All Righty then! I have a 4 pc 9’ 6wt blank and I am having trouble finding the spline on 2 largest diameter blanks. How do you do this if the pieces don’t hardly bend.
This is a great web site and in a few months have learned a lot.
Donald;
Don’t worry about it.
One of the biggest questions for builder today…“doers the spine matter”.
My opinion…no it doesnt…some people feel it doews thogh. Your call. If you cant find it in the bottom sections tyhe find it in the top and don worry about the bottom.
If you can’t find it, how much do you think it might effect anything? Right! It won’t. 
Oh ya, if you did find one, where would you put it and why? Or why not? Right again.
Thanks guys I think I will just do the top two. Thanks for the advice.
I would be more concerned with alignment of the curvature of the rod, and not worry about the spine/spline/whatever (aesthetics wins for me every time). Make sure all the pieces are curved in the same direction (up) then put the guides on the inside of the curve.The butt section pieces may not have any curve to them, but the smaller diameter pieces will definitely have a curve.
I know, it’s all so darn confusing.Just do it my way and at least it will look right.
Joe
You can at times get those heavy pieces to jump at the spine if you apply some pressure while rotating against a piece of bull nose tile. Any hard surface should do it for you. Once you have spined all your pieces ( or not spined the heavy ones) assemble the rod and spine again. It may change. The real concern is for the final product. There are various aids to help with this procedure if you are doing a lot of rods. I have found that it does change the characteristics of a rod.
The kit I bought for my first attempt is the Cabelas 4pc rain forest one. I had points at Cabelas so my cost was nothing. I have found the spine on 2 of the pieces. I did it as you guys have said and am looking forword to getting started. I have always wanted to build a rod for fun. I will build this one and if I enjoy it will put together a much nicer rod of my choosing. Thanks alot for the help and advice. I am an infomeniac and the more the better.