Hey All,
I finished my 1st rod its a spinning rod 5'6".I had a couple of post bout it.
'I have another question.
While wrapping my guides I had to reposition the 2nd guide from the reel.
It was too close to the stripper,
When I cut the guide off,,the blank had a dent in it where the guide was.
I thought it was odd at the time,I went on to rewrap the guide in the right place and looked back at the dent and it was bout
gone.Finished up the rod,brought it in the house to show my wife,grab the rod by the tip and bent it over like a fish was on it and pop
it broke.I could not figure out why,then I thought about the dent..

Was that why my rod broke??
DID I have the thread to tight?
How tight is too tight???

Sorry for all the question!!
Thanks,mikeb

Did it break where the rod was "dented?" If yes, then you have a problem with either too much thread tension and/or a guide foot that was sitting flat on the blank surface. It's important that guide feet sit flat on the blank so the pressure created on the guide against the blank is distributed all along the surface instead of being concentrated at a single point. Thread tension should be snug, not tight. When wrapped, it should still be possible to shift or move the guide slightly with side pressure from a thumb.

.............

Tom said it all.
Better a little too loose than over tight.
We've seen several rods over the years that failed at the "dented" spot.

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

I am starting another rod.
I have the strippr guide already tied on and its moves back and forth
on the blank,but its kinda tight.
I think I will loosen up the next guide.
Thanks Tom and Ron.
mikeb

Mike,
You didn't mention if the rod broke where the dent was located.
How did you bend the rod so that it broke? Were you holding the handle and flexed down on the tip? Or did you bend it some other way.

Normally, a rod can stand to be flexed to at least 90 degrees if the rod is held by the handle. If the rod is picked up by the tip, all bets are off. The blank has never been designed to be picked up by the tip.

Generally speaking the guides should be wrapped, so that they can Just barely be moved or rotated on the blank. Tighter than that, and you won't be able to make a final adjustment for alignment. Looser than that, and you run into the possibility that the guide won't be tight enough on the blank to keep from rotating after it has been coated with finish.

Also, a guide should not normally be wrapped so tight that it would leave a dent in the blank.

Another thing to consider, is that you may have received a defective blank.

Most rod builders that I know, do a good heavy pre flex on the blank, Before ever doing any work on the blank.
By preflexing the blank at least as much as it would ever normally be flexed in fishing tends to assure the builder that his/her work won't be wasted on a defective blank.

Remember, things happen to blanks from the time that they leave the manufacturer until the builder is ready to build on the blank. Lots of possibility for damage to the blank. So, just as a final check, a good reasonable preflex will weed out any damaged blanks that often don't show up until the rod is completely finished. Then, all of the builders time, money, and work has been wasted on a defective blank.

Remember, if you do pre flex a blank, don't overdo it. Normally a blank can be flexed to 90 degrees with an appropriate force. If you go over the 90 degree point, you are working on the edge.

Good luck
Roger

Don't fore get to check the prep on the guide feet. You want the feet under where it lays on the blank to be as smooth as a baby's - well you know. No sharp edges that may scratch the blank and cause failure.

Sounds like that stripper is just about right.

Bill - willierods.com

Back in the day I wrapped for a custom builder. And I broke a Lamiglass fly rod by wrapping a guide too tight. Well, maybe. I SWEAR I didn't wrap it any tighter than I usually did. Didn't convince my boss though. One thing I concluded that hasn't been mentioned is that the guide tension is far more critical toward the tip of the rod than the butt. Think about the 'hugging' force of a tiny guide foot on a huge diameter blank. Now consider the 'hugging' force of the same guide foot on a small diameter blank.

Roger,I was holding the rod by the handle and the tip.Just had started to bend it over,,maybe 45 degrees.
I gonna start checking my blanks 1st.I guess you could preflex a blank when you spine it.
Bill,, I had all the guide feet filed and sanded down smooth.

It had to be wrapped to tight.
I thin i am trying to wrap the guides like I wrap a bucktail jig,just to the point of the thread
breaking.I think that ain"t gonna work on guides.
I just finished all the guides on this 6" spinning rod 2-6 lb line and they all moved so
I could line them up..
Practice..practice and then some more.
thanks guys,mikeb
any other tips sent them on.

"Grab the rod by the tip" gives me concern. Why would one ever grab a rod by the tip? A rod is meant to be held (grabbed) by the grip, grabbing the tip is asking for problems. I cannot visualize how grabbing the tip simulates having a fish on.

Next time, simply have you wife hold the tip while you flex it. Otherwise you are will be pulling the blank in (without trying to) and creating a situation where you unintentionally high-stick it. Pulling down and in on blank = death for blank. The lighter the blank, the more magnified this situation becomes.

Phil,
Actually, when I preflex a rod, I grab it by the tip all of the time.
Most of the rod builders around here do the same thing.
Granted, when we grab the tip to pre flex it, we not only pull straight down but also forward, as would be the case if the blank were being flexed by a fish.

You need to be able to check the tip portion of the rod, as well as the beefier portions of the rod for defects during testing.

For the complete test, I actually start at the butt and flex the rod with the palm of my hand, moving toward the tip. I am always aware as to how much of the rod is being flexed, and I assure myself that no portion of the rod is being flexed over 90 degrees.

Take care
Roger


p.s.
In all of the many many rods that I have preflexed before wrapping, I have only had one break and found to be defective.

p.s.
During the ice season, we build many ice rods.
Most of these ice rods are made of solid graphite . The solid graphite sticks are made from a more uniform rod that has been ground to size - to meet the requirements of the rod builder.
In this case, it is very important to preflex the rods, because it is quite possible that the vendor may have over or under sanded a particular section of the blank to achieve the desired action.

As was pointed out in the article on rod breakage that was in the current issue of Rod Maker - oversanding is one of the three primary modes of blank failure.

Thus the need to especially preflex these very fine diameter blanks that have been formed by vendor sanding to specifications.

Take care
Roger

<<< I thin i am trying to wrap the guides like I wrap a bucktail jig,just to the point of the thread breaking. >>>
Oh boy. There's your problem right there. That's waaaay too tight. Talking about the guide feet at this point is kind of like the scene in Wedding Crashers when Owen Wilson asks Vince Vaughn if he didn't sleep well because he had a soft mattress. Vince responds, 'Yea, it could have been the soft mattress. Or the midnight rape. Or the gay nude art show that took place in my room last night. One of those 3 probably contributed to my lack of sleep.'

Nice! Way to work in the wedding crasher quote "Team player"