Read with interest what people are saying about the spine I have trained as a rod builder and spent a lot of time thinking about this topic as I like to get things right and have an appreciation of fine details A well made blank will have very tight tolerances in terms of the uniformity and thickness of the material.. this is obviously because blanks are rolled (manufactured) under extreme
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Is the Spine Finder (ex. MudHole) really a helpful tool or a hype? The reason I ask is bc I have used the traditional method on my fly rods and some pieces has been hard to locate the spine on. If this tool is accurate and a time saver I won't hesitate adding one to my setup.
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Hi to all you wrappers. I cannot believe I am the first one to discover this but thought I would share my new finding, just in case, after feeling a bit dense I did not realize it sooner. Immediately after spending the time to build a semi-adjustable spine finder from stuff found around the shop, I realized my wrapper would already do the same, but even better. The spacing is infinitely adjustab
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I have a customer who asked me the difference between the MHX verses a Bushido blank in a 7' worm Rod. I have built over a hundred MHX's but no Bushido's so I am turning to the experts for advice. What are your thoughts?
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I recently ran across this rod whereby it is stated that the rod is a hybrid and can be used as a spinning or casting rod. I'm a little perplexed since it is my understanding that the guides should be placed on the "belly" of the spine of a spinning rod and on the "back" of the spine for a bait casting rod. How can a rod serve two masters? The only thing I can think of is if
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This is my first fly rod build, after several other rod builds which I am very pleased with. This is on a Sage One blank, 9' 4 pc, 5wt, that I picked up for a really good price ($250 shipped) The blank is straight, seems very good. The spine is marked with alignment dots, and it feels accurate. When the rod is flexed, the dots are on top. Am I correct, that this is the top of
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Hi, I’m looking for suggestions on guide alignment on a 4 piece fly rod blank. Do you add the guides to each piece then make sure they align with each other **on that individual piece** or do you add them to the entire length of the fly rod blank and align them all together at the end. Thank you.
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Length Pwr Pcs/Sec Line w tLure wt Tip Sz Butt dia Wt PF1082MLMHX 9'0'' L 2 4 - 8. 1/64 - 1/2. 4.5 0.437 3.4 PF1202MLMHX 10'0'' L 2 4 - 8. 1/64 - 1/2. 4.5 0.504 3.8 ST1142MHX 9'6'' ML 2 4 - 8. 3/16 - 1/2. 4.5 0.462 2.25
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Found a neat little tool to find the center of rod blanks. The pro's on this site probably already know about it or have a different method but I thought it was worth mentioning. I found it at and drilled out the center hole to about 3/16" to accommodate the china marker lead. Just slide it up the blank to make a mark where your guides are laid out. Bill
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I hope nothing. I hope it was good. I know I messed up a bit on the epoxy, but yeah. Let me know if there is anything else I missed? I haven't ever built a fly rod before, and this turned out pretty good. I thought I would give it a try. Let me know what you guys think. I know already of a few mistakes I made, but the rod came out looking great anyway! In the video I show the unboxing
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I have heard so much stuff about seeing the spine but I have have always done it the old school way of finding the spine. I have a good idea of how one see's the spine on a Rod but what if the blank has two spins and both are strait,just how does one decide which one ro use if both are strait and the same.
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I'm just undertaking my first rod building project. I'm building a 9' #4 fly rod using MHX blanks. I have read a variety of articles about how to find the spine in the blank, however I am really struggling as the blank sections appears to deflect similarly in each direction. How critical is it to spine a rod? I understand at least one prestigious American tackle manufacturer doesn't spine their r
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How crooked of a blank is acceptable. I recently bought some blanks, and didn't bother to check for straightness. Now halfway through the build, I'm finding that they are all crooked. I have bought less expensive rods and they were much straighter. I just want to get some input as to what is acceptable and should I complain to the manufacturer?
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I have a basic question that I can't seem to get a good answer to. I presume it is a matter of opinion, so I'll ask for opinions. Supposedly the proper way to cast a casting rod is at a 90 degree angle to the typical guide placement so that the spool spindle will be straight up and down for less friction and a longer cast. But if you do that, shouldn't the spine be oriented 90 degrees from the g
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I have purchased a Rainshadow XST1383F blank to build a steelhead rod for my brother, he generally river fishes for late run steelhead in Michigan, which often includes icy conditions. I have built a few rods and experimented with different methods for guide spacing, including the Morton Micro Guide Graph. I am definitely a novice and this being my first steelhead rod I would appreciate guide and
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How do you determine the spine of a 4 piece rod. Do you determine the spine of each segment, which is what I would expect, or is there another way. What about the lower sections. I have not had too much luck finding the spine on these sections, but I feel it probably isn't too significant for these sections since most flex is in the upper half. Thanks.
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Hi. This is my first post on this forum; I've been lurking in the corner for a while and figure its about time I sign up. I'm building a couple bunker spoon rods on Seeker BA 1153M 9' blanks. I will be using All American Spiral Roller guides, ATC aluminum seat and gimbal, slick butt grip and a EVA foam foregrip. OK. I have the components that I feel will do the job the best. I have spined
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I generally go with the straightest axis on rods. Someone recently mentioned building on the spine of a high modulus blank with a very distinct spine as important. What do you guys do on blanks like this? Mostly looking at bass-walleye type spinning rods.
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I'm still new to rod building, I really like the High Modulus Rods, However I seem to have a much harder time finding the spine of those type of rods. Is there a better way to find it on the Modulus rods, Or am I just getting substandard rods. Thanks
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Custom request for rod build. (I’m looking for a 5’ spinning rod to jig Tog. The action will need to be pretty stiff. Not deep sea stiff but prob. medium heavy action or heavy. I’m into St Croix rods. If you have any suggestions I’m open. Looking forward to hearing from you. I contacted St Croix this is their suggestion.) (Ed, guessing he wants to drop some heavy metal in deeper water, unfortu
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My eyes are not as good as they use to be . Having trouble sighting down the rod. I was thinking of a lazer. Would like to know if anyone has had experience with them. I'm open to all suggestions. Thanks
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After reading my question some might just wonder why I didn't just build a new rod, and perhaps I should have. However, these rods have become very sentimental to their owner and quite frankly to me as we fish together quite often. So aside from some beat up guides and worn out handles these old fiberglass blanks still have an action that makes fishing 25 to 30lb Chinooks a hoot here on Lak
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I'm thinking of getting a laser alignment tool from Mudhole. If you use one, what are your thoughts? I'm building mostly fly rod so I'm curious how it will work for that also. Thanks for all your thoughts and comments.
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I had done a 300mm closed wrap with 8 thread colors on the butt of a 10' fiberglass (3-10oz rated) surf rod. After finishing and admiring the seemingly wonderful work, I noticed that SOMEHOW i had spent 3 days wrapping on an axis 30 degrees off center from the reel seat. What a screw up. How I did this, I do not know. I figured it was easier to remove the aluminum alps reel seat than rewrap. I tr
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Apologies for this basic question. There's been lots of discussion on spine vs straightest axis. This is not quite the same question but it is a question of spine and guide orientation in relation to the spine. I normally build 1 piece rods so this has not been an issue. I have an out of production 3 piece UL blank equivalent to about 3 wt fly rod in power. It's a special blank and I
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Hey guys so I am interested in making a spiral wrap rod. I have tried googling, but my issue is that there are a lot of different types of wraps, and some have different names for the same one. So if I am mainly making rods at the moment for freshwater bass fishing, what would you say are the main wraps I need to research and learn more about? Also how should one go about deciding if I should
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I have been asked to build a two piece rod for the first time. It will be used mainly for bass. I am looking at using MB 842-2-MHX or SJ842-2-MHX blanks. Any suggestions or cautions are appreciated. Ralph
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Hey Guys, So I just got my first blank in today and I've read about how to find the spine on the blank, but I don't really understand. I took it out of the package and stood it up on the floor and put a hand on the tip and pushed on the side of it with my other hand and the rod bends obviously, but I don't get how that finds the spine. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
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I have noticed that some of the rod blanks I receive new and after they are built are slightly warped to one side of the spine.. I hand wrap my blanks and this occurred on most of the spinning rods of all different length, brands, and stiffness..even a row piece rod. I store my rods and blanks in a totally vertical position in a rack with no pressure from tip to just below or above the butt
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First, let me preface this post by saying that I realize this may not be ideal, or even a good idea, I just want to know if it will work well enough to try the idea out. OK. So, I have a relatively inexpensive 2 piece casting rod that I would like to try an acid wrap on. What I was thinking was to strip the second and third guides (away from the reel) off, reorient the tip-half of the rod 180*, t
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