I'm building my first spinning rod with a GLoomis GL3 blank. The model is SJ722 6' spinning. On the Lomis website the SJ722 is only listed as a casting rod blank, no guide spacing for the spinning rod. Can someone clue me in on what to do. Keep in mind this is my first and I want to get it right but also simple, if thats possible.

That is not a casting blank, although it really doesn' t matter. The original design is Spin/Jig ... that's where the SJ comes from.

Read this article on NGC ... [www.rodbuilding.org]

Have fun.

I just finished deciding on the positioning of my guides on my first rod and I basically just started by copying a rod I already had. Then I did a static load test re adjusted it, and then another test. Sort of a trial an error sort of thing. If you are using the new concept method then there is an article in the library tab of this site that will tell you exactly how to do it. Although, any advice from almost anybody else on this site would be better to take since they have more experience, they have answered this question probably a couple of hundred times.
James

Advice is often better taken with a grain of salt! Optimum guide spacing may vary some from identical blank to blank Any suggestions should be considered a starting point. The best spacing can be affected by many different variables and you have no way of knowing anything about anyone elses type of setup. Keep in mind that manufacturers use guide setups that will be adequate for the most people/equipment and situations. If you are going to build a custom rod you should improve on "average" and make it as high perfomance as you cn.

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!!

Aside from generaltities, I think the simple question was how to turn this blank into a spinning rod, yes?

So let's answer the question. First, find the spine. Then, mark the sping for the length of the rod. Install your rear grip, reel seat, and foregrip (if you're using one), with the reel seat lined up with the spine (that is, the inside of the curve of the rod when you spine it). Now install your tip-top guide, lined up wih the spine and of course the real seat. At this point, you've got your rod set up to be a spinning rod.

Now lay out your guides between the reel seat and the tip-top. You can use any number of "formulas" but if you take anything away from this thread, it's that the spacing and layout of the guides should follow the action of the rod in a spinning configuration., This will probably mean starting with a much larger stripping guide than you would use on a casting rod, and a progressive decrease in size from guide-to-guide as you get nearer the tip-top. There are many guidelines and suggested layouts in the books offered by the sponsors on this site. Or, you can refer to all the suggested guide layouts for similar rods in various threads on this site using the searh feature above.

OK,, now you're gonna see some posts telling you to ignore the spine and go with the "straightest axis". Do that if you want, I'm just giving you my approach to laying out the guides on a spinning rod. How come I'm not giving you a "formula"? Because as was said above, it's an impossible question. Even if I had the exact same blank in my hands right now, I couldn't answer it because no two blanks are identical in the way they bend under stress. Want proof? Go to a tackle sotre and pull three or four identical rods off the shelf and bend them exactly the same way, with your hands in exactly the same positions. Look for the differences in the way they bend, because there will be a difference between each of them, sometimes small, sometimes more noticeable. And that's the whole point. Why do manufacturers place all the guides exaclty the same on a particular model of rod? Because it's quicker and cheaper to do it that way, and for them "close" is good enough.

- hope that helps.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

I would be one of the first to tell you to ignore the spine - it does nothing for you nor your rod. Build on the straightest axis, putting any natural curvature so that the tip and butt of the blank are "up" and the belly "down." This provides the quickest response. Spinning rods, of course, are inherently stable due to the guides being on the bottom of the rod.

The New Guide Concept article in the library is a very easy to follow process that will have guides on your rod in just about 5 minutes.

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