Since two individuals' reputations are at stake here, send the blank to an impartial third party. That said, in-your-face insults shouldn’t be happening on this forum.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2022 09:57PM by Jeff Shafer.

A bend or curve along the entire length of the blank is not a bad thing. What you don't want is a sudden crook which I don't see in this photo. With an overall bend or curve, the weight of the components, mostly guides, tend to bring the alignment back to straight. In fact, I prefer such a curve over a perfectly straight blank, which will no longer be straight once you mount guides to it.


.....

With an overall bent, which is quite often especially among thin-walled light powered blanks - the best way seems to be to put guides rings down according with the direction of the blank bent. Finished rod looks good. However, I would not advise to put guides with rings in the direction opposite to the blank curvature because usually they are not heavy enough to "force" the blank to straighten and the result of such placement will not look good visually (I am not referring to fly rods because I am not a flyfisherman). Practically, it does not matter much as the rod is usually bent by the fishing line anyhow so such aesthetic nuances can not even be observed in actual fishing conditions.

Best regards,
Pavel

I agree with Pawel. lt is my experience that with carbon fiber/graphite blanks in the ERN range of most of the freshwater casting and spinning rods, approximately 13-30, guides will not affect the blank with regard to how straight it is. I'm not arguing that one cannot mitigate a slight curve with guide location, but to expect guides on this type of blank to straighten it will lead to disappointment. They will simply not do that. Maybe on ultralight power blanks, but that's about it.

I'd like to know what two of the pictures are supposed to show? A taped on blank identifying tag? A decal in a bag? LOL

As far as the picture of the allegedly severely curved blank. Yes it looks like it has a curve. And a pretty decent one, but ...... I would bet that there were several different pictures taken of this curved blank, and this one was chosen because other pictures taken looking straight down the blank didn't show much of a bend at all.

And personally I love the course of action taken by NFC.

David makes a good point about the photo. Depending on the camera setup some distortion is possible. I look at videos done with Go Pros and there is a lot of distortion. Rod curves are decidedly unreal. Could be a significant issue with this photo, too.

Pawel Tymendorf Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> With an overall bent, which is quite often
> especially among thin-walled light powered blanks
> - the best way seems to be to put guides rings
> down according with the direction of the blank
> bent. Finished rod looks good. However, I would
> not advise to put guides with rings in the
> direction opposite to the blank curvature because
> usually they are not heavy enough to "force" the
> blank to straighten and the result of such
> placement will not look good visually (I am not
> referring to fly rods because I am not a
> flyfisherman). Practically, it does not matter
> much as the rod is usually bent by the fishing
> line anyhow so such aesthetic nuances can not even
> be observed in actual fishing conditions.

The purpose of the rod is to flex yet resist flexing. So you would, in fact, want to put them on the straightest axis so that the rod is oriented belly down, and butt and tip up. This is also the strongest orientation of the blank and will provide the greatest deadlift capability. [www.rodbuilding.org]

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

Folks - since I am relatively inexperienced in this please help with terminology. Inside of the curve is concave side and outside is convex side for reference.
Spinning rod guides go on which side? convex?
I lack the baseline understanding regarding "belly, spine, etc" Concave and convex help me more.

BTW - I have now built on 5 NFC fly blanks (classic/moderate) and 1 SB-722 blank and they all look straight and fish great. Small sample compared to you folks but just my experience.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2022 10:36AM by Ed Rose.

To make it easy Ed, no matter the rod configuration you want the bend in the rod belly down, tip up, then put whatever guides used any way that works for you in that tip up position. If you roll the blank on a flat surface you'll find only one tip up, any movement from there will swing the tip noticeably right or left.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2022 02:19PM by Spencer Phipps.

Ed,

Casting guides would go on concave side.
Spinning/Fly guides would go on convex side.

I think just to add clarity - when holding the blank you want the curve to bend towards the ground/water regardless of it becoming a casting or spinning rod.

My understanding from countless hours of research is that this is more important than building on the spine. If the spine happens to be found with the bend in any direction besides down then build on the bend and not the spine. The impact on casting accuracy and line control building this way is far more noticeable than building on the spine's benefit regarding torque/ slight power impact.

I recently did my first build on a cheap kit with a blank that had a spine leaving a curve in the blank to the right, I built on the curve - keeps the guides in better position.

Dirty laundry is best kept and dealt with in the washing machine, as far as I am concerned.

I worked for a Fortune 1000 consumer products company for 30 years. The fact is that product defects can or do happen and once in a while can be missed by QC, but it is also a fact that some consumers are simply over the top, disrespectful and want to make public their grievance or anger, and blame the guy at the top.

My recent experience with NFC blanks and service was quite excellent, and I made a point of noting that in the forum given past complaints of a year or two ago on this forum.

I have no idea of the quality or lack there of related to the blank in question, but would prefer to see the issue dealt with privately, vs dirty laundry being aired on the forum that, in general, focuses on the positive nature of rod building and fosters relationships.

Just my two cents.

My first post ever. Long time reader and built my first rod back in 1979.
Getting back to the subject matter. The purpose of this form should be encourage new builders and help
each other along our journey and love for building rods as I am quite sure that none of us know it all. There is
absolutely no need to take any digs at anyone in such a public manner. I can't think of another person that
has made so many contributions and innovations to the rod building industry than Gary.

So Gary if you read this all I can say is THANK YOU. You have spent a lifetime making my world a better place to build rods
and take them fishing.

To Aleks. You are absolutely correct in your position and stance. No one deserves what was said to Gary
and thank you for standing tall.

Wendell

Sometimes in the production of any product, you are going to have things that make it past the manufacturer, ie Murphy's law. The problem arises when we get emotional (anger) about a defect in a product that we waited for, and it came at the last minute possible that it could be used and now the process must start over. Obviously, you found the correct response to insight an emotional reaction out of the company that you feel “wronged you”. There is no reason for these types of dialogs, it is business, and as such should be treated appropriately. Address the problem and give them a chance to correct it. I just called them yesterday about an order and got a very attentive woman that answered my questions. I don’t believe their customer service is lacking but there may be from time to time short interruptions, that if you are persistent, can be overcome. They make an excellent product at an astounding price. Most companies would not forsake the retail business to sell directly to the public.

El Bolinger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think just to add clarity - when holding the
> blank you want the curve to bend towards the
> ground/water regardless of it becoming a casting
> or spinning rod.
>
> My understanding from countless hours of research
> is that this is more important than building on
> the spine. If the spine happens to be found with
> the bend in any direction besides down then build
> on the bend and not the spine. The impact on
> casting accuracy and line control building this
> way is far more noticeable than building on the
> spine's benefit regarding torque/ slight power
> impact.
>
> I recently did my first build on a cheap kit with
> a blank that had a spine leaving a curve in the
> blank to the right, I built on the curve - keeps
> the guides in better position.


No, the other way. If you put the curve to the water you have the blank in a weaker orientation. It'll still work, but you won't have the maximum deadlift capacity in play when fighting a fish. Belly down, butt and tip up.

The spine is the absolute weakest orientation. It has no effect on casting accuracy.

And yes, the blank will work and make a good rod in any orientation. We're talking minor differences.

........

I have tended to put the spine on the bottom (inside of stressed curve up). My thinking has been that it will track better and more consistently on the cast. I build with spiral guides, so guides are always on the bottom which is a great effect than spine anyway since load comes from below anyway. In reality, even though I mainly cast overhang, the effect is probably minimal.

I should change how I do it for the ease of line up guides alone.

Based on the photos I saw, I think the claim of "broken finger" and the Shimano comment are in extremely poor taste. And I have no idea why this was posted by Marc prior to seeking resolution privately.

No one else has chimed in about NFC going downhill, is it safe to assume they're not? My order is set to arrive Monday from NFC and I've built 25 personal rods and nothing from NFC yet. Can't wait!

Interesting the way this thread is going. From the conflict, to suggestions that it's no big deal (almost natural) for a blank to have a long sweeping curve. Not that I haven't had to deal with minor curvatures, but this builder would prefer that blank makers I purchase from sell me a straight blank. I don't believe in compromising when it comes to straightness of a blank, regardless of company rolling it.

"The greatest barrier to discovery is not ignorance, it's the illusion of knowledge" - Daniel J. Boorstin

COVID supply chains got me into rod building, mainly for salt because stores couldn't get the rods I wanted out of Malaysia. They did me a favor because I won't look back on retail builds for salt or freshwater applications.

I challenge everyone questioning blank "straightness" or spline-correctness to visit a local tackle shop, BPS, Cabelas, Dicks, or Academy and pick up some rods. See how many have reel seats lined up on ANY spline axis. See how many have a straight blank (check by rotating the guides under the viewing plane to best assess).

You will be shocked. I have several >$300 retail rods that are just flat out built wrong or have off axis spline alignment. It doesn't stop with my <$300 retail rods either. **Spoiler alert** - all those retail builds have caught fish regardless.

Blank perfection is asymptotic. There's nothing wrong with NFC blanks (or Batson, MHX, Point-B, cape cod...) . If you see a gross defect contact them direct and work it out. If you don't know what a gross defect is, ask around or build more rods.