Has anybody else bought a blank from north fork and the blank is not straight by any means?

All of my many have been quite straight.

Mine is straight through most of the blank but when it gets to a little before the tip it starts going all wonky, I mean I know it’s not the end of the world but I paid a good amount of money for this blank.

Nothing new, a lot of blanks do that, much easier to see imperfections on a bare blank vs a built rod with all the components on it that break up your sight line.

I am not making this point specific to the company mentioned in this post. It’s my strong belief, though, that “wonky” tips are far from okay from any manufacturer. I would never build on one. It’s the part of the blank that is most going to influence most parameters of rod performance. Bent, bulging, or twisted fibers and profiles are just not going to perform according to design or at full strength. There is no way that flex characteristics won’t be affected. It’s simple physics. A bend or uneven diameter in this most critical zone has to result in some level of “point loading”, there is simply, absolutely no other outcome.

I have gotten 5 in the last month. All are nearly perfectly straight except one that has the slightest bend about 2 inches from the tip. I am sure if you contact the company they will discuss it with you and do their best to help you out.

Has any blank manufacturer promised, or implied they sell only absolutely straight rod blanks? If they have, they have quite a dumpster full of rejects in the back. I can't think of one company that people haven't had your same experience from, though I don't remember any GUSA blanks I built that had a bent tip, one that perked my interest anyway. G Loomis was well known to have this when they sold blanks. If you check the last few pages of this site, you will see the same problem discussed. I bet you'd find many pages of the same if you used the search function. 40+ years, nothing new here.

Nearly straight isn’t straight. Again I’m not bad mouthing anyone here the blank feels great but it’s more than a 2 inch bend it jets off pretty drastically. I understand sight lines and the eyes can play tricks but there’s just no way around this.

I’m not trying to start a argument with somebody who believes a company doesn’t have to produce products that are expected to be one way and in reality aren’t and that’s fine, like I said the blank feels good and I like it. But I can’t see how this won’t affect performance when I have guides going in a straight line and then the last 4 or 5 shoot off in a weird direction because of where the spine is located on the blank.

And I’m pretty new to this so I’m sorry If I’m offending anyone with this post especially the manufacturer.

You have not told us what "drastically" is, the last person who posted and showed pictures was not what many here consider drastic. Check for yourself.

Okay well like I said I own the blank I’m looking at the blank I’m 26 years old my eyes are perfect I can see it clear as day bud, I don’t need to prove anything to you. I would not badmouth a company to just badmouth a company, which in if you read I’m not even doing in the first place! I’m happy with the blank for the most part I just wanted to see if anyone else had the same issue/experience. But thanks ????

But of course I can post pictures nobody asked until you

So I read the other post about this topic where the guy said some pretty nasty stuff about the manufacturer and I want to be clear I’m
I’m in no way trying to convey its a bad product or I’m not happy with it. I love it I think it’ll make a great rod I was just taken back by the curvature in the blank.

What you want to look for is an overall curve. That's fairly normal to most rod blanks. If you are dealing with a sudden crook or offshoot in one area, primarily near the tip, you might want to send a photo to North Fork or call them and inquire about possibly getting a replacement. Rod blanks are rarely straight and some gentle curvature is considered normal. It's a sudden and severe bend that might cause concern.

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I mean I guess I wouldn’t call it drastic or abrupt funny thing I have a shimano slx rod that has something very similar going on. Like I said I was just curious I’m rather new it’s the first time I’ve purchased from them and didn’t know. I don’t think it’s enough to really cause any significant malfunction or lack of performance. Everyone saying it’s somewhat normal is a little more comforting

I had one blank that about 1-1/2" at the very tip was bent pretty good. it was either a FW701-1 or a FW702-1, I don't remember off the top of my head. I took a couple of pictures of it and sent them to NFC. They contacted me shortly after and sent me a new blank. Customer service took care of me and I have been very happy with them. I would suggest you contact them and see what they have to say.

I did but we will see I really do like this blank it’s nice as @#$%&

Brandon, have you contacted NFC about your problem? If not, do so. You may find them to be very helpful with your problem. The only people who can fix your problem is the manufacturer, we can’t do it.
Norm

Yes! I did contact them!