Hi all,

Just received my DanCraft 7pc blank today (very fast shipping). I am very impressed with the quality. Feels light, straight as an arrow and looks to have very nice matte black finish.

Now I'm debating whether to build it as a 9' 7pc or a 7'8" 6pc. Hmmm.

Thanks Dan,
Mark

We must have placed our orders around the same time because I just got one too and I am also debating whether to drop the butt section. If only there were a system to determine the power and action the resulting 6pc. blank would have.....

All those Five Rivers blanks I have ever used were perfectly straight.

Hi again,

What do you all think, is there any point in trying to spine a 7pc blank??

Mark

What I was planning to do is spine the top 3 sections and just build the rest of the rod as straight as it can be, which won't be hard since it's perfectly straight in every plane I hold it.

Steve,

Oh but there is a way to do it! In the next issue of RodMaker, Dr. Bill will unveil the system for measuring intrinsic power of any section or amount of any blank. He'll also debut the tool you can make for doing it. Should cost you about $3 - $4 to make.

Look for it in June. Common Cents - The BIG Picture.

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

Sounds good but I was sort of joking - and maybe you are too in which case you got me good. But, seriously, leaving the butt section off and assembling the tip 6 sections and measuring the ERN and AA as shown in this issue will get me what I want to know, right. That is the DBI for the 7'8" 6pc. blank.

No, I was quite serious. And certainly you can do exactly what you just outlined to find out what kind of rod those 6 sections will create. You can expect the action to be a tad slower and the power to be a bit less. The Common Cents System will tell you by exactly how much.

But there are some other possibilities opening up for rod builders, particularly those who are willing to mix and match butt and tip sections (may require some knowledge in ferrule making) to get some rod actions and powers that you can't find commercially. More on why you might want to do this and how, will be in The BIG Picture in Volume 6 #3.

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

Sounds interesting and one step closer to having the number of choices available as a person who knows how to cut and roll his own blanks. That Burkheimer interview was a serious reality check on the term "custom rod".

Tom,
Are you going to start getting us all jazzed up again so early?

Back to spining a 7-piece blank . . .
I too was figuring to spine the first 3 or so only. Any other suggestions?

-tom

I'd spine as many sections as I could, and the ones near the top will be the most important. Then set up the bottom ones for the straightest axis. The only downside I see is spining such short pieces.

Just a question, Are you sure that the blanks aren't spined by Dan?

Dan Craft started spining his blanks before he shipped them out. I don't know if he has done the 7 piece blnks, but check for white marks at each ferrule joint. That is how my 3 piece blanks were marked.

White marks are only alignement marks, I think. Try to locate the spine with the whole blank to check

Ron, my 7pc. appears unspined by Dan. I have received several other Sig. V and Sig. IV from Dan that he clearly spined before he sent me, so I know what you are referring to (1/4" masking tape and black marker). He has only 5wt. right now but hinted at production of 4 and 6 and even a 3wt. Should make a fun set of blanks to work with and they strike me as high quality. I got a prototype 7pc. blank from him in the fall that was 8'6" 6/7 wt. 7pc. It seems to be made the same way and with the same finish as the 905-7 I just got. That 6/7 wt. was powerful and fast, light in the hand, and handled both a 6 and 7wt. line well at 30-70 ft. on a very windy day that I was test casting it. I have high hopes for the 905-7 or 785-6, depending on how many sections I end up building. At the price he's selling them, it's sure to please. Worst case, it will not fit my action preference but will make a very attractive rod that should be easy to sell.

According to Dan, it has an Action Angle of 62, for those of you who don't have one yet and want to get a sense of how it might compare to what you have already...