I didn't really read this article much until this morning and now I'm a bit confused. Once the choker is set, the remaining distance to the tip is divided into equal segmants, no closer than 4" and no further than 5". Near the end of the article it says "Unlike the running guides which were placed equidistant from each other, the reduction guides will be placed progressively".

If I measure the running guides with my scale in figures 2 & 4 of the article, they appear to increase in distance from the tip towards the choker. So do I leave the running guides spaced equidistant as the article states or readjust them via the static test method as the pictures seem to indicate? Thanks.

Do what the article says to do.

Photos often are taken from an angle that slightly skews the image so trying to measure the guides with a ruler or scale is not necessarily going to provide you with the correct figures. That's why the article text provided that information for you.

When a photo is necessary for purposes of exact scale or measurement, such as in our grip templates, the photo will indicate the scale it was shot at and will be be taken head on for accuracy needed in a template.

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Thanks Tom, so regardless whether I have a moderate action or an extra fast action blank and whether it's 7' or 10' long, I should just place the running guides equidistant between the tip and choker guide and leave it at that? Thanks.

Yes, that will work just fine.

If you want to space them progressively and have experience doing that, by all means feel free to do so. The column was written for beginners and using an equidistant spacing on the running guides simplifies things for them, makes a static distribution test uncessary and works just fine. But if you are beyond that stage don't be afraid to space them progressively and do a static distribution test.

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Tom would doing a static distribution test be better or will it not matter very much?

If you set up the rod the way the article tells you to, it really isn't necessary. You'll have enough guides and spaced such that you'll automatically have sufficient stress distribution for the rod blank.

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