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).]
It would appear that there are many mixed feelings on spining a rod to help determine guide placement etc. We all have to use what works best for us. I wrote to Winston Rod company, to Sage and to Orvis. So far Winson is the only reply that I have received. Here is what Joe Begin at Winston had to say.
“Leo,
Thanks, for your email and nice comments about your Boron II X rod.
The spline for these is best found by sight. Align all sections until the natural curve points toward the ceiling. Put the guides on the bottom of that alignment. This is how we do it here at the plant and it is quite effective due to the way we roll and bake the blanks.
Thanks
Joe Begin
Winston Rod Co.”
What Joe tells me is prety much what I have heard and seen from rod makers with significantly more experience than I with graphite. As a matter of fact, this is almost identical to what JC had posted in an earlier thread on spine.
I was also told by a very well known rod maker, more into bamboo than graphite, that spining is crucial on rods designed and made for larger game.
My problem is if I had a blank, straight as an arrow and each piece had the spine lined up, which side should I put the guides on? TOn one side to ‘help’ the cast, or on the other side to ‘help’ landing?
Ok, then split the difference, 90 degrees off to the side. Hmmm, which side? Oh, I know, mix them up! Duh! Butt one way, tip opposite. Or, reversed? Again, hmmm.
Let me see, now I have this seven piece blank, 