Got a question on tip top sizing. If I do a build with size 4 kt guides, I normally do a 4.5 tip top. Anything bigger on the KT guides and I match the size. I ordered three LG CC guides with 5.5 tubes based on the blank specs, but it looks like they actually need a 6 tube size. So now, I'm trying to finish up three builds and most of the tip tops I'm looking for are on backorder. The casting rod is using 4.5 runners, and the 4.5(6) is available, so that's not a problem. The problem is the two spinning rods are using 5 runners. The 4.5(6) is one option, and the next available is a 6(6). Are either of those acceptable, or should I just wait for the 5 or 5.5 to come available? I've never gone smaller than the running guides, and a full size bigger seems too big to me. Thanks for your help in advance!

You could scrape the finish from the tip of the blank where the tip tops will go, and this will allow you to fit the slightly smaller tiptops without any problems.
Norm

Norman Miller Wrote:
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> You could scrape the finish from the tip of the
> blank where the tip tops will go, and this will
> allow you to fit the slightly smaller tiptops
> without any problems.
> Norm


Well, that would just be too simple lol. Thanks Norm!

IMO downsizing a little at the tip should be OK if you can deal with the aesthetics. Line is running pretty dang smooth after 4 or 5 small runners. I would follow Norms advise unless you have to sand too much.

Jim Ising Wrote:
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> IMO downsizing a little at the tip should be OK if
> you can deal with the aesthetics. Line is running
> pretty dang smooth after 4 or 5 small runners. I
> would follow Norms advise unless you have to sand
> too much.


I don't think I'll have to take all that much off. The 5.5 ALMOST fits. I will measure, tape it off, and sand down slowly. Shouldn't be a big deal.

Seth,
I certainly wouldn't waste any sleep over it. I would put on #6 tips and move on.

Nothing wrong at all to use a size 6 tip with smaller runners. Having a bit larger tip - actually helps minimize some potential slimy line issues that you might have down the rod using a smaller tip.

p.s.
I would NEVER make the tip of the blank any smaller. The tip is the smallest and most fragile point on the blank. No need to make it even more fragile.

Be safe

You are not making the structural part of tip smaller, just removing the finish. Finish has nothing to do with strength, it’s just cosmetic. I have done this hundreds of times without problems. I usually just gently scrape the finish off using a utility knife held at a right angle. Only takes a few seconds, and works very well for installing slightly smaller tip tops.
Norm

I'm with Roger and would choose not to alter the tip of the rod. If and when it gets that close to having to stay with the needed tip, I will do what I have to do to open the tube to the proper size. Chucking a small rat tail file in a cordless drill or using a tapered reamer. I would rather waste a tiptop than a blank.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

Also, if you happen to have a tip top with a barrel that is slightly larger, simply take a wrap or two of guide wrapping thread around the tip before you glue on the tip. The thread acts as a shim to give the tip top a perfect fit.

Good luck

Mud Hole isn't the only place with tip tops. Try the Rod Room, they are very close to Fuji (Anglers Resource). I don't like a guide smaller than 4.5mm for the tip top because that will aid in the passage of knots so in my opinion a 4.5mm tip top with 5mm running guides would work just fine and you really won't be able to tell a difference.

Lance Schreckenbach Wrote:
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> Mud Hole isn't the only place with tip tops. Try
> the Rod Room, they are very close to Fuji (Anglers
> Resource). I don't like a guide smaller than 4.5mm
> for the tip top because that will aid in the
> passage of knots so in my opinion a 4.5mm tip top
> with 5mm running guides would work just fine and
> you really won't be able to tell a difference.

The Rod Room was where I was looking this morning as an alternative. That's who had the sizes I was talking about in the OP. I called Fishing Tackle Unlimited here in Houston this morning, they had a 4.5(6) and two 5.5(6)s in stock, so I picked them up at lunch today.

If you want to use your size 5 ring 5.5 tube tip top remove the FINISH it will not hurt anything, not even a little bit. When people strip a rod down to refinish it they do not leave the finish on the tip, and this includes Roger. Finish is cosmetic and removing it will not hurt the blank in the least. This a trick for fitting tiptops that we have learned over years of experience and it works!
Norm

Norman Miller Wrote:
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> If you want to use your size 5 ring 5.5 tube tip
> top remove the FINISH it will not hurt anything,
> not even a little bit. When people strip a rod
> down to refinish it they do not leave the finish
> on the tip, and this includes Roger. Finish is
> cosmetic and removing it will not hurt the blank
> in the least. This a trick for fitting tiptops
> that we have learned over years of experience and
> it works!
> Norm

If I get in a bind again, I will do just that. FTU had them, so I went ahead and took the easy way out. The 5.5 tube tip tops will find a home eventually.