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Carbon rod blanks- slimmer=better ?

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ricardo	Carbon rod blanks- slimmer=better ?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 109 (22/04/08 11:10) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None As somone who has been fishing for over 30yrs,I have noticed there appears to be a trend for ever thinner rod blanks. I own a number of rods including Harrisons,Shimanos and Daiwa's and have noticed that Daiwa in particular appear to favour larger diameter blanks eg.Porky Pig and Connoisseur feeder rods. I guess the quality of carbon fibre has increased over the years but I would like to ask any of the technical experts out there if there is a down side to these ultra slim blanks? My understanding is that from a mechanical perspective,a tube of larger diameter will exhibit greater resistance to stress/bending than a thinner one built with the same material.
Andy Thatcher		#1	[-]
Posts: 6351 (24/04/08 23:39) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Won't claim to be a technical expert but good question. Must confess that slimness seems to be more of an aesthetic point rather than performance. But can't think of an amazingly thin barbel blank say compared with Century's Fat Boy Slim place in the carp rod world. I use Chimera's and do not really think they are needle thin, could even be a bit thicker that the Interceptors they replaced. Any other views out there ? Cheers Andy
bgit		#2	[-]
Posts: 4307 (25/04/08 06:43) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Just a quickie but depends on a number of things - carbon type, wall thickness, test curve to name a few. A couple of things - the Chimera 2 is a slightly smaller diameter blank than the equivalent test curve newer Torrix. So 12' 1.75 Chimera 2 thinner external diameter overall than the 12' 1.75 Torrix. The Torrix however, has thinner walls compared with the Chimera and is around 20% lighter in weight - the Chimera weighing in at 150g, Torrix at 125g (and the Bfw i-power at 127g). So in this case the 'newer' Torrix is actually of larger external diameter. Surprisingly enough, the 11' 1.75 Torrix is the slimmer of all the blanks mentioned - when I first had a look I was expecting something very similar to the 12' version and was a bit confused when this turned out not to be the case. This weighs in at an average 122g. I've also just built a 10' 2.25 stalking rod and this is very similar in external dimensions to the 1.5 and 1.75 Bfw stalkers. I'll do a bit more thinking and probably come back with more info when I have more time. Cheers Bob Last Edited By: bgit 25/04/08 06:48. Edited 1 times.
davelumb		#3	[-]
Posts: 387 (25/04/08 08:53) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	One thing I have noticed with ultra-slim carp rods is that they very often feel tip heavy. I assume this is due to weight distribution through the blank as they have to have thicker walls to maintain the power/test curve in comparison to thinner walled blanks with greater outside diameters. While this might be a balance problem it does mean that the blanks are probably more resistant to crushing and other accidental damage. Take a small chip out of a thick walled blank and it will carry on okay, do the same with a thin walled blank and it could explode at some point! In higher test curves ultra-slim blanks with spigot joints can be too powerful for the spigots. I have seen some where the spigot has bent at what looks like quite a sharp angle when the rod has been fully loaded. Possibly it has been strong enough, but it doesn't look confidence inspiring. Overfits are a different matter. "Fish don't think. They react."
Titus Aducas		#4	[-]
Posts: 1403 (25/04/08 15:55) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Is distortion a factor? When you bend a tube the fibres at the top of the bend are put into tension and the bottom is subjected to compression, the tube then takes on an elliptical shape and will ultimately fail as the ellipse collapses, (a pole vaulters nightmare), does the smaller diameter and thicker walls mean the tube can be bent further before it fails? Some fly rods are amasingly thin but they seem to handle big fish with ease. Last Edited By: Titus Aducas 25/04/08 15:59. Edited 1 times.
davelumb		#5	[-]
Posts: 388 (25/04/08 23:44) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Titus Aducas wrote: Is distortion a factor? When you bend a tube the fibres at the top of the bend are put into tension and the bottom is subjected to compression, the tube then takes on an elliptical shape and will ultimately fail as the ellipse collapses, (a pole vaulters nightmare), does the smaller diameter and thicker walls mean the tube can be bent further before it fails? Some fly rods are amasingly thin but they seem to handle big fish with ease. Probably. That sounds logical, but I'm no technical expert. "Fish don't think. They react."
RollingPinBoy		#6	[-]
Posts: 1438 (28/04/08 15:42) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I have always tended to use thin blanks since the 1980's, in fact i used trout blanks at this time. These behaved like totally thru action 'springs' and thus have always used very thin blanks, even today. A couple of reasons is that they are much lighter in weight and were perfect for small reels like the Aero GT1000's and gave a perfect lightweight balance. Because i hold the rod most of the time, then the thiner blank can also be more wind resistant, amongst other benefits in my opinion....Ray "They're bigger than me but they keep my ears warm" www.barbelshack.com

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