I am looking at North Fork Composites St 904-2 (HM) 9' 0" blank to build a steelhead drift fishing rod. I have built two rods on XST blanks, one is 8'6" and the other is 9'. I fish them both but usually prefer the shorter one as I think it's better balanced and more sensitive. So here is the question. Do you think it would make sense to shorthen the 9' NFC blank a bit for this build? Make it like 8'9" maybe?

I plan on using the lightweight minima guides to make the rod as light as possible with a single foot minima guide for the the tiptop as well if that helps.

The XST blanks are multi-modulus designs and a bit heavier than your NFC. I wouldn't cut it, for one thing it would forever store with a longer tip section and therefore be prone to more damage during transport and storage. Lefty Kreh shorten the tip of his fly rods a half to 1 inch, so the durable lower section would protect the tip during transport.
Minimas also come in titanium and aren't to bad in price. Using a guide for a tip top is fine, but they are more prone to damage.

you could match the blank against your rod and see where the tapers come closest then tape on the same amount of guides you 8'6" has and do a load test and see if they are close in deflection that would help you achieve the balance you want .

but using a rod make on 1 blank and a different make of blank might not produce the end result you want.

lots of futzing around some times it is worth the time and sometimes it is just a bust. as the tapers have to drastic changes from bottom to top

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Roman,
I certainly would not cut this blank. As designed, this is really one of the very best blanks that you can buy for this purpose.

Build it and enjoy it.


Good luck

Look at the Fuji Arowana, MN or LG Tip Tops. You can get these in a Titanium frames with Alconite, SIC or Torzite rings and save some weight but still have "real" tip top.

Well, it sounds like it will be a 9' rod! The titanium guides also seems like a good idea to me. Thanks for the feedback!

By the way, the weight difference between the Pac Bay minima guides and the titanium guides will be tough to tell the difference just by picking up the rod.

Either choice in guides will work great.

Be safe

Roman Chamine Wrote:
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> I am looking at North Fork Composites St 904-2
> (HM) 9' 0" blank to build a steelhead drift
> fishing rod. I have built two rods on XST blanks,
> one is 8'6" and the other is 9'. I fish them both
> but usually prefer the shorter one as I think it's
> better balanced and more sensitive. So here is the
> question. Do you think it would make sense to
> shorthen the 9' NFC blank a bit for this build?
> Make it like 8'9" maybe?
>
> I plan on using the lightweight minima guides to
> make the rod as light as possible with a single
> foot minima guide for the the tiptop as well if
> that helps.

If you purchased that blank during the recent sale, you got one @#$%& of a good buy. Why not spend the savings on a good, lightweight set of guides? No buyer's remorse with any of the sic fuji's, especially the tysg's.

5-6 years ago while at the Lamiglas factory for the rodbuilding show they had for a few years, i was able to pick up like sets of Pac Bay match guides with and without ceramic inserts, and SS or Ti. It wasn't hard to tell the differences in design.

My understanding is that Fuji's SiC guides are even heavier than Alconite ones. Correct me If I am wrong, but the minimas are usually a natural choice for rods where the overall weight and weight distribution are of primary importance. Only, perhaps RECoil single foot are a bit lighter.

Roman Chamine Wrote:
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> My understanding is that Fuji's SiC guides are
> even heavier than Alconite ones. Correct me If I
> am wrong, but the minimas are usually a natural
> choice for rods where the overall weight and
> weight distribution are of primary importance.
> Only, perhaps RECoil single foot are a bit
> lighter.

Not sure where that info came from, but as far as Y frame and L frame fuji's are concerned, titanium framed sic's are the lightest, stainless framed sic's are second lightest, and Alconites are third lightest. I can't comment on the least expensive fuji offerings as I've never weighed them.

Alconite is in fact lighter than SiC. The reason Sic guides are more expensive is that they are harder and dissipate heat better. However, Alconite are plenty hard enough in that they can not be cut with a hacksaw or a metal file. So they are NOT going to groove via anything that is fishing related. The stainless steel Minima guides are extremely light and are lighter than ceramic guides with stainless frames. However, titanium framed ceramic guides are also very light and in some cases, slightly lighter than stainless Minimas. The titanium Ti Black Minimas are a minima 4 guide (double swagged) and are very light, but more expensive, but still less expensive than titanium framed ceramic guides. The regular titanium Minima guides are very light and inexpensive, but are a Minima 3 guide, which are swagged differently than the minima 4s. Therfore, the hard chrome insert is not quite as secure. If you use ceramic spinning guides use the Fuji KR micro concept guides (KLH, and KB/KT guides). If you use Minima spinning guides use the Minima M guides for the reduction train and Minima F guides as runners. These minima guides are set up exactly the same as the Fuji KR guides. I am a big fan of the KR concept, using either ceramic KR guides or Minima guides. This setup performs better than any other setup I have ever used. I would also use a regular tip top rather than wrapping a guide for the tip top. Good luck with your build.
Norm