Rod Spine

[joaniebo]

Before assembling a blank, I check for the "soft side" of the blank to which I prefer to attach the line guides. Today, as I was assembling the last of the Sharpes' blanks, I checked quite a few times and, simply, could not find any difference in any of the 6 sides. First time I've ever seen this.

Bob

[tapermaker]

i have always thought that bamboo construction had nothing to do with the way they make graphite . In theory ,all your splines should be the same ,with no overlap ,( that creates a spine) . If you glue up strips w/o any twists ,you should have trouble finding a spine .

[kermit]

i have always thought that bamboo construction had nothing to do with the way they make graphite . In theory ,all your splines should be the same ,with no overlap ,( that creates a spine) . If you glue up strips w/o any twists ,you should have trouble finding a spine .

I'm with you on this. When the blanks are dried, I use a heat gun to get them as straight as I can, but... What I do is take the ferruled butt and tip sections, then put them together. Sight down the complete rod and adjust the tips from flat to flat. I find the straightest tip flat that matches to the straightest butt end flat. So when I sight down the complet rod sections, it is straight. If one tip has a slight down turn, then put the guides on the opposite side. In use, it will equal out.

[henkverhaar]

If your strips are perfect (all identical) and your glue-up has produced a perfectly straight blank (section), and the bamboo from your culm was perfectly homogeneous, and the node stagger does not screw things up, then, yes, a bamboo rod should have no spine/soft side/preferred plane of bending... However, in practice (at least in my practice ;-) ), there's always some residual 'spine' there. and you better take in into account when deciding on where to place your guides...

[corlay]

I always affix a few inches of the butt end of a section to my work bench top (with a clamp) with the tip cantilevered outward perpendicular from the work top edge. Then I simply depress the tip downward and let go, and see if the tip oscilates true in the vertical plane. If not (the tip will oscilate in a circular path, rather than straight up and down), rotate the blank to the next flat. and repeat.

[troutnut]

I do the same hold butt of tip on bench and flex the tip perfectly to see an up and down motion and not a circular one. Keep going on all 6 sides and pick the most straight up and down motion. If there is more than one you just will have choose a side for the guides.

[Canewrap]

I do exactly the same as the two guys above. I had a few rods in the beginning and old blue-collar rods that I didn't spine that way and you can tell that they're a little off axis. With those I had to rotate the rod a bit to get the cast to go straight. The spined rods don't have that problem and can lay out a straight cast real nice.

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, I use the Letcher Lambuth method. I think that's where it came from anyway. I 'spine' each section, and mark them. I assemble the rod so the marked flats line up. I then put the butt on the floor and test again. If the whole rod doesn't 'spine' properly I've got a problem. There can be several solutions depending on exactly what is wrong. The rod has to be in sync.

Jay Edwards

[tapermaker]

Hi Guys, I use the Letcher Lambuth method. I think that's where it came from anyway. I 'spine' each section,and mark them. I assemble the rod so the marked flats line up. I then put the butt on the floor and test again. If the whole rod doesn't 'spine' properly I've got a problem. There can be several solutions depending on exactly what is wrong. The rod has to be in sync.

Jay Edwards

i thought when you mentioned Lambuth you were going to say you twisted all you sections to get a homogenizing effect .(i love good sarcasm)

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, Twisting is an idea toward that end, isn't it? However I got troubles of my own without doing that, I think....

Jay Edwards

[LeeO]

The spine in a graphite or glass rod is caused by the over lap of the fabric.

[kermit]

The spine in a graphite or glass rod is caused by the over lap of the fabric.

Thank you...