This is probably a not-so new trick to the veterans but it is to me. I was gluing up a fly rod reelseat and foregrip and was eyeballing the alignment. It then popped into my head to use a string. I had already made several spine marks and taped down a string at the furthest mark then placed the other end of the string in the center of the reelseat. When all the marks lined up with the string the seat was centered on the spine marks. Worked for me! Anybody else have other suggestions on how to align the reelseat with the spine marks?

Thanks,
Steve

If you can find an old reel that's fallen by the wayside and cut off the feet and stem, you can create one heck of a handy alignment tool with that.

You could even epoxy a laser pointer to it (like those used for business presentations), angling it to hit your blank to assist in aligning your spine marks, or better yet, to shoot forward at the same height and angle as your reel spool to assist in concept guide placement and overall guide alignment.

If you could build a bunch--and they work well--it would be a handy little product to market to the rodbuilding community.
Rob

This wouldn't be quite the same yet it is similar. Renzetti has a laser device that mounts to the rod lathe and thrown an eliptical beam all along the bed length so you can align guides right on the lathe. Of course if you don't have one of these lathes it's a mute point but Rob's idea could be something anyone could use.

Before using a laser tool designed for "pointing" at business meetings, do yourself a favor and test it to make sure the laser is in line with body of the pointer. I rigged one so it would stay on, and rolled it down the edge of my counter top aimed at the wall. The red dot should have looked as it was moving in a straight line, but was very much making circles as it moved. I checked the counter with a straight edge and it was fine. Several different pointers produced similar results. Please keep in mind I am refering to simple laser "pointers" not alignment tools. The laser does travel in a straight line, but there is no guarantee it is coming out of the pointer parrallel to the outside edge of the tool.
Hope this helps anyone who wasn't getting good results while using laser pointers.

Happy Aiming,
Corey Chrisman