I read about the alignment tool - great, but I have one question. the last guide from the tip, is it aligned directly with the tip guide,
or still spiraling (I guess you would say) toward the tip of the rod.
I have a friend that would like me to make one for him and have never done this before.
Thanks

Forrest Lamprey
Indianapolis

Forrest,

Do a search on the forum for spiral wraps and you'll get lot's of discussions on placement. There are a couple of different styles to transition from the top/butt guide to the bottom of the rod. One of the easiest ones is to locate the guides as you would for a normal placement. Leave the butt guide on the top (0 degree) and rotate all the rest to the bottom (180 degree) location. Add a transition guide about halfway between the butt guide and the next guide at 90 degrees. This guide should be a low profile one so don't be afraid to use a smaller guide in this location.

Terry

If you do a "simple spiral" as Terry decribes, perform your static test with the guides on the under side of the rod. Then move the butt guide to the top. That avoids using too many guides. Once you have the butt guide on top, run the test again and mark where the line touches the blank while stressed. That location will be the best for the bumper guide as it will allow the straightest line path while fighting the fish.

Other linds of spirals have a different placement scheme.

Forrest,

Don't necessarily place the first or butt guide at 0 degrees.

I use the revolver spiral where I basically use three guides to get to the bottom of the rod. I generally find that I place the first guide at 5-10 degrees off center in the direction of the spiral.

I find that for most rods and setups and reels that if I don't do this butt guide offset; I end up with line stacking on one side of the reel.


To test this: I will pull off about 50 feet of line after the guides are taped on the rod. Then, under slight pressure. holding the line from a point past the tip of the rod, I will reel the line onto the spool. If I find that the line stacks perfectly on the reel, I will leave the butt guide in the location where I have placed the guide. But, if I find that the line stacks on one side or the other when doing the line lay test; I will offset right or left to achieve a perfect line lay on the spool I generally find that I need to offset the butt guide about 5 degrees in the direction of the spiral.

This is even with reels that have centering line guides on the reel.

Good luck
Roger

Out of curiosity, has anyone found a published "spiral" scheme that didn't work? I have bulit rods using the "simple spiral" wrap described by Terry, and I am more than satisfied with their performance (freshwater, smallmouth fishing). I seem to recall an article (in RodMaker Magazine, I think) that suggested a transition guide was superfluous. I believe the author said that the line could rest aganist the blank with no ill effects, but I haven't been willing to test that theory. Regardless, is anyone aware of a scheme that will absolutely NOT work? Just wondering.
Slainte,
Hunter

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