How important is the spine of a blank?

Hi Bill,

I could write for hours/days on this subject but will try to say a few good
things here. It is hard to describe this in words.

Steve Rajeff is the worlds most famous professional fly caster who works
daily designing the G.Loomis fly rods. The people at G.Loomis don't feel the
spine is worth worrying about till you get to a #8 rod. I learned this in a
factory tour.

Most rod manufactures put the guide on the blank on the bottom of any bend
so the rod looks straighter. If their blank is not dead on (straight), the
rod will look crooked if they follow the spine. Sad but true.

It is pretty hard to find the spine on a fast action 4 piece 9' graphite
rod.

I started building fiberglass rods in the '60s at Edwolt's Rod & Reel Repair
in Sacramento, CA, USA. They had one piece yellow fiberglass Lamiglass and
Grizzly blanks. They taught us how to build rods. Lee, Wanda and Mike were
very good to lots of us kids. They took us in the back and showed us how to
wrap a rod.


I also built rods and repaired them in a bait & tackle shop in the '70s.

I have sold blanks and rod building materials for 39 years now helping many
people to get started.

The spine is a big debate.

I usually fine the spine by holding the top of the blank section in my left
hand and put the bottom on the edge of a table or sales counter. Then I
apply power in the middle of the piece with my right hand to push it into a
bend or arc. While rolling the blank you can feel different power or
strength in the blank. I usually put masking tape around the blank and have
someone mark it for me when I get it to the 'soft side' or the relaxed side.
Sometimes there are two spines in a blank.

Another way that I was shown in the last 10 years was to take the blank
section (mostly the tip) and stand it vertically on it's bottom on a surface
then put the palm of your open hand on the top and just push down till you
get the blank into a bow or arc. The inside of this curve will be the soft
side of the blank so then you can put the snake guides on the opposite or
hard side for power for casting. The soft side will be better for fighting
trout so it won't break the light tippets.

No we can argue this for hours, days, weeks, years.............but who
cares.

Rod building is all but dead now in most fly shops. Maybe because of the
high cost of blanks , the low cost of new import rods and the lifetime
warranty on new rods?

A good friend, Gary Anderson, of Anderson Custom Rods in southern Oregon is
one of the world finest rod builders. I have discussed the spine issue with
him and we do the same thing. I think that it makes a rod more directional
while casting to have the guides in the right place on the blank.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA, USA

Web site: www.kiene.com


"William H.M. Wood" wrote in message
...




I keep hearing contradictory stories about the spine of a blank. Most
people seem to ignore it, but some say the right placement of the guides
along the spine (or 180 degrees opposed) is the single most important
thing to check while selecting a rod.

Is this fact or fiction?

Thanks