you want.

If you buy a dozen blanks before you start, take blank station measurements on each blank, so you can find out how much variation is in your original lot. Then, you can began to grind from that spot.

To make the blank a soft tip, it is likely that you will only be working on about the final 4 inches of the tip. Quite likely that you won't do anything to the rest of the blank.

Depending on your power wrapper, you may or may not have sufficient power to spin the blank for this sanding. If you find that you don't have the necessary power, you can always use a variable speed drill to turn the blank.

If you go with a variable speed drill, either get someone else to hold the drill while you sand, or build a stand for the variable speed drill.

Remember, on a fine tipped blank, a change of .001-.005 inches in diameter may be all that you need to get the action that you need. So, go slowly, and when you get close, switch to a finer paper like 320, 400 and 600.

Also, when working with either glass or graphite, it is a good idea to wear a dust mask to keep the glass or graphite out of your lungs. Also, wear gloves to keep any glass or graphite fibers out of your hands. I prefer to use cloth gloves so that the blank easily slips on the gloves. I buy cloth gloves by the dozen for my shop work. When the gloves get dirty or worn, I toss them out and put on a fresh pair.

[www.fleetfarm.com]

[www.northerntool.com]

On a solid blank, experiment with sanding the tip section flat with a dermal tool, or sander, rather than going around the blank. Going around the blank will heat the blank up and put torque on the fibers. Try and use a single foot fly guide as the tip top. Try it on a practice blank first. Make a little jig by cutting a shallow grove in a board, and laying the blank in the grove, so that only about half of the blank is exposed, and then work it with the sander.