Rod Building - Part 9: More preparations

In the previous step I located and marked the guide side of my rod blank. If this is not done properly casting will became a bit nervous. By this I mean that the rod tip will not be moving in a perfect straight line no matter what you do.

From Fly Rod

Next thing to do is to mark the guide positions on rod blank. Again we use tape and lager beer. Tape is used to mark positions and lager to avoid dehydration. In this phase you also need tape measure and some kind of chart which tells you where the guides should be placed. My chart came with the rod blank. I think that some advanced Jedi techniques also work, but I stick to manufacturer’s chart at this point.

From Fly Rod

This may be also an excellent point to check that you have enough guides. I have created following procedure to help you out here. This is something that is generally overlooked in rod building literature.

1. Take a pencil and a piece of paper
2. Count how many guide placement markings is on your rod blank
3. Write that number to the piece of paper
4. Put all guides (excluding the tiptop) you have to the table
5. Count how many guides are on your guide pile
6. Write that number to the piece of paper
7. Compare two numbers you have written down.

If you have written two same numbers down you can congratulate yourself (another lager perhaps?). You are doing great and have no worries what so ever. If not, you are in trouble! But don’t panic, I have instructions right here:

1. Count how many beers you have drank
2. Write that number to the piece of paper
3. Compare three numbers you have written down.

If the third number is close to the first two numbers, or it is even bigger than first two numbers, or you have more or less than three numbers on paper, or you don't find the paper: go to sleep and continue your rod building project later.