Finally after over a year of reading every post I finally finished my 1st rod, a rainshadow HS9001 for walleye rigging. KR concept with micro guides aero17 handle (because I destroyed my cork) and just used the recommended guide spacing. I do not think static placement would have done any better. More sensitive than top of the line off the shelf rods by far....my engineering skills failed for my rod finisher so I baby sat it after putting thread finish on.... honestly, the way the pro more levels out is pretty amazing...especially doing it without proper equipment.

Sean, I too just started rod building and am currently on my 4th rod. For the finishing I was not happy with my first attempt but after watching Tom Kirkman video that changed quickly. My first rod I applied it with the rod spinning on my wrapper like the flex coat video, and I did not have a clean edge on any of the wraps. Doing it the way Tom shows worked great for me, my finish looks fantastic. I do turn my dryer on and let it spin after applying all the finish instead of turning the rod by hand every so often. Take a look at his video and try that method, so simple, and I guarantee it will make a huge differance.

Keith Langford

Static placement is really about the line path when the rod is under load. I don't know how blank manufacturers come up with their guide spacing. To me, logic would dictate that they place the guides, at least the running guides, using the static load guide placement method. If that's the case then yeah, doing your own static placement may result in the same, or nearly the same measurements.

If you're real particular about your rod set ups, doing your own static placement is kind of, well .......... mandatory. lol I'm certainly not saying that following a guide placement chart that is for a particular blank is bad business. Just saying that for some of us, it's an OCD kind of thing.

Static test every time.

I swear by static testing placement of guides. I won't do it any other way.