I have an offshore rod I built for myself but I made the butt too short. Can it be extended 3 inches or so? I'm going to remove the grip anyway. It is a hollow glass blank. I thought about taking a section off a used rod and glueing it inside to make the extention. Any thoughts?

That may or may not work. If you are using this rod so that the butt is put into a gimbal nock, or used in a fighting harness, that joint you are going to create is going to have to take a considerable amount of stress. An internal plug, depending on the wall thickness of both it and the piece you are going into, will determine whether or not it will handle this stress..

At the minimum you will want to reinforce the outer circumference of the rod butt where you install any type of internal extension. You will also want a very hefty/sturdy extension piece. I could give more specifics if I was able to see the rod in question. An oversleeze could be the better way to go, although this may increase the overall butt diameter to something you would not find acceptable.

Think about what kind of stress will be placed on that joint and build it accordingly, if at all.

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

Steve
I have extended butts the way you described and everything worked out fine,but i don't know if you would want to do this on a rod used for offshore fishing you may not have the strenght you need in the butt section.depending on what type of rod your building you might want to think about adding a unibutt or a tuffbutt for added length.

I have done what you are seeking, and it has held up well.

Before I go too far, let me say that I AM THE LEAST EXPERIENCED GUY ON THIS BOARD! The following has worked for me, but PLEASE get some other opinions before you make any decisions.

I would use a solid fiberglass blank, and slide it into the butt of the rod until it fit snugly, and mark that junction point. Cut the blank off 6" above your mark, and make sure it still fits snugly inside the rod. Then cut the exposed repair plug off at 3". This gives you a 2:1 support ratio, 6" inside, 3" outside. A snug fit is very important.

I would then tightly wrap the last two inches of the old butt with thread to keep it from splitting under heavy pressure. Scour the repair piece with scotchbrite, also inside the old blank as possible. Then slather rodbond or 2-ton epoxy heavily on the extension, and slide it into place with a twisting motion.

Once it dries, use thread to level out the repair area, and remove any taper. Epoxy the whole thing well and you are ready to install your handle material and gimbal as desired.

I believe this will work well, but I am not nearly as experienced as most people on this board. Maybe if I were, I would be more careful about offering advice, and keep my mouth shut!

Good luck with extending your rod.

TH