I am having trouble figuring out how far to grind guide feet. It seems like i grind the feet to a good angle, but when i wrap them i am not getting a good thread transfer from blank to guide foot. i use a dremel to do my grinding and it works well for me, but i can't get the angle right. How far can i grind before i ruin the guide? Is this just a trial and error thing for me or is there a secret to it? I don't have any trouble with fly guide's, but the larger spinning guides are giving me a fit !! Thank's for the help.

Yeah, The larger spinning guides are a pain. But , just like guide spacing, I bet alot of builders like to grind a different way. I am not a professional rod builder, by the way. So take anything I say with a grain of salt. If you look at like a size 30 guide foot, that is pre ground from the factory, you can see where they removed material in like a cone. At the rear of the foot. If you are having problems getting the thread to ride up while wrapping, the cone you have ground is too steep, or may be rounded. You can grind a straight, long ramp, but it looks ugly wrapped. Go for the longest, gentlest, cone shaped grind you can manage. I have read posts where so much material was removed, guides were ruined. Also, just my opinion here, I have better luck with a bench grinder. It leaves a rougher surface, and the thread sortof adheres to the roughness, and climbs right up. Someone else will say it should be polished smooth, so it is easier to pack the threads. Fun, fun, fun. Levi

The larger guides are a royal pain. I grind almost all the way up the foot sometimes, to make a very shallow angle. I also knock off the little bumps on the side of the foot, and angle the side edges to try and make the tunnels smaller. After the grinder, I hand finish them with fine grit wet/dry to remove burrs, and go over them again with the diamond dust file on my Leatherman tool. I also run a chainsaw file on the underside of the foot to help it sit on the blank better. On this surface it is most important to deburr and get it very smooth.

Levi.The rough surface will wear away at the thread when the blank flexes.It also will make packing diffiicult.Its worht the extra pain to make it last.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)