I apologize ahead of time if I sound like I am ranting. Well, I am a little bit. This is in no way being directed toward anyone in particular!

If you have a complaint, question, comment, opinion......all that is fine and dandy as long as you focus on resolving your issue with respect, courtesy, and an awareness that, as Aleks of NFC said (paraphrased), "There are human beings on the other side of your transaction." Awesome statement, IMO! No one that I know of is out to deceive, trick, dupe, mislead, or sellout anyone on this forum as a sponsor or guest. Really? None of these folks would BE here if that happened on a regular basis. I TRUST this forum because there are some solid and bonafide gurus who have seen and done it ALL for decades. And this group of Experts are consistently on the side of sharing real information based on their mastery of the craft with class! If you wanna argue or joust, learn how to do it by reading Norman Miller, Michael Danek, David Baylor, Mike Ballard, Roger Wilson, and Tom Kirkman......there are others.....but they ALL know HOW to disagree when disagreement in on the menu.

Had to get that out of my system. Not rod building related, but forum related, and my support of this community.

Mike, it looks as if the original post on this thread was made 24hrs. ago. Ages? Am I missing something?

Les cline I completely understand, but from the start I feel like I’ve been alienated here because I was worried about something I never said a bad thing about north fork composites or anyone here for that matter. I don’t know how to post pictures here if I did I would have. Nobody has explained how to do so. And I was totally happy with Aleks explanation.

So for anyone wondering at the highest point the tip is 1/2” off the ground and at the lowest it is pretty much flat

I would call that pretty darn straight depending on the length. Wish I knew how long it was. Lol

I ain't scared. Just kidding. Just ordered 2ea C602 salmon blanks, 3 more Delta 703-1 and a couple of Zentron ice blanks. Figured out pretty quick in this game that blanks are rarely perfectly straight. Follow the advice of the very knowledgable rod gurus on this site and everything will be fine.

1/2 inch is of zero concern if that blank is at least 6 feet in length. Move ahead with your rod project and feel good about it.

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

@BRANDON - just wanted you to know your post was perfectly reasonable and is exactly what I would've done. I'm sorry you were made to feel alienated and out of line, this is supposed to be a place for new builders and experienced builders alike to grow and support one another and for us to ask questions we don't know the answer to - that's how we learn what the answer is haha

I just realized I should've added that measuring how far down from the tip it starts to lift off the ground would be helpful. If the blank slowly bends up 1/2 an inch over a couple feet of blank that might not be a big deal (might be a very big deal, I'm new too and I don't have enough experience to know what that range ought to be, over the lengthof the blank is probably fine) but I'd say for certain that if it starts to bend only within a foot or so from the tip I would think that's a rather sudden transition and crook.

There are a lot of very kind and welcoming and helpful and generous people here and some of them have posted in this thread, I hope you stick around and ask more questions - I want to learn what you want to learn too, we're in this together.

Ps.
To post pics in the thread you have to download the app, or one of the guys here knows a copy paste html shortcut on something like that, I'll try to find that for you. The other way is the old way which is clunky and I could never get it to work and the pics posy in an entirely different part of the site than the thread, I just use the app because it makes things easy and consolidated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2023 09:00PM by El Bolinger.

I made a similar post about scarring without mentioning the company and received 3 responses, someone asked me to name the company. I know to not do that :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2023 09:30PM by Patrick Noll.

I don’t think anyone made Brandon feel out of line or alienated. He had a problem with a product and posted it. Others chimed in with their opinions and comments concerning his problem and how to resolve it. There was certainly no disrespect or ill feelings directed towards anyone. In fact, a consensus was reached that most rod blanks are not perfectly straight due to the material and the way they are made. This is something that a new rod builder needs to know, and is the reason why we build on the straightedges axis. In other words it was a learning experience.
Norm

@NORMAN - Brandon said that was how he was feeling, and seemingly also that he had to apologize and defend himself repeatedly...

Brandon said "I don’t think I could’ve said it anymore that it’s a good blank I just had a concern. Never did I once say a bad thing about the company. Man I thought this was a different place than it really is" and he also said "Les cline I completely understand, but from the start I feel like I’ve been alienated here..."

so I wanted to acknowledge that and let him know there's lots of good people here (yourself included Norman, who, among a handful of others, I'm truly grateful for) and lots of good reasons to stay active on the board. One of the worst feelings in the world is feeling unheard, so I wanted him to know I heard him.

Even look at the Post right above yours, there's a lot said in just a few words. Nobody should ever feel like they can't ask something, say something, or have to be careful what they say here. I know I'm new, but I want to encourage everyone I can in any way I can - and this certainly seemed like something I needed to say. We should strive for people to feel welcome and comfortable to post anything (within reason of course, adhering to the rules) and thats what I was trying to do. I'd love to post nore in some of the other threads, but I can't offer advice on guide spacing and reel seat preferences because I'm not at that point yet - but I hope to develop a skill and knowledge to be able to share with others on all those topics. Until then I can only build with the tools I have, my goal is to build people up and build this community up.

The rod is a 7’4” and I’m not worried about it. My worries were calmed pretty early on, I had no idea this was a topic still so fresh from that last incident. But I’m happy with all the explanations I got. And I’m surely happy with the blank and the manufacturer all together. I’ll do better next time and be more clear and concise about what exactly I’m looking at and I’ll definitely get the app so I can post pics. Thanks guys