[Frank Whiton]

Originally Posted by fyshstykr

Thank You Steve.
Too bad we couldn't have got this going last fall and Winter, it may not get a ton of traffic until we all get couped up again.

Let's have some fun!!! Thanks again.

Hi fyshstykr,

Good point. Rod building is a winter activity for some states. There are some of us who get to fish all year round and or build rods.

Frank

[GeorgeMcFly]

for those guys that can fish all year and build , you prolly get no sleep. what do ya do, fish all morning and build all night! then ya gotta tie flies somewhere in between... fishing can be a 24 hour a day job! lol I have winter so maybe I should learn.

[Jose]

Hi rod builders,

I need some advice on building my first rod. I ordered a kit, so I have all I need. The grip is on and the tip is...sort of on (it seems loose, but I think I can fix that later). Here's the question: should the guides be on the soft side or the stiff side of the spine? I read soft side on smaller rods and stiff side on larger. I'm putting together an 8 weight.

[fyshstykr]

Hi Jose,
The rods I build usually have the guides on the opposite side of the spline/spine, just the way I was shown, and have stayed with doing it this way.
You will hear reasons as to this and that, but I think it boils down to personal preference.
I've never been able to tell much difference in a rod done one way or the other, but then I never really cast any other rods than my own.

I could be totally off base on this one, so you may want to get a few more opinions first.

[Jose]

Thanks, fyshstykr. That means it's time to wrap this rod up It's been killing me looking for more info on this. Finally it seems you are correct in that it doesn't seem to matter much in terms of performance and there are just many opinions on this out there with no hard data to prove otherwise. That's still hard for me to believe, but it seems builders from roadbuilding.org are saying the same thing. Thanks again.

[imxer]

This new thread was a good idea & is a good addition. Thanks.

If your interest in fly rods extends beyond just fishing with them, I can think
of no better way [other than going to work for a rod manufacturer], to learn than by building a few.

[Jose]

I agree imxer. Now I have another question, which I know I can look up, but since we have this forum: What's the best way to cut a blank?

[imxer]

Did it once to shorten a blank slightly when installing a reel seat.

Bought the finest hacksaw blade I could find. Wrapped the blank where I planned to make the cut with one layer of masking tape, put it in a mitre box
and, very slowly, cut through the blank. Finished the end lightly with fine garnet paper. Have no experience with cutting a blank at any other location, think I would contact the manufacturer before doing so.

Am sure there are other ways of doing this, would like to hear about them.

Good luck.

[FISHN50]

I've used a Dremel tool with a Small thin grinding wheel, The dremel also comes in handy for smoothing out the edges on the guides.

[shorthaul]

X-acto makes a very fine pitch saw blade that can be used for that