Hello,
I am building a 9'9wt fly rod with a 57 3 pieces Msi blank (tip over ferrule blank). I use 2 strippers Alconite guide 20mm and 16mm plus 1 10mm single foot ringed alconite and 7 8 mm single foot ringed alconite (and one tip top 8 mm aclonite).
I was told to put the second stripper at 10 cm from the first one? I can beleive that this is better for the shootability of the flyline but could you explain me why and give me a link where to find the article related to this way of placing the strippers?
Moreover, I would like to remove 1 8 mm single foot ringed alconite guide. I know that there is one specific spacing chart for each specific blank and that noi general guide spacing can be provided, but could you give me an example of spacing chart of a 9 feet rod with 10 guides in total?
What is for you the best distance I should place the first stripper? I have a 3 pieces fly rod and I put the first stripper at the butt section of the second piece of the blank (to save the weight of 1 wrapping) but I found after having casted the rod that it was too far...
Thank you for the help!
Serge

First, there are no specific spacing charts for specific blanks. Only generic charts which serve as a general "catch-all" for blanks. They will work okay, but rarely are they optimum for any blank.

The "second stripper" should actually read "additional stripper" as it does not take the place of the second one. It is placed in addition to your regular guide set up and about 4 inches ahead of the first stripper. It should be sized the same as the second stripping guide.

Finally let me say that I realize that fly rods actually only have one stripping guide. But in keeping with the terminology that most use, any two footed ringed guide is called a stripping guide.


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10 cm or 4" is about the same.

The terminology, some would more accurately say the 'second stripper' is actually the first collector guide. Whatever it's called, the purpose is for better line handling, and this distance placement seems to be optimal for a 9' fly blank , and really for any wt. line.

Do the test casting before finishing the guide, see if it makes a difference and you like it. If not remove it and go back without it.
There probably is no set chart out there to tell you to do this.

Let's just consider it a 'W E L L K E P T S E C R E T' among informed custom rodbuilders. And don't tell anyone I said this. LOL


Rich
Richard's Rod & Reel

I can not explain why, but as soon as you try it you will see the advantage. Watch how the line comes out of the second guide so smoothly. When the line comes through the first stripper it has big oscillations and the second guide catches them and smooths them before they develop into loops large enough to hit the rod.

Some tests are being done right now on a new type of guide that will do the same job as these two, the stripping guide and the additional guide 4 inches past the stripper, are doing now.

If things pan out you could install the just the one and get the same benefit automatically. Of course, the guide looks a bit odd, but so does the additional guide so close to the stripper now. In time, however, it could become the norm.

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gee rich thanks for letting the cat out of the bag what you going to tell him next. that flex coat lite is half as thick as reg flex coat ... or that single band trim wraps look awesome in a metallic color next to earth tones ...... John T Burford aka
Tightline Rod's

This topic came up in a FFing discussion group recently (and does periodically and repeatedly).

I'm not convinced the 2nd stripper does much in the hands of a good caster. As a friend (FFF certified casting instructor and former competitor in casting competitions) recently said (paraphrasing), "If it made a difference, you'd see it on the tournament circuit. All the tournament casters have tried it, and none use such a setup in competition. That pretty much tells me what I need to know."

I guess I'll just have to test it myself. It could be the double stripper helps those of us who don't feed the line smoothly into the cast.

As Tom says so often "Test, test, test", and then decide for yourself.

Bob

I'm not surprised but then we have to realize that most of us are not building for tournament casters. If the average guy sees some benefit from it then it's probably worthwhile.

I also can't say that the tournament boys really know as much about their equipment as everyone thinks they do. When I built my first spiral wrapped rods I was told that if it was any good then the tournament circuit boys would already be using it! Well they're not, but we know it's better. Same thing with the double stripper. Don't be surprised if some of the tournament casting boys eventually make the switch.

It's the custom rod builders who are leading the way. Not the pros, the tournament casters or fishermen or the advertisers!

Here Here..

Tongue in cheek about the idea of being so 'secret' with the idea of the second stripper. Not something likely to be seen except on a custom built rod, but the test casting can't be emphasized enough for personal acceptance of this. I'm not a tournament fly caster to be sure, but Brian brings up a good point about tournament angler's probably relying more on the knowledge of custom builders than is thought. They are more involved with the 'use' of the equipment more than spending time in making it or studying the equipment makeup itself. It's doubtful that the 'double stripper' setup will necessarily increase distance for tournament casters, but then again it might benefit for line handling. Again, test...test...test..

Rich

In my opinion, the additional stripper never hurts and sometimes helps. I use on all fly rods I build.

Serge, you've received a lot of good advise for determining where to place the collector/stripper/additional guide. And along with that the most important advice of test, test and test. If you are interested in further explanation of how and why the extra guide works, you can read about it a book by Don Phillips, "The technology of Fly Rods." Don is a former rod designer and engineer that worked extensively with boron for one of the large chemical companies. As stated Don was a engineer - about the only thing I did understand in his book was the portion about the additional stripping guide.