I often see these terms used wrong, so here’s a simple reminder to how they should be used.
Spine= Backbone (enough said)
Spline= thin strip of wood, metal of vinyl
So graphite rods have a “spine” (or backbone) the correct use of the term also tells you which side the guides go on!
A bamboo rod is made from “splines”, long thin strips of wood(reed actually).
I hope this helps!
[This message has been edited by Ray (edited 10 June 2006).]
Hey Ray,
How are you doing? Been a while since I dropped in for my coffee.
One minor correction. Bamboo is grass, not wood.
The reason I bring this out is because of my recent mistake treating bamboo as wood. When I built my rod I turned the bamboo down to accept a ferrule. This would work fine if it was wood because the fiber strength in wood is uniform throughout. With Bamboo, being a grass the power fibers are on the outside and the celulose inside does not carry any strength. This mistake caused my new rod to break at the ferrule joint after minimum use.
I am now repairing it and my 7’ bamboo rod is now my 6’ 9" bamboo rod. I expect it will work just fine, but I did not want others building their first rod to make the same mistake.
jed
Ray. Thanks for taking the trouble to clarify those terms. I have been frustrated when I have seen them misused in publications, but never thoight of using this site to voice my feeling.
thanks. Gerry L.