Balancing pre-existing rods

When production rods are not enough, it's time to go custom. Come share your experiences building and/or ordering a custom rod and tell us if you'll ever go back to off the shelf.
Post Reply
ss30378
Platinum Angler
Platinum Angler
Posts: 1081
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:42 pm
Location: Huntsville, AL

Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by ss30378 » Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:23 am

How many of you have taken a fully finished rod and retro fitted balancers or some type of weight system? Besides the slip on balancers what other options are there to balance rods?

ShimanoFan
Elite Angler
Elite Angler
Posts: 411
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:49 am
Contact:

Re: Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by ShimanoFan » Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:34 am

Remove large heavy guides and put on micro guides.

But yes, I have done some balancing of off the shelf rods.

Since the rod blank is hollow, I can drill into the butt cap and screw or glue a screw holding weights to butt similar to how Bass Pro does it. They use to sell an off the shelf balancing kit for their rods.
Why is there a concerted effort of hate? And why is it allowed?

OkobojiEagle
Elite Angler
Elite Angler
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 1:25 pm

Re: Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by OkobojiEagle » Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:00 am

Yes, I fine tune the balance on most of the rods I use. As above, I weight inside of the rod butt with "pencil" drop-shot weights. Most of my rods have brand identifying "medalions" glued to the butt cap that can be peeled off before I drill through the remaining butt cap into the rod cavity. The medalion can be re-glued when done and nobody is any the wiser. With reels attached, I tape the weights to the outside of the butt cap to determine how much weight I'm going to need. Usually takes me less than an hour to complete. I use a little cloth tape around the weights when necessary to prevent rattling. Playing with the amount of tape, I can usually fit the necessary weights into the rod shaft without needing to glue them.

oe

User avatar
Mattman
TT Gear Crew
TT Gear Crew
Posts: 2911
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:26 am
Location: Fergus Falls, MN - Otterods - Hand Crafted High Performance Fishing Rods
Contact:

Re: Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by Mattman » Thu Feb 28, 2019 3:57 pm

I've used Matagi's screw on balancers a number of times as upgrades to factory rods. Looks good and you can adjust your own weight as you see fit.

I have a mold for pouring my own weights for placing inside a blank. I use those weights frequently.
Matt Davis
Otterods-High performance fishing rods

ss30378
Platinum Angler
Platinum Angler
Posts: 1081
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:42 pm
Location: Huntsville, AL

Re: Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by ss30378 » Thu Feb 28, 2019 4:41 pm

Matt do you happen to know the diameter of the matagi balancers? I like the look of those. Doesnt look too complicated, may just turn a similar setup on the lathe to match my rods OD...

User avatar
Mattman
TT Gear Crew
TT Gear Crew
Posts: 2911
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:26 am
Location: Fergus Falls, MN - Otterods - Hand Crafted High Performance Fishing Rods
Contact:

Re: Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by Mattman » Fri Mar 01, 2019 2:45 am

ss30378 wrote:Matt do you happen to know the diameter of the matagi balancers?
1.063"
27mm
Matt Davis
Otterods-High performance fishing rods

ss30378
Platinum Angler
Platinum Angler
Posts: 1081
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:42 pm
Location: Huntsville, AL

Re: Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by ss30378 » Fri Mar 01, 2019 6:35 pm

Mattman wrote:
ss30378 wrote:Matt do you happen to know the diameter of the matagi balancers?
1.063"
27mm
Thanks!

User avatar
IlliniDawg01
Pro Angler
Pro Angler
Posts: 2349
Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:20 am
Location: Glen Carbon, Illinois

Re: Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by IlliniDawg01 » Sat Mar 02, 2019 6:20 am

I like the rubber chair tips you can get at Walmart or most hardware stores. They are cheap, come in multiple sizes and colors, and aren't permanent. Stick a couple coins in them until you find the right balance.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Waxman-Consu ... thena=true

DaveJ

mark poulson
TT Pro Angler
TT Pro Angler
Posts: 2743
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 6:28 am
Location: NorCal

Re: Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by mark poulson » Sat Mar 02, 2019 6:47 am

IlliniDawg01 wrote:I like the rubber chair tips you can get at Walmart or most hardware stores. They are cheap, come in multiple sizes and colors, and aren't permanent. Stick a couple coins in them until you find the right balance.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Waxman-Consu ... thena=true
I do the same thing.


DaveJ

MikeK
Senior Angler
Senior Angler
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 10:53 am
Location: Chuluota, FL

Re: Balancing pre-existing rods

Post by MikeK » Tue Mar 05, 2019 7:18 pm

OkobojiEagle wrote:Yes, I fine tune the balance on most of the rods I use. As above, I weight inside of the rod butt with "pencil" drop-shot weights. Most of my rods have brand identifying "medalions" glued to the butt cap that can be peeled off before I drill through the remaining butt cap into the rod cavity. The medalion can be re-glued when done and nobody is any the wiser. With reels attached, I tape the weights to the outside of the butt cap to determine how much weight I'm going to need. Usually takes me less than an hour to complete. I use a little cloth tape around the weights when necessary to prevent rattling. Playing with the amount of tape, I can usually fit the necessary weights into the rod shaft without needing to glue them.

oe
Similar process but I use tungsten bullet weights.

Post Reply