Hey guys,
I bought a 2 pc G loomis Gl3 spinning blank, for building a rod..
I know it is imortant to find the spine on the tip section for placing guides, but I can imagine finding the spine on a butt section is pretty hard, and is it really important where to place those guides on that section?
Thanks,

You will get several points of view on spining.
I dont spine fly rods, I just wrap them for straight as does every manufacturer I know of.
In the past I have wrapped rods on the spine, off the spine and didnt spine um at all.....cant tell a whit of difference.
If you must find the spine on the butt section place one end on a soft surface the other end in one hand. Apply pressure with your other hand till the rod bends slightly then roll it till you find the spine.

I highly recommend finding the spine on all pieces of the rod blank!!! Especially for a two-piece rod. It will only take you a few more minutes and it will be well worth it. Whether you can tell a difference or not when casting why wouldn’t you go that extra distance just to be certain Otherwise your rod wont have the potential of being better than a factory built rod. After all attention to detail is what makes custom built rods so special.

-Chad

Hi guys,
I took the rod to a specialized shop today, the owner told me that spining on the butt end is even more important than the tip, because of the power needed for playing a fish...he told me that a rod with an
inproperly spined butt will turn in your hand ass soon as you hook a fish and the rod is bending, don't know if that is true though...

i frequent another web site... err, frequently, and it's tailored specifically towards rod building. over and over from several people (at least), i hear that most of the time, major rod manufacturers do NOT spine a rod's blank, but rather align for "look."

i just started rod "assembling" and right now, i do "spine." i place the effective spine on top, the fly guides opposite.

it is more difficult to find the effective spine on the butt section when you're dealing with multi piece rod blanks. i find it more difficult with four piece blanks and would magine it would be even more difficult with 5 or more piece blanks. your two piece butt section's spine should be pretty simple to find.

eric
fresno, ca.
so far, 6 fly rods into this rod building sickness ;-)

QUOTE (Roach @ Mar 12 2005, 09:23 AM)

Hi guys, I took the rod to a specialized shop today, the owner told me that spining on the butt end is even more important than the tip, because of the power needed for playing a fish...he told me that a rod with an inproperly spined butt will turn in your hand ass soon as you hook a fish and the rod is bending, don't know if that is true though...

Roach,

The spine of the rod has nothing to do with rod twist. If you're talking about a fly, spinning, or spiral wrapped casting rod, the rod will not twist under load. Period. If you're talking about a conventional casting rod then the rod will ALWAYS twist under load.

When you put force on the end of a line (run through the guides) the line will want to make the straightest path from the fixed point (reel) to the load (fish). It wants to minimize the amount of strain put on it that that's the point of lowest energy- a straight line. When you have a casting rod, the guides are on top of the rod. The line wants to be under the rod (inside the curve) so it will torque the rod until it gets there. I've seen rods where the guides are twisted 90* (parallel to the ground) from load.

With a fly, spin, or spiral wrapped rod, the guides are already on the bottom of the rod. The rod is locked in place and CAN NOT twist on its own.

The spine effect is very minor compared to the forces of casting and fish fighting. Can you enhance a rods performance with it? Sometimes yes sometimes no. Do I spine all of my rods? Yes. Do I spine the butt sections of my fly rods? Not if they barely bend to begin with. (assuming 4 pc rod) I spine the tip two sections first. I'll check the third section. if I'm doing an 8 wt there is no need to do the lower sections usually. If I'm doing a 3 wt I'll usually go the whole way down.

Thanks,
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