In Dale Clements book Advanced Custom Rod Building he talks about a devise or tool called a spine finder. I have checked all my catalogs & web sites that I know of without sucess in finding one. Hopefully someone will know where to fine one or how to buile one. I am not having much luck finding the spine of the blanks. I am a beginer at rod building. My first try at a complete rod was a casting rod that turned out pretty good but when the rod has a load on it the tip twists leading me to believe i missed the spine. I asked the only rod builder I know & he said to sight down the rod find where the tip bends, point that bend down toward the floor & put the guides on the up side. Now i am more confused. Please help. Thanks

Clemens Tackle has spine finders, page 18 of the online catalog. I built my own, wasn't dificult.

I agree with Lee they are easy to build. RodCrafter last year gave the direction and patterns on how to build one
Bob

Buying one is simple enough. If you would like to build your own for less than about $10, go to www.rodmakermagazine.com and get the May/June 2000 issue which has full plans for building your own. The July/August '99 issue also has a complete article on how to find the spine and what can be done with it.

In the meantime, if you place the butt of the blank on a smooth floor or table, and support the extreme tip end in one hand, then press down smartly in the center with the other hand, then allow the blank to spin/roll to a point where it naturally wants to come to rest - the outside of that curve (the bottom) will the effective spine. In a spine finder the outside of the relaxed curve will also be the spine, but in that instance it will be on top.
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In response to your question about the spine. I myself am also a begginer rod builder who has the same question. I found and ordered a spine finder from www.Cabelas.com Just go to the rod building section. The price is about 20 bucks so it will not set you back a ton. I have found that putting the guides on the stiffest side of the rod seems to aid in good hook sets since the rods I build are generally drift rods with long limber actions. Just a thought from the begginer. Dave