I was reading the section on guide placement in Tom Kirkman's book. It kind of scares me now. Should I go to an experienced rodmaker for assistance or attempt this myself? Also, should I file the bottom of the guide feet so they fit flush on the rod? I bought a kit and the tops of the guide feet seem filed enough already. If the feet are raised a bit from fitting flush on the blank will the guide wraps pull them down flush with the blank? I read that loose fitting guides can cause a weak spot in the blank. Thanks

You may wish to read that chapter again. Guide should sit flat on the blank. Imagine a 200lb person standing on your hand in a flat soled shoe. You'd feel some pressure, but it wouldn't likely damage anything. Now put that same person in a woman's high heeled shoe and repeat. This time you'll have the same weight concentrated in a smaller area and may have a heel go through your hand. Same with guides. You want to evenly distribute any pressure along the entire length of the guide foot.

Using thread tension to pull a guide foot down flush is not a good idea (if you could even do this) and could likely cause a blank failure at some point.

The key points to remember are; form a nice even taper on the end of the foot (makes it easier for the thread to climb the foot and helps reduce finish cracking); try to bend and even file the underside of the guide feet as flat as possible; and don't use too much thread tension. After wrapping you should still be able to move or shift the guides with slight sideways pressure.

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Thanks, Tom! Your book is terrific. Am I making the static guide placement sound more difficult than it is?
Bruce

Unless the feet are radiused they do not fit perfectly to the blank, as the blank is not flat. There are some stamped guides that are radiused, but I wouldn't try to do this with a file. A thin film of guide foot adhesive will hold the guide in place for wrapping and gives you a little better fit. As Tom says, most of the file work is done to make the taper on the end of the foot (on top) gradual enough to walk the thread up onto the guide. Many guides are pre-ground and require only a quick pass of the file to make sure there are no burrs.

Probably. Many builders aren't sure they're doing it correctly. They have no prior experience to go by. If you'll look in the online library here you'll find an article ona simple method for static guide placement. I think you may find it even easier that what I put in the Amato book. Give it a read and report back with any questions. We'll be happy to help.

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