A little off the top...
 

What's the best method for cleanly cutting a blank from the tip section?

The same day you buy it, Place the rod in the bed of a pickup, make sure the top end is resting between the tail gate (up position) and the body, drive home,,, that's it!! :smash:
Glad I could help :)

maybe..... using the smallest "brand new" pipe cutter
it's red and is used in really tight spaces (ie the reason for smallness)
it has a tension adjustment allowing you to cut deeper in circumference
with each full 360 degree rotation.

Dremel w/cutoff wheel.
I assume your tipping it then putting a tip on.

as billy mentioned, a dremel. i would also put tape over the spot you want to cut to keep from ripping material as you cut/cut thru. just mark the take and turn the blank as you are cutting.

Just curious, what blank are you cutting and why?
I am always amazed at how much the action changes when removing just a few inches.

The blank was "cut" already, I just want to clean up the spot it was cut from :smash:

The only good way IMO to cut a tip is using an abrasive cut off tool. The thin discs mounted on a Dremel are ideal. You may be able to play around when cutting a butt down but at the tip you need to be careful and do it right.

I think I'm going to leverage that idea with tape on the blank, similar to how I would cut plastic tubing.

Thanks all for the tips. I'm interested to see how this tip section performs now that it's shortened.
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