Ive run a half dozen searches, and apparently can't come up the correct phrase to get the results I'm looking for, so I will just ask.

I'm planning two fly rods builds; something I have never done. My limited rod building experience is telling me to place the guides by static load testing. It seems to me it really doesn't matter what kind of rod your building. The line should follow the natural loaded curvature of the blank, to properly distribute the load. And, for the stripper guide, I'm thinking I will hold the rod in the after cast, stripping position, and place the stripper guide just slightly beyond where I would reach to grab the line.

Am I thinking about this correctly? Or am I all wet?

You're on the right track. Now having said that, I can also tell you that if you locate the stripping guide roughly 32 inches from the butt, you'll be about right no matter what length or line weight fly rod you're building.

..............

At least 90% of the line retrieved on a fly rod is stripped in by hand, not reeled in. This involves repeatedly reaching up the rod with the hand not holding the grip, grasping the line, and pulling the line down past the reel. This activity, not the curve of the blank, should be the first consideration in locating the first ["stripping"] guide. A custom-made fly rod will take into account the length of the user's reach. Rod builders unfamiliar with fly fishing/casting are understandably unaware of this important consideration.

Tom's 32" is pretty much on the money.
I use 33"
The old recommendation to place the stripper where you can reach it is very old school.
It should be placed where it allows the best line flow. And that is farther up the blank.
Any caster worth his/her salt will have the line come-up tight to the reel on most every cast. So reaching it is rarely an issue. In the case of a botched cast it is not a big deal to simply move the butt back until the line is within reach.
Herb

I must differ with Herb ! I have been fly fishing for about 65 years and fish with many people in many places in the world, and I teach fly casting. It is impractical to let go of the line with your off hand and have the "line come-up tight to the reel. It is not possible to set the hook, without your on the line!

One should always have the line under control with the off hand until a fish begins a run after being hooked. Most trout hooked never get on the reel, heavier fish do of course.

Hey Phil,
I think we're talking about two different things here.
If one is blind casting all day then it is quite acceptable to release line from line hand - and the line should come up tight to the reel. Stripping can begin immediately.
If sight fishing then it is good to keep the line in your line hand so you are able to drop the fly when you wish as well as strip striking the fish if it takes as the fly hits the water.
In both cases there is no need to reah for the line at the stripper.
Herb

Herb: I always use a stripping basket for casting more than 30 feet, which I commonly do in salt water. I often strip line as fast as I possibly can to make a cast before fish move out of range. I sometimes hold the rod between my knees and strip in line with both hands as fast as I can, and make each strip as long as possible. The location of the stripper guide is more important to me than the flex curve in the bottom 1/4 of my fly rod, particularly since I use the fastest rods I can find and their butt section barely flexes during the cast. Many of the guys I fish with use similar techniques. I find considerable divergence between techniques and tackle used tor fish salt flats and those used for fishing streams and brooks.

Phil E
I only fish salt water - never fresh - I live on the beach on SE FL - but my passion is fishing the Cape Cod outer beaches. My wife and I spend the months of May and June doing this every day. So I am very familiar with what you are saying.
Given your retrieve style I would say you want the stripper farther up the blank, like I, so you don't grab the guide with those long strips.
Herb

Same technique many times for false albacore. You can't strip too fast for those buggers.

Great thread. I'm not going to get in the middle of herb and phils debate but I think they make good points. As for Jays last post about albacore. Next time you are out albie fishing try a steady retrieve with 5-10sec pauses. The high speed retrieve can work but I've caught more on a slow steady retrieve with a pause that let's the fly sink. Easy target for the fish and when it strikes the hit is like lightning. I've seen people hook up while unwinding a knot or looking for fish when the fly is drifting next to boat.

Herb: Small world. I live on the beach in east central Florida. I love to wade fish mid-Cape beachside flats sight-fishing for blues and bass, which I have done for 30+ years. I find leaving my fly motionless, then giving it a fast strip when a fish nears draws a quick strike. On bayside in June a three inch fly is as big as I will use.

Hey Phil
I live on the beach in the Delray area. It sounds like you are up in the Melbourne, Sebastian, Mosquito Lagoon area.
Fishing down here is horrid. 5 years ago I used to see snook, tarpon huge jacks, barracuda, small blues and shark. Now not even blue runners.

Funny that the Cape has its favorite flys each year. One year its a sand eel, next a flat wing. Last year it was a big gurgler.

I totally ruptured my Achilles tendon a couple of weeks ago - so had to cancel my May and June trip to the Cape. First time in 17 years.
Do you know any guides or other fly fishermen there?
Regards,
Herb