In article , rw56
says...

I've only built one rod, and I was fanatical about determining the guide
spacings and measuring them as accurately as I could. I felt kind of
silly, though, because it seemed like I could do as good a job by just
"eyeballing" it. So here's a question for experienced rod builders: Is
getting the exact recommended guide spacings really that important?


If you want to be really obsessive-compulsive about it, you just use the
charts as a first pass, before doing a "static load test". You tape the
guides down tight with masking tape, then string up the rod with flyline
and put enough pull on the line to put a bend in the rod. Then you
study the guides, looking for, hell, i don't know, things that don't
look right. Then adjust spacing, and repeat until satisfied.

I tried it once, and found it fairly unenlightening, and left the guides
where the spacing chart said they should be. Most of the manufacturers
post spacing charts on their web sites, so I figure they have probably
figured out the optimal spacing for their blanks.

Kevin