Need Help Please guide placement in relation to spine

slidefreshbait · Oct-06-2009, 11:28 PM

quick question...
I'm in the process of wrapping a old Fenwick - the model number was already sanded off when I got the blank but its a very soft pole around 9 feet in length.

Anywho....

Spine... Do I orientate it so the spine enables the pole to load up on the cast, or do I use the spine to stiffen up the pole to fight the fish?

Mahalo in advance... Will post pictures of the finished project after it's done.

1:11 · Oct-07-2009, 12:41 AM

You can do it however you choose. Most people spine (some say spline) a rod so that minimal amount of torsion (blank twist) occurs when fighting a fish and rod is loaded.

In some cases like throwing heavy swim baits some folks will spine the rod utilizing the rod spine more maximum casting distance, since those rods generally do way more casting than catching. And when you are catching you generally arent worried about a small amount of twist because the adrenaline is pumping anyway.

If the rod isnt for throwing heavy lures, id spine it for fighting fish. All my rods are spined for fighting fish. If you think about it, if a rod is loading up enough to have torsion during the cast, the rod is probably too light for the baits it is casting. JMO, what do i know?

Capt. G · Oct-07-2009, 03:56 AM

If you are G Loomis, you will put the guides anywhere except on one of the splines.

DenisB · Oct-07-2009, 04:06 AM

10 fisherman will give you 12 different recomendations.
and 25 different places to check for spine...........which will each be different on most rods depending on which length you check it over and how much you flex it.
doesn't make much difference where the spine is really.............it is very desirable to build the rod on its straightest axis...........your choice as to whether it feels strongest on the upside or the downside.
I have not built on the spine for 30+ yrs............no problems.

BakerStBobby2 · Oct-07-2009, 06:55 AM

When you load the rod up with a good bend, the guides should be placed on the top of the rod (spinning rods do the opposite side). This is if you want it on spline...
Bobby~

Comedie · Oct-07-2009, 08:44 AM

Spine is a physical anomaly in the blank. It is there, takes less than a minute to find, and adds zero time to a build other than ensuring that the first piece of hardware you put on the rod is oriented to the spine.

Some folks say it doesn't matter (who we shall refer to as 'spineless'), and others say it does. So building to the spine can either be seen as useless or savy. Given how easy it is to find and build to, it seems prudent to build to the spine.

I build spine up, which is the most common. Don't really have to remember on which side the guides go if you just remember that spine up is also the top when you are fishing. Yeah, it works out that conventional guides would be on the spine, and spinning guides opposite the spine, but if you just remember that the way the rod wants to bend is the way you hold it in fishing, then it is natural which way you put the guides on.

Lou W · Oct-07-2009, 10:44 AM

If I build a rod on the straightest axis the customer is happy. If I build on the spine/spline
and there is an ever so slight bend to the rod ,right or left, and the customer sees it I generally got some "splainin" to do.....I build on the straightest axis and if there is a slight bend it goes down. On light rods and long rods gravity will give that bend effect to a certain degree

slidefreshbait · Oct-07-2009, 02:51 PM

Mahalo for the input...
I was taught to put the spine side up, and it is always the way I wrap my poles... I asked this question because my last project was a blank that I found at a tackle shop... It was a pole that was already started but for one reason or another never finished. When I bought the blank, it already was cut down to length and had the reel seat and stainless but cap installed. When I took it home, I found the most pronounced spine was on the bottom. The shop I bought it from turns out quality work, and the worker who started the project is a good friend of mine - I need to remember to ask him about it next time I drop by.

REP · Oct-07-2009, 06:57 PM

If the grips and reel seat (especially rhe reel seat) were already installed you don't have much of a choice - you have to align the tip-top guide with the reel seat in order for the thing to work at all, even if you are building a spiral-wrapped rod (which, in Dave's world, leads to using both sides of the spine, and instead of being "spineless" is pretty much a both-ways design, for people who can't make up their minds - casting? Spinning? Caasting? Spinning? - - - ).

If this causes the rod to be built off-spine, then that's the way it will be. It may also be off the "straightest" axis, as well. Now you've got a rod that will have - um - "interesting" action during the cast or fighting the fish.

Lemme just throw in a fact (not an opinion) - and Dave or anyone else who build on spine will validate this. It was mentioned above that bulding on-spine reduces torsion (i.e., twist). Provably, if you build on-spine, when you do to the rod what a fish does to the rod (i.e, stress it to the left or right while you hold it in surprise straight away from you, realizing you've just been hit by a really, REALLY nice fish) you will notice that the guides follow the curve of the rod but don't tend to "roll-out" or "roll under". Part of this is due to the guides following the spine ("natural bend") of the rod. Part of it can be attributed to using enough guides ( a whole 'nother discussion, not for now). Watch what happens with a rod not build on spine for a comparison.

BTW, building on-spine does not necessarily mean that you build on the stiff side (as in a casting rod). You can build either on the stiff side or opposite the stiff side (like a spinning rod) and still say you build "on-spine". For purists, call it building "to the spine", if that makes you feel better. It's also interesting that to find the spine, you look for the inside curve which is opposite the stiff side, which is the spine. Now you know why there's so much confusion about all this. We make much lighter rods than Dave (mostly for spec trout and redfish), so our photos aren't easy to see, but I bet if he marks the spine on one of his rods before he covers it up with his pretty wraps it'd be easy to see.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

Comedie · Oct-08-2009, 10:03 AM

I believe there is another effect that occurs in a built rod that can change the spine: the addition of guides. I have not looked into it in any depth, but it sure seems to me like my spirals end up with less spine than the blank itself started with. I think the dbl foot guides create their own spine of sorts. So spine on top and guides on bottom could be creating a situation of lessening the effective spine.

Now if this is right, on a conventional where the guides as usually atop the spine, it would then be increasing the effective spine. Which may not be a bad thing either as it will offer some limited help in keeping the rod from twisting.

My guess anyway.

And Russ,,,, I wrap a big piece of painters tape on where the foregrip will go, and mark the spine on that. I find the spine(s) using the rollers on my uprights rather than doing the floor dance. I find it easier and more accurate for me, since the floor dance is very dependent upon the squareness of the butt cut. I find and mark it several times just to ensure I get it right