Maybe this has been beat to death already but as my eyes get worse I find this to be pretty tough. Cannot get smaller guides lined up along seven foot casting rods. Any tips or secrets for aligning guides along a rod blank?? I did try a laser once but none of the rod blanks I use are straight enough for that to work!

Rob,
1. First of all make sure that you have the correct set of glasses to be able to have perfect vision from 3-12 feet. This might mean a special single lens perscription to have excellent visual acquity for this distance.
Glasses that have variable vision - as is common for older folks do NOT work for this job. Simply put, the area of good focus for this distance is so small and thin that an average user of these lens may as well be virtually blind.
It is an easy thing to do. Just go to your favorite wallmart store and get an eye examination. Have your eyes checked and if necessary get a new pair of "Normal" glasses that you need for good vision.
Then, ask the Dr. to test your eyes fore the 3-12 foot range, and give you a perscription for perfect vision in this focal distance. Then, go to their eye ware center, pick up a set of $20 frames with simple plastic lens, and you will be out the store with these glasses for only $50 or so - plus the price of the exam.

2. The other thing that I have found is first of all have excellent light in the area where you are working to do your guide alignment.

If you don't have a white wall, then get a large piece of White tag board, and attach it to a wall in a convenient place for good viewing.
Now, when aligning guides have the room well lighted and hold the rod up against the white background, whether it is the wall or the white tag board.

I first align the guides that I can see, by viewing down the none guide side of the rod, with the reel in position to be sure that you are aligning guides on center. Look down the length of the rod, and correct any guides that extend past the top side of the rod - more on one side or the other.

When you get down to very small guides, you may not be able to see the guides past the top side of the rod, unless they are badly out of alignment.
So, when you get this far down the rod, flip the rod over, and sight down the guide side of the rod. As you do your guide alignment and you are sighting down the rod, slightly twist the rod, in each direction - looking for a guide that extends past its neighbor in the incorrect direction.

Start at the butt guide and work to the tip. If the tip has already been put on, then just align the tip last, if realignment is necessary.

Three Keys.
1. Bright light in the room.
2. Good vision - either natural, or through the aid of a single vision set of glasses that have a focal length of 3-12 feet.
3. White background. Either a white wall, or a large piece of white tab board to view the rod alignment.

Good luck

I have only built one rod but this was probably the hardest, if not the hardest part of the build for me. That's generally a good thing because, from what I read from some people, exact guide alignment isn't THAT critical of a factor. As long as you get it fairly close, that's all it takes.

Like you, I tried a laser level. It did a pretty good job at giving me a general idea at what guides were far out from side to side. As you say, if your rod blank is not very straight, this probably would not help you much.

Similar to the level wind, I have heard of people using a fluorescent light. From what I understand, they put it above the blank, which casts a light onto the blank and lets you align the guides according to that.

Also, people take an old reel foot, make a peep sight, and sort of "aim" down the reel foot to see where their guides align.

Another interest one I have read of is to use binoculars to aid you in sighting the guides. As you probably know, one of the biggest challenges, especially with microguides, is to even see the darn things in the first place! Being able to make sure that each subsequent guide is co-witnessed with the previous one is a sound principle, but hard to do with the naked eye. I will personally try this one next as it seems like it is one of the best ones.

The last one I have seen is to set your reel in place, run a fluorescent line down the guides with a weight tied to the end of it, and align the guides such that there is an equal amount of guide as the line splits each ring down the middle.

Neophyte here, so I don't have much personal experience with each of them. Just passing along the techniques I have read and gathered from the great folks here who contribute these great ideas!

Try a cheep Highly bright colored Thin part of a Fly Line
You need a bright color to be able to see it

And very bright lights

After I find the bend in a blank And the hight point I mark it
When checking guides I DO IT OUTSIDE the sun is IMHO the best light

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2013 05:54PM by bill boettcher.

Is the objective here to get the guides in a perfectly straight alignment with each other despite any bends in the blank, or is it to get the guides in alignment with the axis of the blank including any bends in the blank?

Phil,
The object of the alignment is to align every single guide so that each guide is perfectly centered on the center of the reel.

You have already glued up your handle to be on the rod with what every orientation that you have desired. So, you only need to align each and every guide with the center point of the mounted reel.

Be safe

Roger: If the blank bends and each guide is centered upon the center of the reel then some guides are not going to be centered on the axis of the rod - because it bends away from the center of the reel. Some guide(s) will be mounted somewhat diagonally in respect to the axis of the rod at the point it (they) are wound on. I think that's what you're saying.
Since the blank is bent some of the time during a cast the guides will also be out of alignment some of the time also, but a perfect alignment with the center of the reel will maximize the effective size of the opening in each guide - not a big deal with larger guide rings but increasingly important the smaller the guide's diameter.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2013 09:39PM by Phil Ewanicki.

Phil,
As has said many many times before, the alignment of the guides with respect to any axis on the blank is normally of no concern these days.

Be safe

Rob

I align the guides by eye, by time I get them aligned I am tired so I usually wait to the next day to final check the alignment. I check the alignment outside with natural light and any misalignment is easy to see. When I think I am done I ask the wife or friend to check the alignment. Works for me every time.

John DeMartini Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rob
>
> I align the guides by eye, by time I get them
> aligned I am tired so I usually wait to the next
> day to final check the alignment. I check the
> alignment outside with natural light and any
> misalignment is easy to see. When I think I am
> done I ask the wife or friend to check the
> alignment. Works for me every time.

X2!

I always go outside and hold the rod up to the sky. I try to get an equal amount of guide ring showing on each side of the blank. For micros I get the ones near the tip centered, then look down the rod (tip to butt) and tweak the micros that are narrower than the blank. Bright light is the key, and nature does that very well.

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

White gloss poster on wall rod in front of me and strong lights behind me.
Silhouette the rod against the poster and even with my bad eyes i can see alignment issues. Do it both guides up and down and problems show themselves.

Did some one lock you into your building room ??? LOL

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, you ever been to Memphis in the summer?
If the heat don't kill you the skeeters will suck you dry.
Plus i do most my building in evenings, sun not too bright then.

Bill,
My entire shop is White. So, I suppose that I have been locked up for a very long time.

Be safe

That is like being looked in an Opperating Room LOL

I worked in used car dealers They loved white Used Car Color Hides any Boo Boos

Bill - willierods.com