I have recently begun building fly rods. My first serious blank was an All Star Austin 9'5wt which is arrow straight. I went through the steps to spine and align the sections and the result is very good rod that I'm happy with. My second attempt was a 6'3wt. The blank (which cost more than the AllStar) was not nearly as straight. So much so that spining was not an option. I had to align the sections to minimize the curvature. Given that this is meant to be a small stream rod, I'm not overly concerned about not being able to spine the rod. This did however lead me to think about what is an acceptable amount of deviation in a rod.

I'm looking for opinions on what is acceptable and how one would measure it. For example: let's assume I accurately spine each section of a blank and then align the marks. Case 1: If all of the errors line up then the blank simply has a curve in it. Case 2: The errors line up so that the maximum occurs in the middle (ie it looks like a bow). So if we use the example of my 6' 3 section rod. Would you be sending back the blank if the maximum error was a 1/4" at the tip (case 1) or in the middle (case 2)? What if the error is an 1/8" or a 1/2"?

Just curious.

Steve

If a blank is so curved that it truly bothers me, i always see if i can exchange/return it. Since most of my rods are personal rods, it would slowly chap my behind if i keep on looking at it knowing that the curve was there. I guess its all in the eye of the beholder though.

steve

Nearly all blanks have a natural curve or warp and rarely is it in line with the same axis as the effective spine.

If you start sending blanks back because they have a bit of a curve or warp, you're going to be sending a lot of them back - most of them in fact. A 6' blank that is out of straight by 1/4 inch at the tip is, for all intents and purposes, a very straight rod blank.

............

Tomn is right. Also, if you build the rod correctly, many of them somehow straighten out quite a bit. I've found this phenomenon to hold true for almost every rod blank I've built so far. It's kinda neat how they come out of the tube all screwed up with angles going this way and that, but after wrapping on the guides in the right places and such, the blank seems to straighten out.