when spining large tuna rods, 80# and greater, I have found that placing the tip in the palm of one hand with the butt on the floor and rolling until it jumps into place to works. Only question I have is that when the rod jumps to the favored edge, isnt that off the spine and why is favors to that bend? The stiffer edge would be just before the jump, where the material has overlapped. Any suggestions, thanks

As you stated the blank 'jumps' to a certain position (sometimes). If you build by the 'spine' philosophy you want to build on that point where the finished rod won't 'jump' (or twist) while fighting a big fish. Some people think when building on heavy tackle there isn't a need to worry about the spine as these are thick blanks and don't twist. As a person who fishes 80-130# stand-up rods trust me when I say THEY TWIST. When these thick, stiff blanks twist they take the angler with them.

Interestingly enough I'm currently working on a Seeker CTSF50xxh 5' blank that had absolutely no detectable spine. I've seen many blanks with multiple spines and had to determine which one was predominate, but never seen one that was smooth on all sides.

And yes, before someone says it, I know a blank doesn't have an actual 'spine'...we've been through that one a time or two.....lol.

Jay

The spine is not a thing - it an effect created by about 7 different manufacturing anomolies. The overlap of the pattern flag is only one of those. Generally, we regard the effective spine as the outside of the curve when the blank is pressured and allowed to roll into its favored position.

Many big game rod builders do not build on the spine at all, but opt to set the rod up according to its straightest axis. This is almost never on nor opposite the spine.

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