Last year I built a couple of stand-up rods and experienced stress cracks at the top two or three roller guides after giving the rod a good flex. While flexing the rod it sounded like the whole blank was cracking.

Has anyone else had any similar exprience?

It sounds like you did not prep the guides by beveling the feet so the wrap could make a even transition from blank to the guide foot. I would almost bet you have a bump on the wrap from where it goes from blank to guide foot. How about finish
Good Wraps Bob

Or, could be that the guide foot tunnels weren't filled with finish.

Mark Griffin
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C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

Tom if you don't mix product A and B correctly you'll definitaly get a cracking sound and most likely start to show milky like after a while. I'm uncertain on which bottles or tubes if thats what was used(syring) to mix the finish, if this is the case purchase the 1/2 stroke pumps works great on 32oz bottles. Hope this helps.

Rod, Reels and 18 wheels.

Mark did a great job explaining the spiral wrapping concept. At the Woodland rod gathering
Good Wraps Bob

If you used chrome roller guides I think what you are experiencing is the plating on the guides cracking under the stress of being bent. No cause for alarm and it will go away after a couple of trips and fighting a few fish. I've had it only happen to me every time I use chrome or the gold plated rollers but never the black ones..

It has nothing to do with the brand of finish. Poor guide prep, low thread tension, gaps in the tunnel (which I personally believe can be mitigated in large part by decent guide prep) and too much finish at the web, can all contribue to cracking, no matter what you are using.

Lance is correct - it's the guide plating that you're hearing. The blank has now become a sounding board for the noise so it's much more noticeable. It is of no consequence other than being slightly annoying or worrisome until you get used to it. After a bit of time it will go away.

Cracks across the guides at the feet area in those portions of the blank that undergo deep flexing are quite common. It's not the fault of the finish. We're dealing with a blank that flexes and a guide that doesn't want to, or at least doesn't want to as easily. Movement occurs and something has to give a bit. Usually that's the finish.

Creating a really shallow taper on the edge of the guide foot can help quite a bit.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2007 09:00AM by Tom Kirkman.