Without going into a static stress dist. test or building a spine finder, is there an easier way (chart?) to come up with adequate guide placement on a 6'6" 2 piece 2 weight, medium-fast action?

Who made the rod?
Bob

Don Morton's Equal Angle system which we covered in the current RodMaker would allow you to get near optimum placement in about 3 or 4 minutes. Failing that, I think I see where Bob is headed - go find the factory equivilent and copy that spacing. It may not be optimum, but it will be adequate.
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Why not at least stress test. Takes a few minutes to tape or rubberband guides on. Then a few minutes to readjust. You can do it all under 30 minutes for sure. Easy and useful

OK - good points all.

With Don Morton's Equal Angle system how is th 4-5 inch first guide pacement accounted for? I drew up an angle pattern on paper and placed a rod tip at approximatly the same location as those pictured in the article (1/2 " at 120 degree mark) and found the first guide to be too far back (more than 5 " in some cases). If I had more guides of course, then the first guide would turn out within the 4--5 inch space. My angles were correct. Any suggestions?

Use a different set of angles for your spacing lines. You will want the first guide within 5 inches on most rods outside of really heavy duty surf/boat types.

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