My eyes are not as good as they use to be . Having trouble sighting down the rod. I was thinking of a lazer. Would like to know if anyone has had experience with them. I'm open to all suggestions. Thanks

The only problem with the laser type devices is that rod blanks are rarely straight. If you build on the straightest axis then this will be a bit easier and might allow you to make better use of one of these lasers.

Here's another thing you can try - run a line down through the guides and peg it on the butt guide and tiptop. You should be able to see where the line passes through each ring and whether any need to be shifted right or left.

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The thin part of a bright colored fly line may help Then doing them outside in the bright sunlight

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2015 05:15PM by bill boettcher.

Bill,

I bought the Laser Alignment Tool and gave it a try. I could do a better job just eye balling the guides, much better. The problem with the laser alignment tool was the foot of the tool would not tighten up in the reel seat and would wiggle left or right of the center line on the blank. The blank was perfectly straight, as I wrap the guides on with the tip rotated in the up position, (disregarding the spline position). I ended up selling the laser alignment tool to a guy in Wyoming. 'Hope he is having better luck with it than I did! Just my experience for what it is worth.

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com

You might have been able to send it back to the supplier
Eyeballing i use only Outside The sun is a better light IMHO then any type light bulb
Plus like said a bright colored line I turn and look at them with the guides up And then down and let the blank show me Up seems to work best

Bill - willierods.com

Bill,
One trick that I find to be very helpful is to align the guides, while sighting along the side of the rod, on which the guides are not on.

Then, by rotating the rod slightly to the right and then to the left, you can determine if any guide edge starts to peep out past the edge of the blank more quickly than a guide that is closer to the butt of the rod.

Also, I use a lot of light, and I also do all of the guide alignment against a very light background.

The combination of the three things, sighting down the rod on both sides of the rod, using a lot of light, and using a white background makes guide alignment much easier.

Be safe

Get yourself a reel foot off of an old reel. Lock that in your reel seat, then take a line level, the type you just hook on a piece of string. Then set it in the uprights of the reel foot that you have on the rod. Make sure it is level, and then place your guides where you want them. It is a foul proof system that I have used for longer than most of these readers have been alive. just remember to remove the level before you start wrapping otherwise you will have to go find it.

Randy,
Out of curiosity, what is the point of the line level?

Be safe

Im sorry I dont understand this, Then set it in the uprights of the reel foot that you have on the rod. thanks

G'Day Bill I use a laser & have done so for a number of years . I use it for 2 things 1 is to set the blank centre line parallel to the wrapper. No2 is to make sure the guides are centred on the blank . As the floor in my workshop is flat & the bench is parallel to the floor & the wrapper base is parallel to the bench .To check my guides I rotate the blank 90 degrees (I have a tool thats fits on a chuck jaw with a line level attached )
Then all I do is place the laser & tripod in front of the blank switch the laser on .Make any adjustments necessary & jobs done . The whole operation takes no longer than 2 mins .It will take you longer to read how I do it

Regards Baz

Bundeena
NSW Australia

The line level, when the rod is in the wrapping lathe allows you to place the guides exactly in line with the tip top. Once the guides are secured for wrapping, you remove the reel foot and level.

DEPENDING ON THE BLANK i FIND THAT IF i PUT THE GUIDES ON THE BOTTOM I CAN GET A BETTER ALIGNMENT THAN WHEN ON TOP, BUT ALWAYS ON A LIGHT BACKGROUND.

The line level on a reel foot that Randolph mentioned works really well. Even though reel seats seem to all have a mold line in their center, they can be hard to sight unless you mark it with a china marker. Even then you're still counting on your judgement if it's straight up and down.

I had an old reel laying around that I just cut the foot off the frame and epoxied the line level right to the reel foot. I made sure the surface I had the reel foot sitting on at the time of gluing was level, and then used 5 minute U40 Rod Bond to epoxy the level to the foot. The rod bond was plenty thick enough to keep the light line level in place and having the quick set time meant I didn't have to baby sit it for very long.

As of right now I use a hand wrapper, so I use an old rod hold down strap to secure the rod in my wrapper. Basically just a piece of velcro attached to nylon webbing. It's quick and easy to remove or reinstall when bulls eying the guides for final alignment.

My eyes are getting older and looking at a bubble is easier for me than any other method I had tried prior.

Bill; I made this up to help out

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Randolph Ruwe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The line level, when the rod is in the wrapping
> lathe allows you to place the guides exactly in
> line with the tip top. Once the guides are
> secured for wrapping, you remove the reel foot and
> level.

Dido!

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com

Randolph,

Can you upload a picture and link it? I'm not following your post no matter how many times I re-read it. Thanks in advance.

I probably did not do a good job of explaining. The reel foot is mounted in the reel seat and the line level with no line attached is laid on it at 90 degrees from the rod blank. You position the rod in the chuck or on v supports so the bubble in the level is between the level lines and in line with the tip top, or spine mark and then place your guides down the rod blank in whatever method you prefer. The level is also excellent if you are doing dec. cross wraps. Slide your template onto the rod, and then align the top mark of the template with the level bubble. Mark the 0 and then it is easy to mark the blank for either a 2 axis or 4 axis wrap. I hope I explained it better this time. I would send a picture, but I have never been able to get the photo section to cooperate.

After completeing the handle I cut the feet off a old cheap reel Place in the seat
I also glue the tip top on -- Making sure it is lined up with the reel --- The when I wrap I start at the tip and go down to the butt This way each guide is some what lined up with the top Then just a little push and they are

Bill - willierods.com

Randy,
Thanks for the further explanation.

So, the idea is that the level is used to set a 0 degree angle on the blank and then align all of the guides to the same 0 degree angle.

The key part of the last explanation was the mounting of the level at 90 degrees to the blank, so that the level was used - when reading 0 bubble to insure that the blank is sitting at 0 degrees rotation.

Take care

Roger, you are exactly right. ;>)