I remember you telling me a long time ago on tfg that you mess with the guide spacings etc - wrap them on at slightly different distances and try them out before applying the rod finish until you obtain the best feel for yourself. In my opnion this would be the biggest advantage to building your own besides the pure joy of doing it.
regarding the sp(l)ine placement on the side of the blank, I feel we have the makings of a new Doritos "Boldest taste on earth" advert:
Following on from the guy who ate the last pie in the petrol station store and Dangerous Dumi who drank expired milk, we now have Fuming Fario who placed the sp(l)ine on the side of the rod just to show how bold he can be!!
Hehehe - yeah, this Fario thing seems to not want to lie down
Spoke to him today - out hunting Great Whites with his Speedo and Bowie knife in Shark Alley. And not even taking a boat!!!
On a more serious note, yeah, tinkering with what you ultimatily will feel most comfortable with is where it's at, BUT do not throw away aesthetics! A beatifully build custom goes a looooong way with the ladies ....
"All the tips or magical insights in the world can't replace devotion, dedication, commitment, and gumption - and there is not secret in that" - Glenn Brackett
I agree, a lot of the typed word tends to get taken the wrong way.
At the moment I source my blanks from the net. Ebay, can be handy for getting some reasonable quality cheap blanks. There are some Baiston Rainshadow (I think) blanks on there are they are not bad and are about US$40 bucks or so. I started with a few of these before working my way up. There is a Lamiglass (High quality US brand) blanks that I have a particular affinity for, for Salt water fly fishing. I think it was the Ti2000 or something like that. These have titanium moulded to the Carbon at the butt section and have a amazing feel and are a joy to cast. The look a little different, but I think that it some of the attraction. These go for about US$170 on ebay from time to time. These are one of my favourite rods for Salt water fly fishing.
I agree with you. I also like building rods so I can get my personal touch on the rod, even if it's something simple like different thread colour. To me the eye spacing is critical. Moving an eye a few mm can really help ballance the rod better, especially if you are power casting like you tend to in SWFF.
There is indeed a lot of discussion on whether finding the spine is worth it or not. Manufacturers would rather align the guides along the curve of the blank because it looks better than aligning along the spine.
For my money I would rather align the spine than not since it can only help and not hurt. Seems silly not to align it.
I align rods using a system of computer and electronic force gauge. Using this arrangement I can align all sections of the rod. To do it manually there are two primary techniques you can find in most rod building books or on line. Curvature does NOT equal spine.
I also computer align guide spacing since guide spacing is very dependent on the taper of the rod.
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