Guide Spacing

[Flytyer317]

If all else fails, here?s a sample spacing guide for most of the common fly rods you might build. All measurements are from the tip of the rod in inches with all of the sections assembled In some cases (three or four piece blanks) you will have to alter this spacing to accommodate the sections.

I got this from Al Campbells, rod building section. Is the tip of the rod the tip of the tip top? or before I put on the tip top? Thanks in advance.
- David

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Game fish are too valuable to only be caught once.
-Lee Wulff



[This message has been edited by Flytyer317 (edited 11 February 2006).]

[Orthoman]

I tried some of these spacings and also those recommended by Hook and Hackle but they fell on the ferrules and I was having to move everything. Finally called the company that made the blank and they faxed me a spacing chart. Worked fine.

[dudley]

The tip of the rod blank.
I measure from the bottom of the loop just to make it simple for my self.

[ET custom flyrods]

I've used charts,& copied factory rods. But what I've wound up doing is using a combination of the two above then after I think it "looks" good , I take the rod out back and cast it. Sometimes I may have to move a guide or two until I think it's at its optimum performance wise.
IMO , you can only do this by attaching the guides with stretchy string, Once you deciede "that's it, then you start wrapping.
Takes a little more time, but what the heck if your in a hurry you should'nt be building a rod anyway.

[Plain Old Jim]

I don't use a spacing chart or the blank provider's info. The stripper guide pretty basic, put it where it fits for you. Then put another one a few inches above that first one. (I actually use three) The tip of course goes where it goes. You need a guide a few inches away from the tip for protection and strength. You got four figured out already. The rest you just figure out yourself. I throw the spacing charts away and don't even look at them. Buddy Sanders taught me this stuff. Thank you Buddy Buddy Buddy.


Gem

[This message has been edited by Plain Old Jim (edited 11 February 2006).]

[PanFisher]

In the beginning (1977) I was taught to use a progression formula for my guide spacing. It is suggested as a starting point for most rods but for Fly Rods at that time the taper was mostly progressive so the results from this formula could be followed strictly as the recommended spacing.

Now we have blanks with different tapers (fast, medium, and slow) so I find that with adjustments to A, L, and N (see below) I can adjust to fit to the taper of the blank. I find this to be the most useful and accurate method for calculating the perfect spacing designed for what you want the rod to do.

OK so your not a mathematician, when I started I would spend hours on this stupid calculation - drove me crazy. Now being into computers a bit I wrote my own VBA routine to do the work for me. My routine calculates the spacing in four different ways:

Generic - Kinda like using a spacing chart
Ferrule - Some builders prefer to place a guide on the middle of the ferrule - this will calculate that placement
Custom to Caster - Place Stripping guide at arms length to allow for proper line control.
Design-Your-Own - Modify the values of A, L, and N to design your own spacing.

If you would like a copy of the spacing program shoot me an e-mail and I will forward it to you. It should work on most Windows XP systems.


*** Spacing Progression Formula ***

2(L-NA)/N(N-1)=X

WHERE:
L = Distance from TipTop to Stripping Guide
A = Distance from TipTop to First Guide
N = Number of guides
D = Distance from TipTop to Guide

D1 = A
D2 = D1 + X
D3 = D2 + X
D4 = D3 + X
D5 = D4 + X
D6 = D5 + X
D7 = D6 + X
D8 = D7 + X
D9 = D8 + X
D10 = D9 + X
D11 = D10 + X

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Let No One Walk Alone
><))))'>------<'((((><
Bill

There many sites online that publish generic spacing charts. I start with these, and then find a good average to the numbers that is slanted based on the action of the blank I'm using. The bottom line, though, is that the guide locations are preliminary. You REALLY need to do a static test and make sure that the load is distributed evenly along your blank. If you don't, you could set the stage for a fracture. At the very least, you will be robbing from your rod's performance. The only exception to this would be if you get a spacing chart for your specific blank from the manufacturer. But I would probably still put a static load on it to be sure. It doesn't take that long.