I just spent the afternoon building a new hand wrapper, one I'll use for my next build. Compared to all of you on this board, my experience pales (actually compared to almost anyone!) I have a total of 1 (one) builds to my name. Anyway, I went to the Expo and loved it! My wallet didn't. Came home with several blanks and kits, one is a 4 piece 5 wt MHX. I figured before I get into that one, I better practice some so I also bought a couple of the mystery blanks from bargain bins. My skill at choosing these mystery blanks can be summed up as "Gee, looks pretty straight to me!"

So my question is, how can I make a guess as to the specs for these mystery blanks as far as recommended line and lure weights? I did review some of the Common Cents articles here as well as at the website; if converting from ERN and AA to line and lure weight was covered, this guy missed it completely

Enjoy the heck out of this board, really like the way you folks share your experience. From some of the repartee, sounds like a family more than an internet board. Met a couple of you, wish I had been able to meet more, maybe next year!

John

I love fishing, but to be honest this whole catching thing has me stumped!

Line weight for spinning and casting blanks is almost purely subjective. There is nothing that makes a blank a "10-17 lb test" blank. In some cases, the line weight is set so that it falls below the deadlift capacity of the blank, but not always. Most often it's a suggestion as to what most anglers might use on a particular blank for a particular type of fishing.

The URRS contains information on ascertaining casting lure weight from tip power, however.

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

In addition to what Tom mentioned; you might take your blanks to a store that has an excellent selection of various rods.

You can quickly home into the general rod that you are looking for and then just do some comparisons to already built up and marked with action, plower and lure weight.

Good luck
Roger

John

Most of Those mystery blanks were from Advanced Tubular Composite (ATC). A quick (very quick) google search turned up a few ATC results. I didn't spend the time to find any blank specs.

If Scott Parsons reads this...he might be able to post up the sheets that were hanging from the blue barrells. A tip measurement and butt measurement comparison might get you close.