Okay! I won't open this debate again. Sorry if I opened Pandora's box.


Question: How does one align rod blanks to find the straightest axis for 2 and 3 peice rods? Is there a certain method?


Thanks!

Eyeballing is how most do it. I understand it gets tough as the sections get shorter. There is another way, however.

Do you have a rod wrapping lathe or jig? Put the butt in the headstock chuck, or support it at the very end in a rod support. Now put another rod support just beyond the chuck or the first support - perhaps 4 to 8 inches out. Now at the opposite end, rig up a sheet of graph paper on a cardboard backing and stand it just off the end of the rod blank section.

Now go back to the rod butt and slowly rotate the rod. You will see the tip of the rod or rod section travel in a circle. When the tip is at the top, or bottom, of the circlular path, you are on the straightest axis.

As we know, some blanks have more than one crook or warp. Okay, you can still do this and you'll get the overall straightest axis, which is about the best you can do on some blanks.

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Thanks, Tom! I do have a wrapping jig.

What I do is roll each section on a table, pool cue style, looking for any warp and mark the blank when the warp is pointing up. When all sections are done, align any marks and the whole rod will hopefully have one curve, where any curved sections are at least in the same general direction.

Probably a good idea on the shorter sections where they won't flex under their own weight. Thanks for sharing.

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