Very Good, gentlemen. This has been another good discussion on spine.
Alan, if I were building the rod, I would spine it. I would take each of the 4 pieces, apply pressure, see where they wanted to go, and mark the spine on each piece. As far as this being neccessary, I really don't know. I don't think you have to worry about the rod torquing and busting, because as panfisher pointed out, the guides are on the bottom, so torque is a non-issue when fighting a fish. All that being said, if your building yourself a custom rod, why not take the few extra minutes to make it as good as you can? Maybe the effects of spine are negligable. I tend to think they are. But why not take that extra minute so that rod and blank will be as good as it can be
If you want it straigt, again, take the time to do it. It's your rod, made with great pride by you. There is no right or wrong way. Choose which attribute you want to take advantage of, whether its straightness or spine, and do it to the best of your abilities, and to heck with anyone who tells you you've built your rod wrong!
Swamp

[This message has been edited by swamp rat (edited 24 June 2006).]