I am building a casting rod as a birthday present for my brother. I am to the point of gluing on the handle and reel seat and I need to know how to align these with the spine. I was reading a book called Advanced Custom Rod Building by Clemens and it said to align the guides 90 degrees to the spine. This is if the caster casts side arm style. I am not sure what my brother's prefered casting style is but I am sure I have seen him cast this way before. I want to maximize the casting distance on this rod to make it as noticeably better than his store bought rods as possible. How should I align the reel seat and guides with the spine on this blank?



Thank you for any help,

Mike Nash

You do not need to align anything with the spine. For the most part, the spine thing was all a myth, and never proven to do what so many said it does. In fact, it has been proven not to prevent rod twist nor to enhance casting accuracy.

Beyond that, you can still align the guides with the spine if you so desire. It won't hurt anything. Your problem is that most fishermen, bass fishermen in particular, do not cast the same way each time. One cast may be overhead, one sidearm, one an underhanded flip.

I would suggest finding the straightest axis on the blank and positioning that so that the butt and tip are up, and the belly down (this will be the natural or concave curve to the blank). Mount everything accordingly and let you brother go fishing. He'll love it.

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So I should just mount the guides and handle so that the spine mark is on top and the natural curvature goes up at the tip? I need to mount the guides on the concave side of the blank?

i think tom is right about the "myth" thing. this is especially true if you use a spiral wrap. i just wish i would have known this before i spent 55 bucks on a spine finder.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2008 02:51PM by Lance Lapeyrouse.

Should I go ahead and do what I described in my above post?

If you do, it will work just fine.

If you're worried about it, tape up everything and go out and cast it a bit. Satisfy yourself that it really doesn't (or does) make any difference.

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What do you mean by spine mark?? Just look at the blank and see if there is a natural curve or "bow" to it. If there is, just put the low point "belly" of the curve facing the ground, regardless of the type of rod, and place the guide on top for casting, bottom for spinning or in a spiral. It will work great!

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!!

Cool Will do! Thanks for all of the advice. I can't go and cast it really cause I can't cast with a casting style of reel. They always birds nest on me. Hey Mike and all of the guys that helped me with my lathe questions, I just uploaded pictures of my wood grip in the gallery. It is titled "My first wood grip". Take a look!



Thanks again everyone for all of your help,

Mike

Very nice job on the grip!!! Hard to believe that you're new at this!

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 am only 17! I had no idea about the rod building world until I signed up for a class called "Advanced PE" last year in school. It was awesome we tied flies, built fly rods, went skeet shooting, and went on a couple fishing trips. This rod will be my second. I owe many thanks to Ron and Mike (never knew their last names) from Billings MT, who came to our school and helped our class learn how to do the various tasks in rod building. If any one knows who I am talking about please let me know. I know that Ron was an older gentleman who used to be a school teacher. I know that I will definately build many more rods in my future!

Mike ; Coming from an old School Teacher , I am certainly impressed ! I think the Rod Building Industry needs more young men like yourself that have the natural talent to be able to work with your hands and do such nice work , especially at such a young age. Many Rod Builders today had to struggle for a long time just to get where you are now. Many Rod Builders never had the opportunities that you have today. Most had to build their equipment and tooling as they went along and learn on their own.
Always strive to make the next one better than the last one and you will be good at what you do. As Tom stated in a recent article in RM . A Rod Builder said," My rods are built to fish with. They work fine and I'm not worried about little details that don't make any difference in how they fish." That statement would have never been made by a true craftsman.
Welcome aboard , and always make the next one better !

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

Thanks! I will always strive to do better. Another one of my hobbies is building and flying rc airplanes so I am definately interested in building and makeing things with my hands.



Thanks for all of the nice comments,

Mike

Mike Do a search I believe Stan Grace is from MT. and Randy Parpart (Putter) is from ND. Stan makes great grips and Putter is a wiz at marbiling.
Good Wraps Bob