hey everyone thanks for the ongoing hel1 this is a great site!!

Im about to build a 8'6" 4wt on a legend blank the rod is a 4pc.

with a multi piece blank do you

1)spine the individual sections and align on the actual spine

2) the supplier that sold me the blanks for my second a 3rd project had told me for a 4 pc rod assemble the two tip sections so they are as straight as possible and then find an effective spine vs an actual spine. he also told me I can ignore the 1 or 2 butt sections when spining as they are too stiff to really get a functional spine line .

also With the last 2 flyrods I built I put the guides on the inside of the spine as that what was recommended. would putting guides on the spine help with the actual physics of casting and presenting flies or with a 4wt keep the guides on the inside to help with landing fish?

Many thanks and happy wraps! "John"

Find the spine for each section individually and then assemble the pieces according to the spine marks. Due the overlap of the ferrules, the effect may now be a few degrees from where you marked the sections originally. If so, remark and proceed from there.

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The question raised above concerning if You should spine the butt sections have troubled me for some time now......
I mostly build on blanks with 3 or more pcs. And the question that pops up everytime is; how important is it to find and spine the butt section(s) correct.
Is it true that the butt section is so stiff that it doesnt really matter how You align it? The butt piece is often so stiff that a flex test is not possible.
I've heard about putting the blank on the edge of two vine glasses and by doing so the spine should then roll so the spine is pointing up.
Voila! Could this little trick be used?
Hmmmmm..... confusing. Please help.
Thanks, Goran.

If you roll it that way you will locate the natural concave bend of the section, but not necessarily the spine.

However, if the section is too short or too stiff to spine properly, mark the outside of the natural bend as if it were the spine and align it with the true spine marks on your other sections and it will work quite well.

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On lighter weight fly blanks you shouldn't have trouble finding the spine on the butt sections - - usually 6 or 7 wt and higher is difficult - -all you can do is all you can do. Like Tom says, find each individual section spine then put together & spine as if a one piece.

Your advice is good, I spine each section starting at the tip and then connect the tip to the second section with the spines aligned and spine the two sections. The spine marks for each section and the spine for the connected sections should be the same. If they are not check them again, if they still don't align, then turn the second section over 180 degrees and see if that will make them align, many times that will solve your problem.

Now for spining the butt sections, place two tables close enough together for the blank to fit between them with the tip on one table and the butt on the other. Press down on the blank and allow it to roll to the spine. You can spine almost any power or length multi-section rod using this technique. A better tool is to mount a piece of PVC pipe on a 1x6 board mounted on a broad base to be placed at each end of the blank. This will take the place of the tables and the PVC pipe will not score the blank.

I find that the rod will spine nicely using this technique.