# finding the spine



## allan.s (Dec 5, 2010)

anyone no how to find the spine on a century blank.cheers al


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## Hooked Up (Feb 6, 2009)

youll get differant opinions on this but ....i have found some of there blanks
to have unnoticable spines........spin it and see if it has a wave to the tip......{high or low spot} and build to that


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## JAM (Jul 22, 2002)

*You can usualy feel it*

With the TIP in hand, put the butt on the floor, bend/flex with the tip and roll butt section on the floor.. It will kick twice, Soft Spine and Hard Spine, on opposite side of the blank.. I mark the Hard with a marker then double check it visualy...

JAM


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## rocket (Dec 1, 2008)

This could get interesting.  In my very amateur opinion, (based on advice from experts) spine doesn't matter. Build along the straightest axis.


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

I'll usually check for one, but unless it is significantly noticeable, I just go for straightest axis.

Jam is right , usually easy to find by rolling the butt along the floor-- I do have one of those fancy spine finders , but don't use it unless I'm being super critical.

It's rare but you can run into blanks that are well made and show no spine.


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## JAM (Jul 22, 2002)

*What I like to do*

is feel the spines first, mark the rod for the hard, then check to make sure by sight... Its a double check in a sense.. I like to feel it first, then check by sight, it's like I'm giving myself a test everytime to see how On I am..

I agree and dis-agree at the same time.. On most rods it would not be notice-able if you missed it on the spine.. But on a Heaver Missing the hard, would cause constant hooks or constant slices.. Or worse, KABOOM, it might grenade..

Quality and Straightness of Blanks has gotton soooooo much better, then 10 years ago.. I've seen some crooked @ss blanks over the years..

One of my first questions when I started building Rods was "Why don't we use a laser to line the guides up" I was told to "Knock MYSELF out" Won't ever do that again, it might be straight to the laser, but when ya look at it the results are horrible from looking at it after lined up by eyesight..

Fun Stuff 

JAM


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