I keep reading the following in a lot of post, (Level the blank so that the centerline of the blank is level.),
and wondered how the rest of you level the center line or what you use to level the center line.
What do you do if your table is not level to start with?

Stick things (roll of tape, pad of paper, deck of cards, whatever you have) under the low stand until it's level

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Thanks Mike, But I have adjustable legs on all my tables, what I want to know is do you use a torpedo level, or some other kind of level and how do you hold it on center line while adjusting your rod supports.

'Perfect' (is there such a thing?) "Level-ness" may not be required for much of your rack work. For a lathe or while applying CP or thread finish, but not thread work. "Close enough" will likely work just fine. Level enough to keep the wet finish from running down the rod is about all you'll need. Avoid leaving too much finish on the thread after your initial application (saturation) and things should stay put and work out very well. -Cliff Hall.

Tim; Use the longest level you have when adjusting your table legs. Now, if your rod racks are not the same height, shim the bottom of the short one like Mike said. Put your long level on top of your rod racks, spread them out , check them for level. Now the center line of your rod should be level enough while laying in the racks. If you dont have a 2 or 4 ft level, find you a piece of wood or something 2 or 3 feet long that is straight , lay it on top of your rod racks then use your torpedo level . That will close enough.
Jay

I wouldn't bother leveling the table. The taper of the rod will determine how far off the rod is. Could be different for every rod. Often you can get it level just by moving rhe stand up or down the rod until it's level.. The "centerline" is an imaginary line down the center of the blank, not the top. You can pretty much eyeball it

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2007 07:34PM by Mike Barkley.

i make the effort to "level" a blank in the stands with a smalish torpedo level and since the blanks i use are generally small trout rods without much of a taper, it's close enough when i lay the level along the top of the blank in the center. but not to do it, even halfway as i do, did seem to cause problems.

eric
fresno, ca.

Tim--In Rodmaker Magazine Volume 8 Issue 2 had a great artical on how to make a great tool for finding the center line. It is made from a piece of 1/2" flat aluminum stock. That can be obtain from Home Depot in a 3' lenght.
If you are not a subcriber to Rodmaker and have that issue you can click onto Rodmaker mag. to the left and order a back issue.
Oh! By the way I'm glad that you had posted that question. For I had purchased the material to make the tool but it got put on the back burner.However I think that I shall thak care of that matter in the near future.
I should find good results on putting finish on my wraps.

Good luck and hope I was of some help to you.

<<<<DON AT HOBBYRODS>>>>

I have always set my supports so that the top of the rod is level, as opposed to the centerline. The epoxy is doing it's leveling on the top unless you have developed something to impart a mega capillary action to it. If the centerling is level, the rod is slanted downward towards the tip, and i've been afraid of the epoxy migrating that direction.

Royce,
I think that the tip of a rod would be the exact center line of the blank aince it is the thinnest part.

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

True, but if you make that centerline level, the top of the blank, at the foregrip is going to be higher than the tip.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...... Good Point!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

i eye balled mine the other night and the epoxy leveled great and came out very nice...i dont think it has to be exactly level but just close

I think so, too. As long as it's pretty close and I don't forget to check it for levelness... knock on wood.

Putter
Williston, ND

In 2005 I wrote what I think is a good way to level the center line on your blank. See:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Tim indicated his "table is not level to start with"...... Level your table first, then level your rod racks, then eyeball the level of the rod, or use a torpedo level. If you get the centerline of the rod level , then for whatever reason move the rod up or down in the racks while you are working on it , you are going to have to re-level it . Now if you feel it must be dead nuts level. Mike the rod where it lays in the butt rack and mike the rod where it lays in the tip rack, determine the difference between the two measurements, take half the determined figure and put that much shim under the tip rack. Then dont move the rod. But without complicating things,,, I see ,,,,,,"pretty close",,,,"close enough",,,,"just close",,"pretty much eye ball it ",,," lay your torpedo level on it". I got my table level and my rod racks are level and I dont have any problems with finish running. I am going to wick it off the bottom of a wrap a couple of times anyway (M.Barkley taught me that ), it wont have time to run down the rod between wickings. I think Cliff's statement probably fits me just right. I dont think you can get it "perfectly" level and be able to keep it that way, and I dont think it is necessary.

Jay

Gravity and surface tension are the levelers, and they work all around the surface, not just on the top. Would seem to me that if leveling for the top surface, you will have a rather unlevel bottom surface. Such that a flowing finish would most want to flow toward the bottom, butt side. With a level centerline, I'd think there would be less vector toward the butt end,,,, but gravity is still pulling down and the butt end would still be the lowest point. The viscosity and surface tension is all that keeps it from running off to that low point before setting.
Frankly, it may be quite reasionable to level for the bottom of the rod.... and if you get really academic and factor in centrifical force for a dryer, maybe even a bit lower toward the downward side for the tip end.
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> I have always set my supports so that the top of
> the rod is level, as opposed to the centerline.
> The epoxy is doing it's leveling on the top unless
> you have developed something to impart a mega
> capillary action to it. If the centerling is
> level, the rod is slanted downward towards the
> tip, and i've been afraid of the epoxy migrating
> that direction.

The epoxy is going to seek it's level on the top of the rod simply as it is obeying the physical characteristics of fluids. If that were not the case, you would never have to rotate the rod.
It is highly improbable that a dryer motor is going to be rotating fast enough to impart much of a centrifugal force to something with that small of a diameter.

You rotate the rod precisely because the fluid is 'seeking' the bottom point. Gravity vs surface tension, with viscosity determining the spped.
Oil is a fluid too, and will show the effect much more easily. The more taper to the rod, the faster it will happen. Turning the rod will redistribute, but more will still go to the end with the low lowest point.
Yeah, at the speeds people dry , the centrifical force aspect will be quite small. That's why I said it was academic. Some people apply at high speeds though, which should show the impact more readily.
Visualize too much finish that wants to drip. Where will the drip com off? At the lowest point. That gives you the vector. For the most even distribution you would want the drip to occur at the center rather than at either end. That should occur with the bottom level.
The reason none of this is ouvertly obvious, and people are successful doing it different ways, is a function of many variables. Surface tension, viscosity, and set-up time are providing a good safety margin. The eye will likely never notice the difference until you push the limits in some way.
-------------------------------------------------------
> The epoxy is going to seek it's level on the top
> of the rod simply as it is obeying the physical
> characteristics of fluids. If that were not the
> case, you would never have to rotate the rod.
>
> It is highly improbable that a dryer
> motor is going to be rotating fast enough to
> impart much of a centrifugal force to something
> with that small of a diameter.

Good afternoon/Morning,

This is an interesting discussion.

Since the rod blank is more or less symmetrical about the center line, the taper of the blank will cause the blank surface to be non-level when the center line is level. This means that epoxy applied to the top will run to the tip side and the epoxy on the bottom will run to the butt. With a large taper on a blank we ought to be able to see this effect on the sags as they form. Once we wick off the sags and rotate the rod 180 degrees the reverse process will occur, that is the positions for top and bottom have been reversed. Once again we wick off the sags and rotate. After several roratations and all excess epoxy has been removed, the finish should be of equal thickness at the butt and tip portions of the wrap.

If we level the top of the rod as Eric and I do, the top of the rod is level and the bottom is unlevel, but the angle is greater. This should result in more epoxy running to the butt end of the wrap (or at least a more rapid migration will occur). Once again we can observe the shape of the sags to see if the run of the epoxy is greater. As we go through the wicking/rotation process, we again ought to have a finish that is of equal thickness at the butt and tip ends of the wrap. This is a qualitative discussion and I suspect that even if the second method does have a thicker finish at the butt end, I doubt if it can be detected by the human eye. My own experience with fly rods and light spinning rods without a lot of taper is that I don't see much difference in the sags which occur.

I think the important point is to level the rod.

Mike Blomme