I just got my dan craft ft blank. The blank has a logo on it and i was not sure where the logo is lined up with the spine so the logo is on the right side? Does that make any since? Also any suggestions on guide placement. Spine or oppisite of spin? It is a 5wt 4pc. Thanks courtney

I think you will find white lines marked near the end of the sections indicating the spine if it is like most of the blanks I have received from Dan.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Hi Courtney--Dan spines the blanks and has the logo/inscription screened on to line up on the right side of the blank, so that it reads normally when built (i.e. not upside down!). :) Stan's advice to look for white grease pencil alignment marks on the male/female ferrules is good as Dan normally marks these for his suggested alignment. You can certainly switch the spine location on the top three sections to whatever your preference is. Honestly, these FT's have so much jam in the lower 3/4 I'm not sure it makes as much difference as it does in some other blanks.

All the best,

Yep, according to the alignment of the decal on my FT 10wt I would say Dan prefers the spine down. You may have to remove the decal to put the spine on top??? I prefer the spine on top on my rods but everybody has a different opinion and everybody’s way of doing it is the right way,,, according to them. I will let them chime in on spine placement since I am still a rookie myself. The FT I built is a phenomenal feeling rod but I haven’t gotten to use it on the water yet. I think it is destined to become my favorite big fish rod.

Thanks for the help guys.
I got the blank from rocky mnt. but it does not have any marks on it as far as spine.
So i guess i should put the guides on the spine to have the logo read right?

That would be correct.

What John said. I don't think it will matter where the spine is on the bottom section of that rod - cause it really doesn't bend anyway! Even on my 4-piece 4wt FT its hard to tell where the spine lies on the lower sections. So IMHO, you could put the stripper guide on the bottom section to have the logo read right and it shouldn't diminish the performance.